Hot Zone News Archives 2006

Norfolk Southern reaches injury settlement After more than a year of negotiation, Norfolk Southern Railroad and plaintiff's class counsel have reached an agreement that could provide a settlement for hundreds of Graniteville residents with personal injury claims stemming from the deadly train derailment and chemical spill in 2005.

The joint motion for preliminary approval of the class settlement was filed Friday in federal court. If approved, notices of the settlement could be sent out to claimants within the next month. December 27th, 2006, Aiken Standard

Railroad, Ohio officials iron out concerns When a tank car in a CSX railyard in Lake Township was suspected of leaking vinyl chloride shortly before Thanksgiving, local emergency officials didn't hear about it for several hours.

Eric Larson, the Lake Township fire chief, and Brad Gilbert, director of the Wood County Emergency Management Agency, say a recent meeting with railroad representatives encourages them to believe that such a lag won't occur the next time around. December 25th, 2006, Toledo Blade

Feds, cities target hazardous cargo Two federal agencies are proposing new rules to beef up security for trains carrying explosives, chemicals and other hazardous cargo that could attract terrorists.

In outlining their plans, officials said the risks and consequences of a terrorist attack on railroads are highest in major urban areas with busy railroad traffic, like St. Louis.

"St. Louis is, in fact, a major junction point for railroads because so many of them come together there," said Tom White, spokesman for the Association of American Railroads, a lobbying group representing the railroad industry in Congress.

Public comment periods began Thursday on separate sets of rules proposed by the Homeland Security and Transportation departments. After the mandatory comment periods end, government officials review the comments and make the rules final. December 23rd, 2006, Saint Louis Dispatch

Railroad boom hits environmental, 'not in my backyard' snags Across the interstate from his ranch, the Union Pacific (UP) railroad wants to build a six-mile switching yard, part of an effort to improve its national freight service. And, this month, local officials rezoned some 10,000 acres from development sensitive to heavy industrial. They envision businesses springing up around the new yard.

Burgeoning business is pushing railroads into the middle of sticky environmental disputes. On one side are environmental groups, ranchers, and landowners concerned about potential chemical spills and air pollution. On the other side are rail companies stretched to the limit - barely able to provide communities with goods. Their strategy - with national implications for reducing oil usage - is to carry more of the containers now moved by long haul truckers. But, to do this they need to build more rail yards in places such as Picacho.

With large open spaces in shorter supply and business booming, railroads are locked into disputes over land use - even in what used to be the wide-open West. December 20th, 2006, Christian Science Monitor

Derailing danger Editorial Security plan needs to address smaller communities. The implications for the Omaha-Council Bluffs area are obvious: The release of hazardous or deadly chemicals from a rail car in a densely populated city could have catastrophic consequences, whether that release is the result of a terrorist attack or a derailment.

Last Friday, federal transportation and homeland security officials proposed methods they believe would make it more difficult for terrorists to attack rail cars and less likely that an accident would result in mass casualties or require mass evacuations.

The public has 60 days to comment on each of the two plans and should not squander the opportunity to do so. December 20th, 2006 Zwire.com

Political Freight

On November 22, about halfway between Mankato and New Ulm in the burg of Cambria, a train rolled onto a bridge spanning the Little Cottonwood River. One or more of the 66 cars must have detached, because the brakes on the train activated themselves, according to press accounts. Seven cars derailed and four began leaking, spilling some 30,000 gallons of ethanol.

Four homes were briefly evacuated, but as far as derailments go, the accident was fairly minor. As the Mankato Free Press noted in reporting the spill, ethanol is volatile but biodegradable, and most of it soaked into the dry soil at the site before it could get into a tributary of the Minnesota River. Indeed, the most worrisome factor was the small amount of gasoline the law says must be added to ethanol to make it undrinkable by potential thieves.

Symbolically, however, the train plunged off the trestle and into a seemingly bottomless political abyss. Its owner, Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, says the accident illustrates its desperate need for $2.3 billion in federal financing. DM&E would use the loan to replace decades-old track, install safety features, and build hundreds of miles of new rail. December 19th, 2006, City Pages

Tighter Rule on Hazardous Rail Cargo Is Ready Seeking to make rail shipments of chlorine and other hazardous chemicals less vulnerable to attack, the Homeland Security Department intends to announce a proposed rule on Friday to require railroads to track continuously tanker cars for “toxic inhalation hazards” and bar them from leaving the cars unattended or parked for long periods. December 15th, 2006, NYT

Workers Contain Spill after train derailment in Illinois CHRISTOPHER -- Authorities have contained a 20,000-gallon chemical leak at the scene of a freight train derailment that forced the evacuation of
more than 70 homes and sent a dozen people to hospitals near this Southern Illinois community today, officials said.

Two of the 21 cars that derailed from the 83-car Union Pacific train leaked
Lubrizol, a petroleum product used as an additive for lubricating oil, and a third car leaked another corrosive liquid chemical, said West Frankfort Fire Lieutenant Craig Lemmon. December 4th, 2006, Southern Illinoisan

Report cites need for quality hazmat training for rail workers WASHINGTON -- The Citizens for Rail Safety (CRS) today released a new report on the state of hazmat training for rail employees. A need for quality training was the main conclusion of the report that cited the shortcomings of current training programs provided by rail corporations.

