More than a week after a train derailment in Hyndman, residents who live closest to the crash site can finally go home.

CSX officials released this statement on Friday afternoon:

The residents of a small area of Hyndman, Penn., who were displaced from their homes last week by a CSX railroad incident will be allowed to return to their homes at 5 p.m. today, Friday, August 11.

Residents of the area between the Schellsburg Street bridge and the Hogback Road railroad crossing, which includes Schellsburg Street, Paris Avenue, Mill Street, Harden Street and Cleveland Street, were asked to relocate while CSX continued intensive clean-up operations at the site of a derailment. Approximately 40 households are within the reduced area.

CSX provided temporary accommodations and other necessities to residents who were displaced from the area, and will continue to work with those residents to assist them in returning to their homes.

CSX will continue to operate a community outreach center at the Hyndman General Store and Quilt Shop, 141 Market Street, in Hyndman, through 6 p.m. Sunday, August 13. Residents who need assistance after that can contact CSX by downloading reimbursement forms and instructions at www.csx.com/HyndmanPropertyClaims and submitting them by mail. CSX has paid approximately 1,100 requests for expense reimbursement to residents and businesses since the incident occurred on August 2.

At the site of the derailment, CSX has made significant progress in recovering from the incident. Several rail cars that contained propane, molten sulfur and asphalt have been offloaded and the products were transported offsite by truck, and the area has been cleaned of grain and other residue from the derailment. Two additional carloads of molten sulfur will be transferred offsite next week; this activity will have no impact on the community. A total of about 2,000 tons of construction materials, ballast rock, soil and other debris have been removed from the site and disposed of in a licensed landfill. Some additional debris remains to be removed.

CSX continues to perform air-quality monitoring at the site to ensure the safety of workers and nearby residents; monitoring continues to show that no air quality issues are present at the site.

Over the next seven to ten days, CSX will continue to work at the site to remove the remaining rail cars and restore the landscaping to pre-derailment condition. Those operations will be limited to daytime hours, substantially reducing any safety concerns and disruption to nearby residents as they return to their homes.

CSX greatly appreciates the continued patience of the residents of Hyndman and Bedford County, Penn., and the ongoing support of area authorities as we work to fully restore the site of the derailment.

Rob Doolittle

CSX