South campus is experiencing fewer trains traveling after the chaos in Potterville on Tuesday.
The derailment of a Grand Trunk train in Potterville just after midnight Monday had the tracks crossing Harrison Road quiet because of cancellations on the rails.
Amtrak canceled two trains for Tuesday and Wednesday traveling between Chicago and Toronto because of work on the tracks, spokesman Howard Riefs said.
The derailment has not affected operation of CSX Corp. trains in Lansing, spokesman David Hall said.
CSX will be picking up some of Canadian National’s routes, parent company to Grand Trunk, to make up some of the loss, Hall said.
Meanwhile, Eaton County Sheriff’s Department is attempting to clean the derailed area as quickly as possible, said Jessica Larkin, administrative assistant to Eaton County Sheriff Rick Jones.
Two of the tanks on the train were found to be leaking propane. More than 2,000 Potterville residents were evacuated and are expected to be able to return to their homes today.
The second tank was found to be leaking and workers were attempting to attach a hose to the tank to control the leak Tuesday evening, she said. The leak in the first tank was under control.
Both tanks were being burned in a controlled environment. When the burning is finished, police will attempt to move the tanks and the area will be reassessed, Larkin said.
An announcement is expected to be made this morning to inform residents when the evacuation will officially be ended.
The incident hasn’t affected campus directly, MSU police Lt. Bill Wardwell said.
“I’m just glad it was past campus when it happened,” he said. “My office looks right at the tracks and I haven’t seen a train all day.”
MSU police haven’t been asked to assist Potterville police or residents, but they would be happy to offer help if necessary.
Emergency management at MSU may benefit from the incident.
Wardwell said he plans to work with Eaton County to “refine our reaction” to situations like the derailment.
“When all is said and done there’s lessons to be learned from this and we want to learn them.”