The report, written by the National Labor College (NLC) of the George Meany Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, outlines the ingredients for quality training programs. For instance, the hazardous materials training course given by the National Labor College often lasts five days and is taught by peer instructors. This is in sharp contrast to the safety pamphlets and videotapes that some rail corporations have supplied to their employees.

"We've trained over 20,000 rail employees across the United States," said Brenda Cantrell, director of the hazardous materials training program at the NLC. "Often our students tell us how they learn more about hazardous materials in the first few hours of our class than they do after years of working on the rails." November 15th, 2006, BLET

Arizona rail yard running into opposition Pinal County may be heading for a trainwreck of enviromentalists, farmers and home builders opposed to a proposed rail yard just north of the Pima County line.

The State Land Department wants the designation of more than 10,000 acres of land between Picacho Peak and Red Rock changed from "natural resource, development sensitive" to "urban, industrial." This would allow the land department to sell almost 1,900 acres to Union Pacific Railroad, which plans to build a switching yard across the highway from Picacho Peak State Park.

Pinal County supervisors will decide the issue on Nov. 29.

Citizens have formed a group to lobby against the potential rail yard. The collective, which includes a landowner, a resort owner and a consultant, calls its struggle a "David and Goliath battle" and wants Union Pacific to find another location for its switching yard. The group set up a Web site to promote its cause: www.savethepeak.org November 15, 2006, Explorernews.com

Northern Nevada Could See Nuke Waste Shipments Imagine high-level nuclear waste rolling along the train trench in downtown. That could be a reality if a Northern Nevada Indian Tribe okays the federal government's plan and we might not be able to do much about it.

The struggle over Yucca Mountain has always been about more than the mountain and the proposal to store the nation's most toxic waste there. It's also been about getting that waste to the mountain. November 15th, 2006, KOLO

Rail cars could be submerged in Clark Fork River Montana - Four coal cars are unaccounted for and could be submerged in the Clark Fork River following a 27-car train derailment outside Trout Creek, officials said Tuesday.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel are on the scene.

“We do know that of the 27 cars, all but four have been accounted for,” Frost said. “The four could be in the river, but we haven't been able to confirm they're in the river yet.”

Frost said the Clark Fork is reportedly as deep as 80 feet where the derailment occurred, and “if they are in the water, they can't see them.”

The train had 115 cars and four locomotives and was en route from Buckskin, Wyo., to Boardman, Ore. Twenty-seven of the cars derailed 2 1/2 miles west of the town of Trout Creek. November 15, 2006, Missoulian

Second Victim Found Dead in Train Wreck BAXTER, Calif. -- Searchers found a second crew member dead amid the scorched and crumpled cars of a maintenance train Friday, a day after the train derailed and sparked a fire in the Sierra Nevada.

The discovery brings the death toll to two, ranking it among the deadliest Union Pacific crashes in California in recent years. Eight other crew members suffered minor injuries. November 10th, 2006, Washington Post

1 Missing in Calif. Train Derailment

The maintenance train's crew, which included one Union Pacific employee and nine contract workers, was working on the tracks about two miles south of Interstate 80 when six of the 10 rail cars derailed around 11 a.m. The train was carrying 11,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 6,000 gallons of hydraulic fluid, acetylene, oxygen and propane.

"This is a huge spill," said Tina Rose, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "That is a lot of hazardous materials." November 10th, 2006, Washington Post

Brookings rejects DM&E agreement SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Brookings voters rejected a community partnership agreement with the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad on Tuesday, making it and Rochester, Minn., the only two cities on the line without a deal. November 8th, 2006, Pioneer Press

DM&E deal won't stop South Dakota trains Brookings had been the only South Dakota city not to have an agreement that outlines DM&E's responsibilities, largely because of opposition by some residents.

Opponents gathered 676 signatures to refer the agreement to a vote. The city council put it on the November general election ballot.

The DM&E, which earlier moved its headquarters from Brookings to Sioux Falls, already runs trains on aging tracks throughout the region. Workers laid the Brookings tracks in 1879.

If the estimated $6 billion expansion project goes through, the DM&E would become only the seventh large-scale Class 1 railroad in the country.

The plan is to upgrade its 600-mile line through Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming and add 260 miles of new track to Wyoming's Powder River Basin so it can transport clean-burning coal to power plants to the east, using several dozen trains a day. Transporting corn-based ethanol and other agricultural products also is part of the plan.

The federal government's Surface Transportation Board signed off on the proposal in February.

The Federal Railroad Administration has accepted public comments on the DM&E's application for a $2.3 billion loan. Next it will review the comments and rule on the environmental aspects of the project. The FRA then has 90 days to approve or deny the loan. November 6th, 2006, Pioneer Press

Graniteville, SC, Down, but not out The blow that brought Graniteville to its knees - the two-train collision that released about 60 tons of chlorine, killing nine people and injuring hundreds more in January 2005.

The town's people are getting help. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced details last week about a second round of health screenings being paid for with $450,000, aimed at reaching people who were exposed to the toxic gas. November 5th, 2006, Augusta Chronicle

Terror Trains Phil Cervantas heads up Toledo fire department's haz mat team. He told us, "If we had a major leak, where thousands of people had the potential to be affected, could we prevent that release from occurring? Probably not. It would probably be something on a catastrophic level."

