‘No Safety Concerns’ At 7-Car Train Derailment Site: Manatee Official

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — There are “no safety concerns” as the clean-up of Seminole Gulf Railway’s seven-car train derailment near the Manatee and Sarasota county line begins, Steve Litschauer, Manatee County’s deputy director of public safety, said.

Five railcars and two propane tankers went off the tracks Tuesday morning in the 7200 block of 16th Street E., near Tallevast Road, officials said.

The railcars, hauling sheetrock, and one tanker carrying 30,000 gallons of propane, overturned during the derailment, Fire Chief Robert Bounds, Southern Manatee Fire & Rescue, told Patch.

• Also Read: Tanker Hauling 30K Gallons Of Propane Overturned In Manatee: Chief

The second tanker, also carrying 30,000 gallons of propane, only partially derailed and remained upright.

The biggest concern during the clean-up at the derailment site surrounds the overturned propane tanker, but there’s a “very low chance of explosion,” Litschauer said.

Though initial plans called for removing the propane from the tanker before moving it, the company plans to build a bypass track, keep the gas in the tanker, and then upright it and move it, the deputy director added.

“They have opted to not offload the product due to the tanker’s integrity being fully intact,” Bounds said. “We are continually monitoring the situation and are in constant contact with Seminole Gulf Rail.”

It’s estimated that the train track will be out of commission for about seven days, Litschauer said.

During the uprighting of the tanker, Southern Manatee Fire & Rescue and a HazMat response team will be at the scene.

In the meantime, Seminole Gulf Railway has hired off-duty Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies to stay at the scene checking the meters overnight, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.