Train cars derail in rural Tennessee, officials say no injuries or hazmat danger

MASON (AP) — Part of a CSX Corp. train carrying grain and carbon material derailed early Thursday in rural west Tennessee, but no injuries were reported and there was no danger to the public, officials said.

CSX said nine loaded cars derailed at about 4:20 a.m. in Mason, a small town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Memphis.

The cars contained grain and carbon B material, officials said. Carbon B is a fine black powder used as a reinforcing agent in rubber compounds, such as tires, and as a black pigment in printing inks, surface coatings, paper and plastics, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Crews from various fire departments responded to the derailment, Covington Fire Chief Richard Griggs said.

Three cars partially ended up in a small creek, CSX said, and there were no injuries to the train crew.

CSX, Griggs and Tipton County emergency management director Tommy Dunavant said there was no hazardous materials threat.

The cause of the derailment was under investigation.

Memphis ‘snake factory’ transplants slither into their new home in Louisiana

BENTLEY, La. (AP) — They were born and raised in captivity, but as they slowly slithered away from their handlers and disappeared into gopher holes in the Kisatchie National Forest, the group of Louisiana pine snakes appeared to be right at home.

The five pine snakes bred at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee were released into the Kisatchie in early May as part of an ongoing conservation effort involving zoos in Memphis, New Orleans and two Texas cities, Fort Worth and Lufkin. This year, more than 100 pine snakes — a species the federal government lists as threatened — will be released into the central Louisiana forest.

“We provide the snakes in our snake factories, which are funded by the U.S. Forest Service, into habitat that the Fish and Wildlife Service and Forest Service have developed,” said Steve Reichling, the Memphis Zoo’s Director of Conservation and Research. “It’s just a perfect marriage, really.”

Reichling said the characteristics of the area where the snakes were released — a high tree canopy dominated by longleaf pine, little mid-level vegetation, grassy ground and sandy soil — are all vital to the snakes’ survival. The forest is also home to gophers that are both a food source for the snakes and the creators of the burrow system where the snakes live and hibernate.

“Unlike some of the other snakes that are here that can survive in different habitats, Louisiana pines, they cannot,” Reichling said as the snakes were being released.

Although they bear a resemblance to rattlesnakes, pine snakes are non-venomous constrictors and aren’t considered dangerous to humans.

“There is no other snake in the world like it,” Reichling said. “And to me, that’s the definition of precious, right?”