Tim Hanely, of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters says, "In a 24-hour period, we're talking probably between 300 and 500 hazardous material cars rolling through Toledo Acid, chlorine are just some of the products we carry. And all of them if mixed together through a leak could be catastrophic." The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory estimates "if the wind is in the right direction" 100,000 people could die from a toxic cloud. That would be one-third of Toledo's population wiped out in minutes.

A January 2005 accident in Graniteville, South Carolina offers a glimpse into the danger of toxic trains. In the early dawn hours, a derailment leaked 120,000 pounds of chlorine into the air, forcing residents of the small town to evacuate for days. Five hundred people were hurt; nine died. Attention is now turning to security on the nation's rail lines. November 4th, 2006, WTVG Toledo, Ohio

Canadian Communities decry CN's toxic-spray plans WHISTLER -- A Canadian National Railway Co. chemical-spraying plan, drafted with little public input and approved this year by the B.C. Ministry of Environment, has Sea-to-Sky corridor communities and native groups worried.

The Squamish Nation, the Village of Pemberton and the District of Squamish say they were not consulted before CN registered a five-year pest-management plan.

The plan gives the railway company sweeping freedom to spray toxic chemicals along railway right-of-way areas that run past schoolyards, homes, lakes and rivers from Lions Bay to Pemberton.

With a registered integrated pest-management plan, railways across British Columbia are allowed to spray a variety of chemicals to control pests and vegetation. Those chemicals include amitrole, Garlon 4, Tordon 22K, Escort, Arsenal and Roundup. November 4th, 2006, Globe and Mail

The safest route from the corn field to the factory As the gasoline industry has turned to ethanol to boost octane and meet federal clean-air requirements, transporting the clear, flammable substance has become one of the fastest growing categories of freight for railroads.

Its demand as a gasoline additive - a substitute for another chemical, MTBE - has added thousands of railcars to the nation's system. From the Midwest, where it is manufactured from corn, railroads move the bulk of the ethanol to the rest of the country.

Rail's role was thrust into the spotlight late last month when 23 cars of an 86-car Norfolk Southern Corp. train hauling 100,000 gallons of ethanol derailed on a bridge outside of Pittsburgh, with some spilling into the river below. At least nine tankers leaked ethanol and were set ablaze. November 3rd, 2006, Virginia Pilot

National Rail Safety Symposium Nov. 15 Citizens for Rail Safety, Inc. (CRS) will present a National Rail Safety Symposium, Wednesday, Nov. 15. This half day program will feature a panel discussion on the safety of our railways with industry experts, political leaders and transportation scholars.

“Every day our railways transport more than one million tons of hazardous materials, passing by American schools, homes and communities,” said Patricia Abbate, executive director of CRS. “This Symposium will bring together leaders in the field to discuss the problems, but more importantly to discuss potential solutions.” October 26th, 2006, Citizens for Rail Safety

Dangling rail cars allowed to burn

NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. - A train derailed and burst into flames over a bridge in southwestern Pennsylvania on Friday and officials, concerned about the risk of an explosion, let several cars burn yesterday.

Trouble over water: There were no immediate reports of injuries after the accident late Friday that left fiery rail cars dangling over the Beaver River, said Dom Bedolatti, 911 center supervisor at the Beaver County Emergency Management Agency.

On board: The 80-car Norfolk Southern Railroad train was carrying ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and officials were concerned about the risk of an explosion, said Terry Erickson, a supervisor with the county Emergency Management Agency. Authorities determined there was no spill.

Half-mile bridge: The eastbound train's midsection derailed while crossing the bridge, which is about 100 feet high and half a mile long, Hayden said. The cause of the derailment and its damage estimate remained unknown yesterday. October 22nd, 2006, Lexington Herald

NTSB on the Scene at Pennsylvania derailment Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board removed data recorders from each of the three locomotives as well as a section of track that was broken in two. The derailment happened late Friday on the bridge over the Beaver River in New Brighton, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Robert Sumwalt, vice chairman of the safety board, said preliminary indications from the recorders, similar to black boxes found on airliners, showed that the train was traveling 36 to 39 mph when 23 middle tanker cars derailed.

At least nine of the cars leaked ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and caught fire, and at least some were still burning Saturday night, but officials couldn't immediately give a count.

Officials couldn't immediately say whether the leak has been contained. But state environment officials say it posed no safety hazard because ethanol is water soluble and the nearest intake valve for a drinking water facility was 11 miles downriver. October 21, 2006, NEPA News

Pennsylvania seeking $9M penalty from railroad for toxic spill The state is seeking almost $9 million in penalties from Norfolk Southern railroad for environmental damage caused by a 31-car train derailment June 30 in McKean County that spilled toxic chemicals and wiped out fish and aquatic life in several top-quality trout streams.

The Department of Environmental Protection is also seeking additional daily penalties of $46,420 for continuing chemical discharges into the creek from contaminated soil at nine separate sites.

Rudy Husband, a Norfolk Southern spokesman, said the company will appeal the penalties levied yesterday and the DEP's September 22 order requiring the company to fully restore Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek and clean up ground contaminated by the toxic chemical spill. October 20th, 2006, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Feds take heat over UP train wreck As few answers trickled in Wednesday on why a Union Pacific freight train jumped its tracks and slid into a neighborhood near the Five Points area, a local congressman widened the blame to include federal oversight.

