(The following story by Chris Paschenko appeared on The Daily News website on February 19,2 010.)

SANTA FE — Although 22 train cars derailed Thursday in Santa Fe, prompting mandatory evacuations, only two overturned tankers leaked oil and solid waste.

The evacuation order was lifted about two hours after the 5:25 a.m. incident at FM 646 South and state Highway 6, with the exception of residences next to the derailment site, Santa Fe police said. By 6 p.m., everyone was allowed to return home.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad line, after investigating the incident, determined a leak from one tanker was an asphalt-based oil and wasn’t a public threat, Santa Fe police Capt. Wayne Kessler said.

A BNSF spokesman didn’t immediately know what constituted the solid-waste material leaking from a second car, but railroad workers said none of the escaped material was a hazard to the public. No injuries were reported, Kessler said.

Not knowing whether any of the tankers leaked hazardous chemicals, authorities early in the morning began knocking on doors on Avenue L and 18th Street near city hall to alert residents to the derailment just south of state Highway 6.

Pajama Evacuation

Paula Fuller, who lives on 17th Street, said she didn’t hear the derailment.

“My twin boys were watching cartoons when a friend called and asked if I was OK,” Fuller said. “Shortly after that, officers were going door to door, telling us we had to evacuate.”

Fuller’s was among 10 households including 80 people evacuated.

Fuller needed only five minutes to grab her three children, and they left clad in pajamas for a shelter at the junior high school.

They were allowed to return home shortly after arrival at the shelter, Fuller said.

The derailment didn’t close schools.

Ten of the overturned tankers contained liquid propane, but none ruptured, Santa Fe police Sgt. Eric Bruss said.

Santa Fe firefighters, with assistance from Alvin, quickly identified the types of substances in the tankers and along with police set up a command post near the spill.

State troopers and Hitchcock police blocked westbound traffic on state Highway 6 at FM 2004, and Santa Fe police maintained a second roadblock at state Highway 6 and Avenue I.

Those traveling east on state Highway 6 were detoured on state Highway 646 North.

The cleanup, righting cars and removing the oil slick was expected to continue through the weekend, Santa Fe Lt. Phillip Meadows said Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the railroad crossing at FM 646 and state Highway 6 will be closed through the weekend, Meadows said.

Police are diverting all heavy truck and 18-wheeler traffic to FM 2004 while the crossing is closed. Drivers on FM 646 south should take 18th Street to Avenue M to get to state Highway 6, police said.

All but one lane of state Highway 6 near the derailment site, was open to traffic, Meadows said.

Cause Of Derailment Unknown

The 97-car train was headed to Galveston from Temple when the accident happened, BNSF spokesman Joe Faust said.

A large pool of oil collected in a ditch at Tibaldo’s Feed and Supply, which faces Highway 6.

As BNSF investigated the cause of the derailment, which wasn’t immediately known, the company assembled an environmental team to take air-quality tests and remediate the spill, Faust said.

BNSF was optimistic the tracks would be cleared Thursday afternoon, Faust said.

Heavy equipment crews cleared three of the tankers from the tracks by 12:30 p.m. and an absorbent material was sprayed into the oil pool.

Thursday’s derailment was the second along the rail line since Aug. 22, when 12 Union Pacific railroad cars carrying small amounts of toxic chemicals left the tracks near Mustang Road.

No injuries were reported in that derailment.

The cause of the Aug. 22 derailment remains under investigation, Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza-Williams said.

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