MONUMENT - A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train leaking hydrochloric acid prompted the mandatory evacuation of 255 homes for 20 hours Wednesday, but all of the evacuated residents were allowed to go home on Wednesday night.
The acid leak was in the vicinity of Wagon Gap Trail and Elk Valley Trail near Monument.
The leak was coming from a parked train car. According to Burlington Northern Santa Fe, BNSF, there was a problem with the lining of the train car, which caused the leak. The train was doing a routine stop when another train passed by and spotted the leak around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The train was coming from Kansas and its final destination was Denver. Authorities do not know how long it was leaking before the leak discovery.
The rail line also partially reopened, which means at least 25 trains that had been stuck on the tracks were able to move again.
The train stopped leaking around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when workers used a wax coating and a magnetic patch to plug the leak. Before the leak was stopped, the tank had been leaking a cup of acid a minute, BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said. Those types to tanker train cars can hold anywhere between 25,000 to 30,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid.
"It was the lining on the car that failed and that's something that we're investigating," Kent said.
The clean-up effort has already taken several hours and is expected to take several hours more, officials say. Evacuees were warned to take enough supplies to last 48 hours in case the cleanup took longer than expected.
A special team flew in by helicopter from Texas to move the acid from the train car. The transfer could take as little as four to five hours. According to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, they anticipate the transfer to take eight to 10 hours.
The transfer of the acid has begun and authorities say it could continue until Thursday.
Authorities say some homes are within 100 feet of the spill. Officials do not want the acid to oxidize, which can turn into chlorine gas. Chlorine gas can make people sick, and the vapor could spread up to an 800-yard radius.
Authorities have tested the air in the neighborhoods near the spill, but have not found any traces of acid in the air.
The El Paso County Fire Marshal is investigating the leak, as is BNSF Railway.
BNSF said the tanker is owned by the shipper. The railroad doesn't make the names of its customer's public, Kent says.
"From a security perspective we don't release details of what we ship," Kent said. "That's part of the investigation. We transport different shipper's containers and they own their own container."
That section of rail is shared by BNSF and the Union Pacific Railroad. Between 33 and 40 trains from the two railroads combined pass through that section every 24 hours, Kent said.
Kent says it is safer to transport materials like this over rail then by interstate.
"It's far safer to ship by rail than it is on the highways," she said.
Traffic wouldn't resume until air monitoring shows the area is safe, she said.
Bobby and Arlene Padilla said they were sleeping when a neighbor called at 5:30 a.m. to tell them about the leak, and around 6 a.m., an officer came to the door to tell them to evacuate. They said they don't have a land line, only cell phones, so they didn't get an automated call from authorities.
"Is this really happening?" Bobby Padilla said as the family ate at Rosie's Cafe, which gave out 75 meal vouchers for evacuees.
The Padillas packed up their five children, including a 3-day-old baby, along with their pet birds and enough clothing and toiletries for four days, even though the officer told them they only needed to prepare to be gone for two.
They plan to stay with relatives in nearby Palmer.
"We can't go back right now, but we'll improvise," Bobby Padilla said.
The Padillas said they could see the tanker from their house but didn't see any signs of vapor.
An evacuation center was set up at Grace Best Elementary in Monument for evacuees, and local hotels in the area are offering evacuee discounts for those displaced by the spill. Not many people were at the shelter on Wednesday evening.
Authorities say Old Denver Road is closed from Baptist to Santa Fe. Mitchell Avenue is also partially closed.
(KUSA-TV © 2011 Multimedia Holdings Corporation with The Associated Press)