And the owner of a home damaged in the Tuesday incident launched a legal fight to keep his house from being razed.

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, said the Federal Railroad Administration isn't doing enough, such as requiring controls that can override human mistakes and adopting rules on better safety practices, compliance and enforcement.

"It would be unacceptable to wait for someone to be injured or killed again," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Bottom line is that we cannot continue business as usual."

Railroad Administration spokesman Steve Kulm said the agency already has stepped up safety efforts. October 19th, 2006 San Antonio Express News

What if a train derailed in Tupelo? Editorial TUPELO – When a derailed Burlington Northern Santa Fe train recently dumped 44 cars and 110 tons of coal in Sherman, more than a few people thought, “Thank goodness it wasn’t in Tupelo.”
Not that Sherman residents didn’t suffer, but had the same accident occurred in the region’s biggest city and – even worse – in that city’s biggest intersection, at Crosstown, it would have been more than an inconvenience.
“It would have been a disaster,” said Mooreville resident Milton Lindsey, who drives a semi-trailer through that intersection several times a week and has considered such a scenario many times.
“It’d be the worst thing you’d ever see,” he said. “It’d stop Tupelo.” October 17th, 2006 Daily Journal

Coal train rail project creating major rift

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Opponents are trying to reroute one of the largest railroad track expansions in a century, claiming it threatens the Mayo Clinic and its patients and staff.

The $6 billion plan would upgrade and extend hundreds of miles of rail lines through Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming so they can haul coal to power plants east.

Proponents say the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's project would bring unprecedented economic development to the region, creating thousands of new jobs.

"This is not an opportunity to come along in a generation. This is an opportunity that comes along maybe once in a state's history," said Ted Hustead, president of Wall Drug.

But the rail line would cut within blocks of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the state's largest private employer. Hospital managers and local government leaders worry about increased rail traffic, noise and the risk of a toxic release if there were a derailment. October 10th, 2006, Times Argus

Train Derails in Sherman, Mississippi

SHERMAN – Crews were expecting to work all night to remove the wreckage of a derailed train carrying tons of coal through Sherman Tuesday, while officials searched for clues to the cause of the accident.
No one was injured from the wreck, according to the company that was shipping the coal, Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The train was heading south to Birmingham.
More than 100 workers chipped away at the large task of removing the wreckage of the 44 derailed cars from the tracks and the mounds of coal that spilled onto the streets. There were 110 tons of coal per car on the train, which was carrying a full load, said Joe Faust, the regional director of public affairs for Burlington Northern Santa Fe. October 4th, 2006 Daily Journal

Railroad looks for derailment cause

Ohio- The 105-car coal train was en route to the Ashtabula coal docks when it derailed at 4:55 p.m. Twenty cars were on their sides on the east side of the tracks that run north and south, about one-half mile east of Hayes Road. Other cars were still upright north of the Route 322 intersection with several hundred yards of open track between the two sets of cars.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA's) Web site, the overall number of train derailments declined by 13.6 percent nationally during the first six months of 2006 as compared with the same period during 2005.

Norfolk Southern, which services 21 states, has reported 810 derailments since 2003. Pennsylvania had the highest number of derailments since 2003, with 151, and Ohio is next in line with 119, according to FRA.

In 2004, Norfolk Southern reported 248 derailments with 36 of them occurring in Ohio. In 2005, the railroad reported 232 derailments with 35 of them occurring in Ohio. Between January and June of 2006, Norfolk and Southern reported 92 derailments with 11 of them occurring in Ohio, according to FRA.

The No. 1 cause for Norfolk Southern train derailments is missing or defective cross-ties, to which 125 derailments have been attributed since 2003. One hundred derailments were attributed to "switch improperly lined," according to FRA's Web site, the second highest cause. September 26, 2006, The Star Beacon

Toxic spills on the rails Call goes out to toughen tank cars In January 2005, a Norfolk Southern Corp. freight train passing through Graniteville, near Aiken, crashed into another train parked on a railroad spur, piercing a tanker car filled with chlorine.

The poisonous yellow-green cloud that quickly spread over nearby houses and a fabric mill killed nine people and injured dozens.

Toxic chemicals released by a spill in Arkansas last year killed one person, and train crashes in North Dakota and Texas in 2002 and 2004 killed another four people and hurt 52 others.

The deadly crashes have been a wake-up call to railroad officials, who have long insisted that tank cars throughout the U.S. were durable enough to ride the rails.

In July, a majority of a committee of railroads, tank-car builders, chemical makers and car-leasing companies voted to toughen design requirements for tank cars carrying some of the most hazardous materials. Final standards, expected to be issued as soon as this month, would require some steel cars to be 25 percent thicker than current models and extra padding for valves and tank-car ends.

Meanwhile, a parallel effort that includes Union Pacific Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. is focusing on a redesign that could involve coating some rail cars with bomb-resistant materials used in tanks and armored personnel carriers.

But the redesigns are fiercely opposed by some chemical companies, which see little more than a push to shift expenses and liability away from railroads. September 24th, 2006, Post and Courier

Toxic spill killed thousands of fish The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Norfolk Southern Railway to fully restore Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek and clean up ground contaminated by toxic chemicals spilled when its train traveling more than 50 mph over the speed limit derailed on June 30.

