HOUSTON – Residents in the Fifth Ward say they were never notified about a train derailment that happened last week.
Union Pacific confirms that seven rail cars carrying wheat went off the tracks on June 3. The derailment happened just below I-69 and US-59 near Taylor Street. Since then, crews have been working to clean up the spilled grain and remove the damaged cars. Reporter Re’Chelle Turner spoke to the Robert Slater, who founded the Culture Commission.
“This train track, each one weighing at least, what, seven tons, came off the rails. There could have been homeless people out here. There could have been kids out here. The NTSB should be out here. A cleanup crew should be out here immediately. The team should be notified immediately. This should be blocked off. An immediate investigation. So how dare they get to cause an accident, investigate themselves, and clear themselves,” he said.
At the site Tuesday, cleanup operations continued as workers assessed the tracks. But while the recovery process is underway, some residents say they’re left in the dark — and fed up.
“We should have been notified. We’ve been going through enough with Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Rio Sol, Cancer Cluster, etc., that we’re on high alert, anything that happens with Union Pacific. And we should have been notified,” said Kathy Blueford-Daniels, a community advocate.
Union Pacific tells KPRC 2 that cleanup and removal of railcars can take time and often involves scheduling outside contractors. The company emphasized that no one was hurt, no hazardous materials were involved, and there was no public safety risk.
“I mean, it’s unfortunate. Obviously, you see the crews starting the cleanup process,” said Brandon Cofield, who lives nearby. “But for me, I think the biggest issue is a lack of accountability and communication. I mean, at the end of the day, if you made a mistake, say you made a mistake. If you say it’s grain, but it doesn’t really smell.”
Blueford-Daniels also raised concerns about what exactly spilled and the odor hanging in the air.
“The smell out here is ridiculous. This is not going to be an easy task. And I know you. The smell out here is ridiculous. We don’t know what that smell is. Is it from the contents of the cars? We don’t know,” she said.
Union Pacific sent KPRC 2 a statement,
“On June 3, at about 8:30 p.m. CDT, seven rail cars carrying wheat derailed near Carr St. Junction in Houston. No one was injured. Cleanup of the grain is expected to get underway this week, depending on the weather. We will then begin the work of removing the rail cars. All three mainline tracks impacted by the derailment were reopened late on June 4 (Wednesday evening), and normal train traffic has resumed. Union Pacific coordinated with local authorities after the derailment to provide notification about the incident and temporary traffic impacts. There were no public safety risks. Thank you for reaching out.”
Our Re’Chelle Turner followed back up with Union Pacific with more questions about how the derailment happened.
“It takes time to clean up a derailment, including removing the cars from the track and repairing the track. We are actively working to remove the wheat that spilled and the rail cars, which requires scheduling contractors to come and assist. We expect the grain to be picked up, starting tomorrow, weather permitting. There were no injuries, no hazmat and no public safety risk. Union Pacific informed state, federal local authorities after the derailment to provide notification about the incident and temporary traffic impacts.”
Residents had concerns about a Secondary DAEP school nearby a few blocks away from the derailment cleanup. HISD told us in a statement that there is no summer programming, nor are there impacts to the Secondary DAEP campus.
Residents also had concerns about a cart that was extremely close to a pillar connected to the highway. Turner reached out to TXDOT.