Lye leaks from train; Angier Avenue temporarily closed

Fire officials said the No. 7 Norfolk Southern freight train misaligned when trying to connect to two cars in the rail yard. A tanker carrying 16,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, got damaged in the derailment and started leaking.

The leak flowed at about 15 gallons a minute before crews contained it within the rail tracks, Durham Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Curia said. Hepaco, an environmental remediation company, was on site for clean-up.

The city brought in a sand truck to build a berm around a storm drain about 75 feet from the spill. Officials described the move as a precaution and said they didn't fear that the chemical would get into the city water supply.

A 150-foot isolation area was set up around the tanker, and Angier Avenue was closed between Carter Avenue and Ellis Road.

No one was evacuated, and authorities said they didn't believe the chemical posed much of a health threat.

Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive chemical and can be harmful to people when breathed in or if comes into contact with the skin, but the chemical that spilled Friday morning was in liquid, not gaseous, form.

The remaining sodium hydroxide was to be transferred to an empty tanker that was sent to the scene.

The damaged tanker was en route to Brentag Chemical Co. in Durham when it derailed.