WILMINGTON — Steve and Jackie Smigel and their two young daughters spent four hours Sunday driving from Kent, Ohio, to Cowan Lake State Park for a week of swimming, boating and fishing.

        But on a sweltering Monday, all they could do was look out at the shimmering water.

        A Sunday afternoon train derailment sent three railroad cars and an unknown amount of sodium hydroxide into Cowan Creek, forcing officials to close a nearby highway and the state park's lake.

        “It's definitely a big disappointment, but we'll do what we have to do,” Mr. Smigel said. “We'll probably just play at the cabin.”

        Officials closed Cowan after the chemical spilled into the creek, which feeds into the lake. Fire and cleanup crews worked overnight into Monday building dams to contain the contaminated water in the creek.

        There were no injuries.

        Sodium hydroxide is a strong alkali that can cause chemical burns if it makes contact with the skin or is swallowed, said Rob Goetz, a pharmacist with the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Information Center.

        “We're just being very overly cautious,” said Tim Carr, assistant manager of Cowan Lake State Park. “We have no direct evidence at this point that it's even entered the lake.”

        The lake will reopen once the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and fire officials say there is no danger.

        “It's just an hour-by-hour basis,” Mr. Carr said.

        Campers and those who have rented cabins at the park are being offered refunds or relocations at other state parks if they don't want to stay at Cowan, officials said.

        The spill killed hundreds of fish in Cowan Creek and is expected to damage about a mile of that waterway, Ohio EPA officials said.

        “Environmentally, it's a pretty serious spill,” said Jim Crawford, a member of the Ohio EPA's emergency response team. “Cowan Creek, itself, that section of it is going to be devastated.”

        Two tank cars leaked the chemical into the creek, but how much spilled isn't yet known, nor is the cause of th derailment.

        The wreck closed U.S. 68 near Wilmington and caused dozens of residents to miss mail delivery on Monday.

        Letter carriers couldn't reach about 70 houses because of road closures or mailboxes destroyed in the crash, said Wilmington Postmaster Cheryl Egnor.

        Those customers can pick up their mail at the Wilmington post office.

        Officials do not know what caused the derailment along a winding stretch of U.S. 68 near the lake just after 4 p.m. The 68-car CSX train was traveling from Buffalo, N.Y. to Cincinnati by way of Columbus.

        On Monday, destroyed boxcars sat alongside the road as heavy equipment operators worked to clean up the mess. The railroad line is expected to be closed for much of the week, CSX officials said. A stretch of U.S. 68 will be closed for several days.

        “We will do everything that needs to be done to make the situation right,” CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said.

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