Three people were hospitalized after a freight train collided with a dump truck in Harmar Township Thursday. Seventeen cars derailed, and about a dozen of them fell into a creek that leads into the Allegheny River.
According to Allegheny County officials, the crash happened just after 3:15 p.m. A large construction dump truck was crossing the tracks to enter a sewage-water treatment plant when it was hit by a Norfolk Southern freight train. Both train operators and the truck driver were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement from the county. The three injured have not been identified.
Some of the freight cars were carrying sweet crude oil, a type of petroleum. Two cars were leaking Thursday evening, but according to the county, they remained on land. An oil spill containment boom has been deployed in the creek as a precautionary measure, according to officials. The dump truck was carrying stone when it was hit.
The local water authority says a pipeline was crushed, but water service was not affected.
HAZMAT teams, Norfolk Southern, the Department of Environmental Protection and other local agencies remained on the scene Thursday evening investigating the crash. Cranes will be used to remove the train cars.
Glenn Olcrest, the leader of the group Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh, says he’s worried about what could be leaking into the river.
"This immediate crash is a problem in terms of our water supply. When you have rail cars going off a bridge into the water, that’s always a major concern," Olcrest said.
The Coast Guard has closed the river to traffic from Harmar to the Point in Pittsburgh.
Motorists are being detoured from the area. Authorities are asking people to avoid the scene while crews investigate.