The derailment of the 31-car southbound train near the village of Gardeau in McKean County spilled 42,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide, killing thousands of fish and all aquatic life in 7.5 miles of one of the state's best wild trout streams, and damaging another 25 miles of popular fishing streams.

DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty, at a news conference yesterday in Emporium, Cameron County, said the accident has had a terrible impact on the local environment and residents' quality of life. September 23rd, 2006, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Train in fatal CN crash was overdue for repairs, NDP alleges VANCOUVER -- The NDP released documents indicating the Canadian National Railway train that killed two workers in a fiery crash in June was more than a month overdue for its maintenance check.

The record log disclosed by NDP transportation critic David Chudnovsky yesterday suggests that CN Rail was 38 days overdue for maintenance by May 18.

On June 29, a locomotive and a car carrying lumber slid 300 metres down a cliff in the Fraser Canyon about 40 kilometres north of Lillooet.

Brakeman Tommy Dodd, 55, of Ashcroft died on the loaded lumber as he tried to set the car's manual brakes. The conductor, Don Faulkner, 59, of Savona died in the locomotive. Only engineer Gordon Rhodes, 49, managed to survive after he jumped free of the three-decades-old, 350-tonne diesel locomotive as it went off the track on the steep grade. September 20th, 2006, GlobeandMail.com

CN Rail Enters Not Guilty Plea In Connection With Wabamun Lake Spill

CN Rail has pleaded not guilty to an environmental charge arising from last year’s freight derailment and spill at Wabamun Lake, about an hour's drive west of Edmonton.
Company officials entered the not guilty plea in a Stony Plain courtroom Wednesday.
Alberta Environment laid the charge under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act in June, following a lengthy investigation of the train derailment and spill at Wabamun Lake on August 3rd, 2005.
43 rail cars tumbled off the tracks that day, spilling almost 800,000 litres of bunker fuel oil and pole treating oil onto the ground and into the lake.
Alberta Environment charged CN with failing to take all reasonable measures to remedy and confine a spill an offence punishable by a maximum penalty of $500,000.
The trial is set to begin in January in Stony Plain. September 20th, 2006, 770chqr.com/

Derailed train spills hazardous chemical, hundreds evacuated in Crawford, Texas CRAWFORD, Texas — A train derailed and spilled a hazardous liquid Tuesday night, prompting about half the population of Crawford to temporarily evacuate, officials said.

President Bush's ranch is several miles away from the town and was not near the area evacuated. Bush was not at the ranch at the time of the spill.

More than 300 people were told to stay away from their homes for about four hours before they were allowed to return at 10 p.m., said Crawford Police Chief Donnie Tidmore. September 20th, 2006, StarTribune.com

Train Derailment Prompts Evacuation
Residents evacuated after freight train carrying chemicals derails in southern Illinois About 100 people were evacuated in southern Illinois after a freight train derailed Thursday, including three tankers carrying chemicals, a Marion County sheriff's official said.

Two of the tankers appeared to be leaking after the derailment north of Salem, a community of about 6,000 residents, Officer Jason Thomas said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

About 100 people in a half-mile radius of the derailment were being evacuated as a precaution, Thomas said. Area roads, including a portion of Interstate 57 in Marion County, also were closed.

The derailment occurred on the Illinois Central line, about 70 miles east of St. Louis. September 15th, 2006, CBS News

Rochester Coalition: Largest Federal Loan in U.S. History Relying on Faulty Environmental Impact Statement The Rochester Coalition today filed comments establishing that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) erred in adopting the environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) concerning the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad's (DM&E) coal train expansion proposal. The Coalition also filed comments stating that the STB's final EIS is factually stale according to FRA's own National Environmental Policy Act procedures. September 19th, 2006, Yahooprnews.com

DM&E loan slated for final review WASHINGTON - An eight-year wait for an answer to whether the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) will be allowed to expand in southern Minnesota is almost over.

The Federal Rail Administration is collecting public comments on environmental impact statements for the project until Oct. 10. After the comments are reviewed and the administrator signs off, the agency has 90 days to approve or deny the $2.5 billion loan for the DM&E. As soon as the clock begins, the administration can decide at any point, spokesman Steve Kulm said.

The Rochester Coalition, made up of local and Mayo Clinic leaders, say otherwise. They expect to file a formal comment before the October deadline. The coalition is worried about additional train cars running through the town and potential spills.

The coalition said this summer that the DM&E was unsafe. It said that between 2000 and 2005, Federal Rail Administration reports show that the DM&E had 900 train accidents and incidents, which resulted in 24 deaths. September 14th, 2006, StarTribune.com

New Rail Isn't Panacea for DM&E Derailments Two of five accidents in latest report were on continuous welded rail

ROCHESTER, Minn., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) Railroad, which touts continuous welded rail (CWR) as "immeasurably safer," reported that two of its five train accidents in the most recent month occurred on CWR.

DM&E's own accident reports, submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), illustrate that CWR doesn't eliminate train accidents: Track-related derailments and accidents caused by other factors can and do occur on CWR.

DM&E, which had the worst safety record of the 43 largest U.S. railroads in the most recent FRA Safety Statistics Annual Report, claims its proposed rail project will improve safety. CWR, the industry standard on main lines, provides a smoother ride and requires less maintenance than jointed track, but it also poses problems.

