COLUMBIANA COUNTY Port officials hire workers to clean up derailment debris

Trains won't run while port authority cleanup crews are working.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST LIVERPOOL -- Workers hired by the Columbiana County Port Authority are to have debris from a March derailment in Elkrun Township cleared away by the end of the week.
Tracy Drake, director of the Columbiana County Port Authority, said the port authority hired contractor Robin Houlette of Lisbon to clean up the debris.
Drake said workers will be at the crossing from about 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, and during that time, Central Columbiana Pennsylvania Railway trains won't run.
He said the trains can't run while Houlette's workers are on or near the tracks because the workers aren't certified to work on railroads. Most of the trains that haul construction debris to area landfills run after 3:30 p.m., however, so the work won't interrupt much of the railway's business, Drake said.
Debris spill in March
Construction and demolition debris spilled March 8 when three railway cars derailed near the intersection of Lusk Lock, Low and Bell roads.
When the railway cars derailed, one spilled its contents down an embankment and into a pasture owned by Jim and Lisa Cibula, knocking down a fence.
The Cibulas keep several horses in the pasture and have had to keep a close eye on them to keep them away from the debris and the downed fence. They said to fix the fence themselves, they'd have to handle the debris.
Drake said Houlette's work crews will replace the fence.
Central Columbiana and Pennsylvania Railway hauls rail cars filled with construction and demolition debris from New York and Massachusetts along the tracks near the Cibulas' home en route to local landfills created to handle such debris.
The railroad crossing is near Signal in Elkrun Township where Lusk Lock, Low and Bell Roads converge.
Some cleanup was done
Lisa Cibula said workers spent about six hours soon after the derailment cleaning up the debris. Then they left and haven't returned.
According to Drake, railway officials have said the cleanup is being done by a subcontractor whose workers are certified for railroad work. After removing about two-thirds of the debris and two of the three derailed cars, the heavy equipment began sinking.
Drake said the workers needed lighter equipment to be used on the steep embankment, but those workers were called to work for another railroad.
To remove the debris from the soft ground, Drake said Houlette's workers will lay a temporary foundation of rocks so they can bring in heavy equipment to haul away the debris. They will work from the base of the embankment rather than from the railroad tracks and will likely load much of the debris by hand, he said.