Train derails along Maysville Avenue

By Christine Holmes, News Director

A train carrying an assortment of waste to a landfill in Perry County derailed Saturday night.

Around eight cars and the train’s engine overturned near Muskingum Iron and Metal, with additional cars knocked off the track.

A representative from Muskingum Iron and Metal said the portion of the company that uses the railroad to transport scrap metal waste from the facility to the landfill will be affected.

A landfill employee familiar with the contents of the train identified the overturned containers as bio-waste containing 40 tons each of purified human waste transported from New York. The employee explained that the clean waste is taken to Tunnel Hill Reclamation Landfill in New Lexington.

According to Tunnel Hill’s website, the New Lexington facility accepts an assortment of waste, including municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, contaminated soils, drill cutting and specialty wastes.

The waste is transported along the Ohio Central Railroad, owned by Genesee and Wyoming, and has connections to CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads.

Muskingum County EMA Director Jeff Jadwin is assisting on the scene and said a company from Columbus is being called in to remove the overturned cars.

Jadwin estimates the clean up will take more than a day.

An employee from Muskingum Iron and Metal said the landfill indicated regular operations won’t resume until Tuesday.

In the meantime, Jadwin said all railroad operations in the area of the derailment have been postponed.

The cause of the derailment is still under investigation. Railroad officials on site would not comment.