"Continuous welded rail has its own problems during hot weather," explains Larry Mann of Alper & Mann, P.C., a national rail safety expert who was principal draftsman of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970. "In the case of DM&E, it won't fix the safety issue. Poor management and inadequate training are what put this railroad in a class all its own as the most dangerous in America." September 14th, 2006, DMEtraintruth.com

Mayo turns to top guns to lobby against DM&E WASHINGTON - The Mayo Clinic has tapped a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and a former Democratic congressional leadership staffer to help it lobby against an expansion plan by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, federal reports show.

According to Mayo's most recent lobbying report, covering activity through June 30 of this year, the clinic has spent $60,000 in lobbying against DM&E as of that date.

Mayo has enlisted the Washington law firm of Manatt Phelps & Phillips, which lists among its lobbyists on DM&E Dean McGrath, who worked as Cheney's deputy chief of staff; and James Datri, the former executive director of the House Democratic Caucus.

The clinic is lobbying against a $2.3 billion federal loan application that DM&E has pending with the Federal Railroad Administration to help pay for the expansion. Mayo argues that the increased flow of higher-speed trains through Rochester, where the clinic is based, would increase the risk of accidents and put its patients in danger. September 11th, 2006, The Kansas City Star

The Nation’s Railroads — They use us, then Abuse Us CLEVELAND, September 1 — Rail Labor is standing strong and united in the face of railroad greed and rail employer abuses. The carriers use us, then abuse us. We will not tolerate it; we will fight it.

A united Rail Labor demands that the carriers abandon their scorched earth policy of labor relations and negotiate fair and equitable contracts with all the union's representing railroad employees whose hard work and dedication have generated record profits for the carriers. Rail Labor demands fairness and respect. Nothing more; nothing less.

This campaign is the first of several coordinated mobilizations intended to demonstrate our solidarity and joint resolve to obtain fair and equitable contracts. We will continue to ratchet up our efforts in the days and months ahead until we achieve a just resolution of our contract demands.

Please join with all of Rail Labor in this membership mobilization effort by proudly displaying a bumper sticker on your personal vehicle. Every rail union is doing the same. Standing together, we shall prevail. September 1st, 2006, BLET

Toxic Train, Deadly Crash Deadly chemicals may be passing by your home or school as hundreds of thousands of toxic tank loads crisscross the nation on trains each year. On Jan. 6, 2005, Graniteville, S.C., experienced a toxic train crash that changed the town forever.

Maggie Adams went to work at 5 p.m. to start her overnight shift at Avondale Mills, a textile plant located near the railroad tracks that run through the center of town.

Adams was a computer operator in the information services building, just yards away from the tracks where trains were traveling at speeds of 50 mph. Not only was the plant near the tracks, but so were homes and a school.

Adams had said to her boss, "If these trains don't slow down, they're gonna end up derailing and landing on top of me." August 31st, 2006, ABC News Primetime

Minot Protests for Justice BISMARCK, N.D. - Minot residents whose derailment injury claims against Canadian Pacific Railway have run into a legal roadblock in the courts plan to demonstrate outside the railroad's U.S. headquarters in Minneapolis.

"We've decided we're just not going to sit here and take this stuff," said Tom Lundeen, who has been an unofficial spokesman through the years for people hurt in the January 2002 derailment and chemical spill on the west edge of Minot. "We're going to do whatever it takes to let people know that this isn't right." August 14, 2006, Grand Forks Herald

Dangerous secrets ride the rails Many communities unaware of substances transported If you could locate your home anywhere, would you place it next to a tank of hazardous materials? What if that material was on wheels and rolled by your home at up to 40 mph?

In Fort Wayne, nearly 36,000 people live within a few blocks of the busy railroad lines that cross the city – railroads that each year carry millions of tons of poisonous gas, corrosive acids and explosives past homes, businesses, schools and child-care centers. An additional 10,000 live close enough to the busy tracks in New Haven to be in danger. July 23rd, 2006, Fort Wayne.com

Not In Our Trainyard Concerns about air pollution from international trade are no longer limited to the nation’s coasts. In the town of Gardner, Kansas a proposal to build an enormous shipping operation, where trucks and trains would exchange cargo, is leading many residents to ask questions about future pollution related health effects. Bryan Thompson reports from Kansas Public Radio.

The NSF has projected their ultimate operation is over a million lifts a year. A lift is either a container from a truck to a train, or a train to a truck. And doing the math, kind of taking a million divided by the work days, comes out to about 4,000 trucks a day. When you put 12 million square foot of warehousing plus intermodal facility, it's going to be in the neighborhood of 5,000 trucks a day out of that 59,000 trips. July 22nd, 2006, Living On the Earth

BNSF RAILWAY PROPOSAL | 250 turn out for turbulent hearing in Gardner
Bid to annex rail hub site moves ahead
Many say the project would spoil the small-town atmosphere. Others see economic benefits. The Gardner City Council decided Wednesday night to begin crafting an annexation agreement that would bring the site of a proposed railroad freight center into the city.

BNSF Railway’s plans for a freight-handling complex on 1,300 acres near the western edge of Gardner have been controversial. Some see the project as a potential economic bonanza, while others fear it will destroy the small-town atmosphere of the city of 16,000.

