Important Takeaways:
- A chemical gas leak from a rail tanker near Cincinnati prompted fears of an explosion and evacuation orders for people within at least a half-mile radius of the incident.
- Roughly 210 households in Whitewater Township, about 22 miles west-northwest of Cincinnati in an area near the city airport and the Kentucky state line, were under evacuation orders, officials said Tuesday night.
- Colorless, odorless gas spewing from the tanker at State Route 128 and U.S. Route 50 was reported to first responders shortly after 1 p.m.
- Authorities determined the chemical is styrene, he said. It’s used in the production of plastic, rubber, fiberglass and other structural materials.
- The threat for the community is that the rail car tank has been heating up and will explode if it continues, Siefke said. Firefighters were dousing the container with water in an attempt to reverse its temperature rise, he said.
- “This will be a long, long event,” Siefke said.
- It wasn’t yet clear who owns the rail car or its cargo, officials said Tuesday night.
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