The intended recipient of a rail car filled with styrene that overheated and caused an evacuation of Cincinnati's East End in August said it twice notified the railroad shipping the hazardous material that the car was overdue - but got no response. Officials at Queen City Terminals noticed the rail car was missing in January after checking a bill sent by manufacturer Westlake Chemical Corp. (describing the contents of the rail car) with an inventory of the cars they had received, said spokesman Rick Rainey.The car sat, abandoned, on a siding near Lunken Airport for five months before it erupted, spewing a plume of fumes and raising the possibility of an explosion.   A spokeswoman for Rail-America - owner of Ohio & Indiana Railroad, which was shipping the styrene - declined to comment because of pending litigation.

The case prompted the Federal Railroad Administration on Wednesday to issue a national safety advisory urging all railroads, chemical manufacturers and recipients of such chemicals to better communicate when handling time-sensitive hazardous materials. The advisory was to be printed today in the Federal Register. FRA spokesman Steve Kulm said federal regulators will monitor the reaction to the advisory, and could write new regulations if they are dissatisfied with the response.

"Currently, the cars can be passed off from one (railroad) to another, (which) are not necessarily tracking it to make sure it reaches the final destination," Kulm said. "So this would bring more attention to the status of that shipment - not only from the railroad which has possession, but from the company that shipped it and the company awaiting arrival."

It is unclear if the new recommendations would have prevented the rail car in Cincinnati from being misplaced. Lawyers suing the railroad and styrene manufacturer Westlake Chemical Corp. revealed last week that an improper keystroke into a computer triggered an automatic routing that showed the car, filled with 24,000 gallons of styrene, headed for Michigan instead of Cincinnati. The car was shuffled from track to track for two months before it was left in Linwood on March 21, where it sat until springing a leak Aug. 28 and forcing the three-day evacuation of 814 properties. Rainey, a spokesman for Kinder Morgan, the Houston-based company that owns Queen City Terminals, said officials at the terminal were double-checking paperwork when they discovered the railcar had not arrived.

"We made two attempts to contact the railroad," Rainey said. "We were under no obligation to do that, but we thought it appropriate. Neither of our phone calls was returned."

Time-sensitive hazardous chemicals are those that require a stabilizing agent, called an inhibitor, to keep them from having a chemical reaction that expands and heats the material inside to the point of causing leaks, or even an explosion. Those inhibitors typically have a shelf life of a few months. Time-sensitive hazardous materials include ethylene, hydrogen, chloroprene, hydrogen chloride and styrene. Among the FRA's recommendations: A shipper sending time-sensitive hazardous materials should contact the consignee by fax or e-mail and let that party know when the rail car is on its way. As the due date approaches, either the shipper or the consignee, or both, should contact the railroad for a report on how the car is moving.

Susan Wright Greenfield, spokeswoman for RailAmerica, wouldn't comment on whether the new recommendations would require a change in company policies. But "I think this seems like a very reasonable request," she said. "Obviously, every company has procedures in place, and I know we're reviewing our procedures."

Companies linked to the chemical leak in Cincinnati's East End last year have agreed to pay at least $2 million in compensation to residents and businesses, including $28,000 to Cincinnati Public Schools. The payments resolve some of the legal claims from a leaking railroad car that spewed styrene into the air for several days in August, prompting the evacuation of about 800 properties. But settlement talks have failed to resolve several pending lawsuits that contend as many as 30,000 residents and businesses should be paid damages.

A Hamilton County judge met with lawyers on both sides Monday and gave them until Jan. 31 to resolve the remaining claims. "I want to give them every opportunity to see if they have the means of settling this," said Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh, who plans to set a trial date if the two sides fail to reach agreement.

Joe Callow, a lawyer for the residents, said an offer was made to settle the cases, but he would not say how much money is being sought. "It's up to them to decide if they want to settle or if they want to litigate," he said.

The leak began Aug. 28, when a chemical cloud emerged from a rail car that had been sitting for months on a Linwood siding. Residents have accused three companies - Ohio Railway Corp., Westlake Chemical Corp. and Kinder Morgan Liquid Terminals - of negligence in their handling of the rail car or the chemical. Residents' lawyers have asked to combine their lawsuits into a single class-action complaint, but Marsh has delayed a decision until after Jan. 31.

The companies continue to offer individual settlements to residents and businesses. James Brockman, a lawyer for the railroad, said the companies have settled with more than 1,000 people. "They are still settling cases, even as we speak," he said. The most recent settlement - and one of the largest - is the deal to pay Cincinnati Public Schools about $28,000. School officials said the money covers the cost of closing McKinley School, which was near the leaking rail car, and transporting students and staff to Kilgour School for one week. "It's what we needed to cover our expenses," school spokeswoman Chris Wolff said.

A separate lawsuit filed by the city of Cincinnati also is pending. A final meeting with a mediator in that case ended in November without a settlement.

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Reproduced by permission of The Cincinnati Enquirer - Cincinnati, OH