After a sometimes rowdy 90-minute hearing Wednesday night, the council voted 4-1 to direct the city’s staff to draft an annexation proposal based in part on the recommendations of a committee that studied the issue. July 21st, 2006, Kansas City Star

Cracks found in BNSF depot floor sealant

Cracks have been found in the sealant that protects the concrete floors at BNSF Railway's depot atop the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, but railroad and state officials said there is no reason for concern and there is no evidence of fuel leaks.

Yet a local environmental group questions why the cracks, characterized by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality as "hairline" fissures, weren't disclosed in public reports made monthly to the Kootenai County Commission.

The depot is capable of refueling a locomotive in about 30 minutes, compared with up to six hours at BNSF's congested yards near Seattle and Portland. But three months after the new depot opened, fuel-tainted wastewater was found to have leaked unchecked into the ground below, but at levels that state officials said pose no risk to nearby residents or to more than 400,000 other people who depend on the aquifer for their water.

The railroad spent $10 million on repairs, including five layers of the rubberized coating atop 80,000 square feet of concrete at the site. July 22nd, 2006, Spokesman Review

Building tour reveals damage from chlorine

GRANITEVILLE - Green-tinted sprinkler heads protrude through the ceiling and green, corroded knobs open the door to a hallway in the Avondale Mills Information Services building on Hickman Street. July 19th, 2006, Augusta Chronicle

Mill involved in S.C. train wreck releases report on chlorine damage

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. - Papers and personal items left on the desks of some Avondale Mills workers are now covered by a layer of rust and dust - both of which have accumulated since the facility was condemned following a train wreck and deadly chemical release.

Chemicals continue to corrode anything metal in the building, which has been condemned since a Norfolk Southern train plowed into a parked train on a side track, causing a toxic cloud of chlorine to spread over this mill town in January 2005. Nine people were killed and 250 injured.

"It was as if we had the Graniteville plants sitting in an acid bottle," said Lisa Detter-Hoskin of the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Conditions, including high humidity and heat, were right for the maximum impact, she said.

The humidity caused the toxic air to settle while pollution and heat caused the chemicals to react more aggressively. Many of the Avondale Mills buildings also sit in a valley, which traps the air instead of allowing it to carry toxins away.

Stephen Felker Jr. of Avondale Mills said the company has spent more than $140 million on cleaning, repairs and damage mitigation.

But researchers have learned that existing and new metals brought into the facility corroded because chlorine was still present and reacting with other agents.

"It just takes a very minute level of contamination to start that corrosion process," said Jeff Schwenk, president of Continental Machinery, a company involved in the investigation. "After a while it was clear to us that this would be a continuing problem." July 18th, 2006 The State.com

Railroads are willing to gamble with public safety AS I SEE IT Editorial

As a conductor with almost 30 years experience with the former Missouri Pacific and now Union Pacific, I feel compelled to comment on this important topic.

Historically, the rail industry has claimed poverty in order to gain reductions in train and engine employees.

Union Pacific just had its largest quarterly revenue in its history, but this still isn’t enough to feed its greed. Now the rail industry is willing to gamble with the public’s safety in order to reduce the crew size to a single person.

Earlier this year Union Pacific finally got around to providing its train and engine crews with anti-terrorism training: It was a 15-minute video.

As a local union officer, I have firsthand knowledge of the dozens of complaints filed in recent years with the Federal Railroad Administration concerning hazardous materials.

The railroads rely on technology to track cars carrying hazardous materials instead of having an employee make a physical check of these trains before departure.

Now the railroads are in effect saying to trust their technology to remotely operate 15,000-ton trains through Kansas City neighborhoods. I know better than to put my faith in their technology; I hope you do too. July 17th 2006, Kansas City Star

Leaking rail cars kill fish in creeks State fisheries experts and biologists in hip boots have finished assessing the massive damage done to fish and aquatic life by a Norfolk Southern train derailment that spilled 48,000 gallons of a caustic chemical into high-quality streams in McKean and Cameron counties June 30.

Last week, State Fish and Boat Commission field agents waded through Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek, Driftwood Branch and Sinnemahoning Creek with electro-shocking equipment and nets to determine if any fish survived the slug of sodium hydroxide that poured from three ruptured tank cars. July 16th, 2006, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Turning tankers into WMDs FREIGHT TRAINS hauling thousands of tons of toxic materials -- including chlorine, ammonia and radioactive waste -- are crisscrossing the United States every day, rolling past homes, schools and densely populated areas.

But now, railroad companies want to reduce the size of the crews that control those trains from two or three people to as few as one person.

Critics call the lone crewman proposal "a prescription for disaster," arguing that not enough has been done since Sept. 11, 2001, to safeguard the nation's rail system from terrorist attacks.

"Even one tank car of chlorine, if it derails and opens, has the potential of killing hundreds of people through a deadly cloud," said Frank Wilner, a spokesman for the United Transportation Union, which represents conductors who probably would lose their jobs. July 16th, 2006, Bergen.com

Bush Orders Update of Emergency Alert System President Bush yesterday ordered Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to overhaul the nation's hodgepodge of public warning systems, acknowledging a critical weakness unaddressed since the 2001 terrorist attacks and exposed again last year by Hurricane Katrina.

Bush assigned Chertoff to implement a freshly stated U.S. policy "to ensure that under all conditions the President can communicate with the American people," including in cases of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster or other public danger. July 13th, 2006, Washington Post

Communication also was derailed Editorial Granted, chaos and frustration beat tragedy and grief any day.

