GRANITEVILLE - The land surrounding the wreck of Norfolk Southern Train 192 is a triangular bowl perfect for funneling a deadly, ground-hugging fog of chlorine gas toward the low-lying places where it tends to collect, experts say.
Bound by Marshall Street to the north, Canal Street to the east and the Leitner Street Extension to the west, this inverted triangle - approximately 700 yards long and 560 yards wide at its northern base - is also the heart of the Avondale Mills complex of seven textile plants, warehouses and offices that form the center of a mill town founded in 1849.
When train 192 hurtled off the main rail line shortly before 2:40 a.m. Jan. 6 and slammed into a locomotive parked on a spur line, the resulting pileup ruptured a tank car carrying 90 tons of pressurized chlorine.
The wreck took place about 400 feet north of the southern tip of the triangle, where Canal Street and the Leitner Street Extension meet.
Liquid chlorine shot like a geyser from the tear, quickly turning into yellowish-green gas that began to sink because it is heavier than air, said Dr. Vincent Van Brunt, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of South Carolina.
The tendency of the gas to hug the ground was offset by the force of pressurized chlorine jetting through the tear in the tank, which probably meant the deadly gas billowed high into the early morning darkness near the wreck, said Dr. Van Brunt, an expert on chemical safety.
Christopher Seeling, the train's engineer, was overcome by chlorine next to the wreck.
That meant Avondale Mills buildings closest to the wreck, including the Stevens Steam Plant and the data processing center, were hit with the highest concentrations of chlorine - a mix of gas and aerosoled yellow droplets of liquid chlorine.
High concentrations of chlorine gas also rolled across the eastern boundary of the triangle, across Canal Street and south toward Main Street, where Graniteville resident Tony DeLoach was killed in his home.
Five graveyard shift employees were chased to the rooftop of the plant by the chlorine gas, which overtook boiler operator Rusty Rushton, who died on the loading dock.
Mike Craig, one of the four survivors, said choking clouds of chlorine reached them on the rooftop.
Farther away from the wreck, the chlorine followed its tendency to hug the ground as the land fell away toward the Woodhead Division plant on the western leg of the triangle and the low-lying, swampy woods to the rear of the plant.
Three workers were killed at Woodhead - Willie Lee Tyler, whose body was found 25 feet from the plant entrance, and Charles Shealey and John Laird, who were killed as they ran into the woods.
From the Woodhead plant, the chlorine followed the valley of Horse Creek, which runs behind the plant, said Stephen Felker Sr., the principal owner and chief executive officer of Avondale Mills.
The chlorine also flowed north toward the base of the triangle, Mr. Felker said, and penetrated the lower floors of the Gregg Division plant, where it was sucked into the upper floors of the complex by the plant's ventilation system.
Two employees were killed there: Allen Frazier and Steven Bagby.
Joseph Stone, a Canadian truck driver, was found dead in the sleeper car of his tractor-trailer, which was parked in a lot near the plant.
Picture Story: Crash and Chemical Spill Vicitims
Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
Special Section: Graniteville Train Wreck
On January 6, 2005, a Norfolk Southern Corp. freight train carrying chemicals hit a parked train near an Avondale Mills plant in Graniteville, South Carolina. The impact caused poisonous chlorine gas to leak from three of the moving train's cars. Nine people were killed and more than 5,000 people were evacuated from the site.
For complete coverage of the Graniteville train wreck, visit our special section.
