STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – A train carrying sodium hydroxide was traveling more than four times the speed limit down a steep hill when it derailed and spilled the caustic chemical into a pristine trout stream, an official with a union representing the train engineer said Friday.

The Norfolk Southern train was moving about 73 mph as it descended from Keating Summit when it derailed June 30, said Cole Davis, a committee chairman with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Last week, Norfolk Southern cited the engineer and conductor for “improper train handling” and “excessive speeding.” The speed limit at the point of the derailment is 15 mph. Disciplinary measures against the two employees, who haven’t been named publicly, are pending.

Three tanker cars carrying the sodium hydroxide ruptured and the chemical flowed into the nearby Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek, which is popular with fishing enthusiasts and designated by the state as one of the best waterways for naturally reproducing trout.

Environmental officials have said that fish and other aquatic life in the creek were devastated as far as 71/2 miles downstream. No one was injured.

The Federal Railroad Administration, which is investigating the derailment, has said the train was traveling in excess of the speed limit, but hasn’t released a final report. That may take months, agency spokesman Steven Kulm said Friday.

Railroad spokesman Rudy Husband declined comment on the company’s own investigation.