East, westbound tracks reopen after 3 Norfolk Southern trains crashed, derailed near Bethlehem
LOWER SAUCON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- Both the east and westbound train tracks have been reopened following a train derailment and crash near Bethlehem Saturday.
Officials said they're thankful no one was hurt and that no evacuations were needed.
On Monday, crews continued cleanup efforts after three trains collided and derailed on Saturday morning.
"I saw the two locomotives," Palmer Township resident Damion Smith said. "They were probably -- a little bit of the front ends were in the river, not like the whole thing."
Those partially submerged cars were pulled out by crews as they continue to work on the situation.
"They're pretty quick at fixing things," Easton resident Terry Pundiak said.
Northampton County Executive, Lamont McClure, said although significant progress has been made, more work is still needed.
"They're going to bring in a machine that cuts the engines into pieces and then put them into essentially a dumpster and haul them away," McClure said.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, a Norfolk Southern train hit a stopped train leading to a second collision on an adjacent track.
McClure said the wreck led to overturned empty propane tanks, spilled plastic pellets and 50 gallons of diesel fuel that went into the water.
"Fortunately, I believe we will avoid any significant environmental damage," McClure said.
"People were on edge about that, but it's a relief it was only diesel fuel," Smith said.
Because of this latest incident, McClure has asked the county's emergency management director to intensify train derailment and hazard mitigation training.
"This issue is not going away," McClure said. "Norfolk Southern doesn't seem to have its act together."
Norfolk Southern released this statement on Monday:
"Norfolk Southern crews and contractors remain at the derailment site. Site cleanup and track work resumed Sunday afternoon after the NTSB released the site back to us. We will continue to fully support the NTSB's investigation. Norfolk Southern will learn from this incident as we constantly strive to improve safety."
The NTSB plans to release a preliminary report of their findings in the next three weeks. The government agency expects to release a probable cause and final report in one to two years.
