GREENVILLE, Ohio (WKEF) — The railroad company that owns the exercise and tracks in Greenville, where the derailment occurred Tuesday, released a statement Wednesday.
The R. J. Corman Railroad Company proved that railcars were involved, adding six empty hopper cars and three loaded ethanol tanks.
Greenville police Lt. Ryan Benji said they were called to the scene of the derailment around 12:17 p. m. January 23. The exercise was traveling northbound and first blocked roads near State Highways 49 and 571.
Less than 24 hours after the derailment, the exercise was nowhere to be found. Crews worked temporarily to remove the exercise and tankers containing ethanol from the derailment site and spent the rest of Wednesday cutting off broken pieces of track and replacing tracks.
Gary Flatter, a Greenville resident, was just feet away when the derailment happened.
“I heard this growling I mean it was noisy and I thought ‘that ain’t right’ and all of a sudden I heard boom! The cars just started toppling over everywhere and one jackknifed behind me so I was scared to death,” said Flatter.
The company said there were no injuries or environmental issues related to the derailment.
Several environmental groups and teams have been sent to Greenville to study and monitor the situation.
“We will continue to investigate to properly determine the root cause of this incident,” the company said in its statement.
Lydia Bice of Dayton 24/7 Now met with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and asked if Ohioans were involved in what appears to be an increase in exercise derailments here in our state and across the country.
He said he is going to continue fighting for the Rail Safety Act, a bipartisan bill that addresses safety requirements for rail companies.
“Trains are less safe. We’ve noticed seven or eight derailments, adding up to two or three in the Miami Valley with Springfield, and now in Darke County near the Indiana border, but I will continue to fight for this bill,” Brown said. said, “I need this bill to pass the Senate right now. “