A westbound Union Pacific Railroad train leaked phosphoric acid across much of Iowa during the weekend.

The number of gallons that were spilled is unknown, but the train was carrying 12,973 gallons of super-phosphoric acid, an industrial-grade concentrated mix of acid, said Lori Morrissey, emergency management coordinator for the Story County Sheriff’s Department, which was notified about 2:20 a.m. Sunday.

“We didn’t have any big pools or puddles of acid; we just had a drizzle pretty much all the way across the county,” Morrissey said. “Our biggest concern was the pedestrian traffic, hunters and their dogs.”

Ames, Nevada and Colo were the three communities in Story County that responded to the spill, and officials in rural Story County also helped out to control the spill, which ran parallel to U.S. Highway 30, she said.

Although the spill had to be controlled locally, Union Pacific is responsible for making sure the spill is controlled across the state, said Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald.

“The firefighters went out and put sand and other ingredients over the acid until the railroads could get out and neutralize it,” Fitzgerald said.

Union Pacific Railroad is sending a tanker back along the railroad to spray a substance similar to baking soda on the acid to neutralize it, said Kathryn Blackwell, general director of corporate communications at Union Pacific Railroad.

“By Wednesday, we will have taken care of the entire route that was affected by this spill,” Blackwell said.

The tanker began traveling Sunday and will have to go through 11 counties, from Belle Plaine to Council Bluffs, Morrissey said.

This is not the first time that acid has been spilled from railroad cars, Blackwell said, but she said the spills are usually caused by faulty railcars, not the railroad company.

Joe Burnett, lecturer of chemistry, said that, according to Material Safety Data Sheets, super-phosphoric acid is basically the same as concentrated phosphoric acid. Depending on the concentration of the acid, it can have corrosive properties, which are dangerous in case of eye or skin contact, ingestion or inhalation.

“Phosphoric acid in and of itself is not poisonous,” Burnett said. “If you look at a Coke can, you’ll see that it’s an ingredient in Coca-Cola. In high enough concentrations, it behaves as other acids.”

The concentration of the acid and how long the acid was actually on the track will determine whether any tracks will have to be replaced, Burnett said.

“A possible problem is it would increase the phosphate level and increase the acidity of the water in the area,” Burnett said.