STEEL CITY, PA — Diesel fuel and polypropylene pellets spilled from a Norfolk Southern freight train that slid down the bank of the Lehigh River on Saturday morning.

The Lower Saucon Police Department said emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene in Steel City at 7:15 a.m. The railroad track follows a sharp bend in the river as it wraps around Steel City, a section of Lower Saucon Township, PA, near Allentown. The only road in and out of the neighborhood follows the same sharp bend.

The Nancy Run Fire Company shared with the public several dramatic photos showing train cars bunched up on the tracks and plunged into the water.

Police said containment booms were deployed to stop the fuel spill from spreading. They said no injuries to the train crew have been reported.

Responders found multiple train cars derailed. One car spilled polypropylene pellets, a product used in everything from soda bottles and textiles to automotive parts and medical devices.

“Norfolk Southern is on site and is working to access the situation,” said the police in their statement on Saturday. “There currently are no evacuations or hazardous material threat to the community. We request that everyone stay out of the area so first responders and Norfolk Southern personnel can continue to assess and work at the scene.”

The Lower Saucon police listed the responding agencies as including the PA Department of Environmental Conservation, PA Fish Commission, Northampton County Emergency Management, Lower Saucon Fire and Rescue, Bethlehem Township Volunteer Company, Freemansburg, Dewey Fire and EMS, and Lehigh County Special Ops Team. The Federal Railroad Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, tweeted Saturday that its safety personnel has responded and “will work with emergency responders and local authorities on the scene.”

The Saucon Source (sauconsource.com) reports that “Steel City residents have long expressed concerns about the possibility of a train derailment, in part because Riverside Drive—which parallels the tracks—is the only road into and out of the village.”

Safety regulations stall

A Norfolk Southern freight train was responsible for the toxic spill in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2023. Thirty-eight cars carrying hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, benzene residue, and butyl acrylate, derailed and necessitated the evacuation of residents. The spill had significant environmental and safety implications, affecting the air, soil, and water, including the Ohio River.

The Railroad Safety Act was quickly introduced into both houses of Congress after the East Palestine derailment but has stalled ever since.

Last month, on the one-year anniversary of the derailment, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told PBS: “There was a lot of noise about this a year ago, but now, one year later, I think, because of intense lobbying against this by the railroad industry, it has been very difficult to get many members of Congress on the record on whether they’re for or against this Railway Safety Act, even though it had both Republican and Democratic co-sponsors at the time.”

The Federal Railroad Administration reports an average of 1,475 train derailments per year from 2005 to 2021. Derailments that cause catastrophes on the scale of the East Palestine spill are rare, however.

The River Reporter asked the National Park Service why the Upper Delaware’s emergency management plan stalled six years after the urgency felt after the 2018 derailment that spilled fuel oil into the river at Deposit; see related story, "Chief ranger: If a river disaster happened today, strong relationships would save it."