TRI-STATE (WFIE) -
What's in that truck or on that train?
Here in Evansville, there are no designated hazmat routes for trucks, no matter what they're carrying, the same goes for trains.
So, what happens if something goes terribly wrong?
Thousands of trucks travel through Evansville each day, so do dozens of trains and you may be surprised to know that trucks carrying, dangerous, hazardous materials are allowed to drive right by your front door.
Hazmat experts say even though the chances of an accident are low, a spill could have devastating consequences.
Across the parking lot from the train tracks on Franklin Street, Greg Hargrove works, installing stereos at DC's Mobile Electronics.
"The only thing I ever worry about is how loud they're blowing the horn," Hargrove told 14 News.
He and his co-workers say they think about the trains, but not about what's inside.
"No, not at all. Everybody's got to do their job and that's part of the train, you know, getting the job done," he said.
But it's what's inside those trains and trucks on the road, that Fire District Chief Ken Zuber says, keep his hazmat crews up at night.
Zuber is an expert in hazardous materials and leads Evansville's hazmat teams. He says the city's ordinance on trucks doesn't include restrictions for the transport of hazardous materials.
County Emergency Response Coordinator Dwayne Caldwell says a large spill of the right chemicals can make hundreds of people sick, even thousands of feet away.
That's why he'd like to see dangerous loads moved off city streets and onto special routes.
"If an incident were to happen on, say, 41 and Washington with Bosse High School right there, they could be within a danger zone. So, we'd like to see dangerous materials routed away from population centers," Caldwell told 14 News.
But the dangers don't end there. What about trains? They travel through Evansville every day and you won't believe what some of them are carrying inside.
Chief Zuber says his hazmat teams are trained for the worst of spills, like one near Louisville.
The cars were carrying butadeine, a cancer-causing agent, chlorine and methyl ethyl ketone, inked to birth defects.
Thousands were evacuated to keep from inhaling the toxic fumes.
Chief Zuber says there are some major risks when his teams approach a potentially hazardous scene.
In a 2010 study, only a fraction of the nearly 8,000 trucks recorded had placards indicating hazardous materials.
So, then and now, there are many times when hazmat teams arrive on scene, they don't know what kinds of chemicals they may be dealing with.
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