No environmental damage in Lawrence train yard chemical spill

By Globe Staff

The Department of Environmental Protection said today there is no lasting environmental damage from Thursday evening's derailment of a freight car that spilled sodium chlorate along the tracks in a Lawrence train yard owned by Pan Am Railways.

The DEP was among the state and city agencies responding to the spill that led to the evacuation of several homes near the Andover Street yard for about five hours Thursday night.

"There is no environmental impact of significance,'' from the spill, the DEP said today.

A spokeswoman for Pan Am Railways, Cynthia Scarano, said the accident was caused by a faulty switch plate on the track that is now under repair. The hopper car derailed and was struck by another car on another track, opening up an 8-by-10-foot hole. A trail of the chemical, some 2,300 feet long, was left in its wake.

An environmental cleanup crew hired by Pan Am Railways is expected to complete its work by noon, Scarano said. Sodium chlorate is used to make paper and fertilizer.

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