ALBERT LEA, Minn. – A hazmat emergency team from Rochester determined tentatively that two tank cars in a derailed train were punctured and leaking hydrochloric acid. Neighborhood people were told to remain “sheltered in place.” Hydrochloric acid is an industrial chemical used in pickling steel to remove rust. In highly concentrated industrial form, the acid is corrosive to living tissue. The regional hazardous material team from Rochester, 70 miles away, began surrounding the Goose Lake site of the leaking cars with barriers to keep the acid out of shallow city lakes downstream. These lakes include 520-acre Fountain Lake, which is surrounded by a dense residential neighborhood. Also downstream is Albert Lea Lake, a 2,700-acre recreational and fishing lake. There is a a fowl reserve on Albert Lea Lake.
Earlier: Train wreck neighborhood quarantined