Crews using heavy equipment tear boxcars apart on May 26, 2024, one day after the Union Pacific freight train derailed near Emmet, Arkansas. All photos by Michael Hibblen
A Union Pacific freight train derailed near the southwest Arkansas town of Emmet on May 25, 2024, with the railroad reporting 51 cars were involved. The wreckage blocked the busy double-track main line between Little Rock and Texarkana, which is also used by Amtrak’s Texas Eagle, with two passenger trains scheduled each day between Chicago and San Antonio. No injuries were reported.
Reports obtained from the state said 10 of the rail cars involved were loaded with cases of bottled beer, which broke during the derailment and clean up, flowing to a nearby creek where hundreds of fish and other wildlife were killed. State and federal environmental and wildlife officials were soon at the site assessing the impact and efforts to mitigate the spillage. Dozens of autoracks carrying new Dodge pickup trucks were also involved, with the vehicles being heavily damaged or destroyed. No hazardous materials were involved.
The derailment occurred behind a Foster Farms feed mill along U.S. 67, with most of the wrecked rail cars in a wooded area that required temporary paths to be cleaned to access the cars. If the derailment had happened a mile or so up the tracks, it would have been in a residential neighborhood. I arrived the following morning as a major response was underway with trucks carrying heavy equipment like bulldozers lining both sides of the highway. Also brought in were pieces of prefabricated track loaded on trailers.
A worker walks in front of a pile of spilled boxes of Modello.
Talking with some of the workers who were employed by contractors or consultants for the railroad, I was told they had been laboring through the night and were exhausted. Crews would continue clearing wreckage until the tracks could be repaired and reopened. Workers used backhoes to break apart boxcars and move them off the tracks. In the process, especially when cars were being moved or lifted upright, I could see boxes of beer falling out and hear the sound of breaking glass. The contents were cases of Modelo and Corona wrapped in plastic on wooden pallets. A strong smell of beer was in the air.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Meg Siffring said in an email that “beer inside some of the boxcars was discharged into a creek and traveled downstream about a mile. Union Pacific’s Hazmat team is working to contain and remove the beer. The incident has been reported to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Dept. of Environmental Quality as some fish have perished. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.”
Reports from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality said because of recent rain and the soil being saturated, the beer was not absorbed into the ground, with an estimated 10,000 gallons of beer flowing downhill to a ditch that feeds into the Terre Rouge Creek. An inspector from the Office of Emergency Management followed the creek 0.8 miles from the initial derailment location, finding a log in the creek provided a natural barrier with water behind it being clear and no dead aquatic life being found.
Vacuum trucks were brought in to suck up the contaminated water, collecting about 6,000 gallons. Additional pumps would be added in the coming days to aerate the waterway, but state biologists said they continued finding more dead fish each day, totalling about 400 by May 29. They also discovered dead mussels, crayfish and turtles. Attorneys for Union Pacific requested the state keep any dead fish for legal reasons.
Word that beer was in many of the boxcars spread through the community, with the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office posting to social media on May 30 that its deputies and Union Pacific Railroad Police “have been stationed at the site to deter any looting of the cargo.You will face trespassing and theft of property charges if you enter the feed mill lot or take anything from the site of the derailment.”
The sheriff’s office also said a recent Facebook post claiming there was “free beer” at the site was not true, and asked people to stay away as the railroad and contractors where “have heavy machinery and workers trying to clear the site and it is not a safe environment for anyone not involved in the cleanup.”
Crews worked in extreme heat for several days to remove the damaged rail cars and clear the tracks.
Workers methodically removed the pickup tracks from the auto racks and stacked them in neat piles.
A staging area was established for removing and stacking the damaged pickup trucks that were inside autoracks. All were new Dodge-brand models, likely coming from being assembled in Mexico. They were stacked in piles over a large area showing very dramatic damage like entire roofs being ripped off. The monetary loss of the vehicles was likely very high.
I’m not sure exactly when all the damaged rail cars were removed and the track repaired, allowing the resumption of trains. Weeks later, most of the damaged trucks were still alongside the right of way, showing what a long process a cleanup like this can be.
With tracks reopened, a train passes through the site of the derailment on June 16, 2024.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 36-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