It was a spot of luck and a huge relief that no one was killed in Tuesday's subway derailment and fire. So it may strike an ungrateful note to point out that, while it all could have gone so much worse, it also could have gone a whole lot better.

Dozens of anecdotal reports from downtown Tuesday indicate that communications broke down shortly after the CTA Blue Line train did.

Passengers on the damaged train weren't told what had happened, and some feared they were caught in a terrorist attack similar to the commuter rail bombings in India earlier in the day.

Passengers on other trains halted by the accident weren't told what had happened. On the streets, many in the thick crowds of commuters looking for shuttle buses and alternate routes received little helpful information from CTA employees who themselves may have been poorly informed by those managing the crisis.

"The CTA obviously has no emergency response plan that they can implement in these types of situations," wrote Dan Suizzo. "Chicago is just lucky this was just smoke and not poison gas or a bomb, because no one on these trains could see anything, no one from CTA told them what was going on and there was no one from CTA to assist with evacuations." July 13th, 2006, Chicago Tribune

Oregon DEQ scraps railroad cleanup ASHLAND — Because of concerns about newfound levels of arsenic, lead and train fuels in the soil — and a public flap over the thousands of truckloads it would take to get rid of it — the state Department of Environmental Quality has canceled a planned cleanup of the Ashland rail yard, at least for this year.

Union Pacific Railroad was planning to haul out 45,000 cubic yards of contaminated dirt this summer to make way for a residential development but DEQ ruled that research done five years ago — shooting for 30 ppm (parts per million) of arsenic in the remaining soil — was "not defensible," said the agency's project manager, Greg Aitken.

If the railroad decides to move forward with the cleanup, this would have to be reduced much closer to the background level for Ashland, around 7 ppm, Aitken added. In its own research, UP estimates that dropping it to 10 ppm would require the removal of an additional 10,000 to 11,000 cubic yards of soil, Aitken said. July 13th, 2006, Oregon Mail Tribune

Safe Rails/Secure America campaign reaches out to First Responders The Teamsters Rail Conference is reaching out to hazardous materials First Responders in an effort to boost rail security as part of its “High Alert: Safe Rails/Secure America” campaign.

These First Responders are being asked to sign a petition, which will first be faxed to the IBT and later delivered en mass to the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The petition calls on those government agencies to protect American lives by demanding that rail carriers immediately implement a viable security plan to be enforced by the TSA.

Workers who responded to the Teamsters Rail Conference Safe Rails/Secure America survey of safety and security measures on the U.S. rail network report they have no system — other than the railroad radio — to alert First Responders of a hijack, attack, or other emergency. They have received little or no training with regard to security or their roles in the rail carriers’ security plan. They have had inadequate training in safety/terrorism prevention; inspections of infrastructure; hazardous materials; or OSHA’s Emergency Action and/or Emergency Response plans.

“Such vulnerabilities place the lives of train crew members, first responders, and millions of Americans at risk,” BLET National President Don Hahs said. “Only by increasing the pressure on rail corporations can we force a change for the better.” July 11, 2006, BLET

Security gaps around America's freight trains are putting citizens at risk, according to some railway conductors and engineers. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, all they'd have to do is take a pot-shot at a chlorine tanker passing by and you could kill hundreds of thousands of people in one shot," said Tim Smith, chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Every day, trains haul explosives, atomic waste and toxic chemicals like chlorine over 140,000 miles of track, often right through the middle of cities and towns. By one estimate, an explosion of a tanker filled with this substance could kill 100,000 people within 30 minutes. July 11, 2006 Fox News.com

Join the fight for hazmat safety The railroads' reckless disregard of the public safety when it comes to handling hazmat has been stretched to a new level of unacceptable and shameful arrogance.

Railroads have told Congress they should not be held financially liable for their own outrageous conduct. Railroads want liability for hazmat accidents shifted to shippers -- the chemical manufacturers already paying exceptionally high freight rates to move the hazmat. In the alternative, railroads want taxpayers to be responsible for any financial liability flowing from railroad mishandling of hazmat.

For its part, the UTU is cooperating with the FRA in a nationwide safety audit of railroads. Not only will we report carrier violations of safety regulations to the FRA, we also will share the information with other stakeholders committed to improved railroad safety performance. July 10th, 2006, UTU

Prophet has become a martyr Editorial Prophets often become martyrs, as the words they speak are rarely popular.

Donald Faulkner may not have seen himself as a prophet. The veteran BC Rail conductor was one of two men killed June 29 in a tragic derailment on the “big hill” north of Lillooet on the former BC Rail line, now owned and operated by CN. Now he has been martyred.

Several years ago, Faulkner wrote a number of letters opposing the BC Rail privatization to editors of many community newspapers in B.C. When his name was published last week, I immediately recognized it. Regular letter writers’ names often stick with people in my position.

His letters stuck in my mind because he was writing as a result of years of experience with BC Rail and its predecessor, the Pacific Great Eastern. He knew that the challenges of operating BC Rail were quite different than those of operating a mainline railway with easy grades and fewer geographic challenges.

CN, a former government corporation which is now one of the most profitable railways in North America, has the luxury of operating two of the easier rail routes in B.C., in its lines to Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Both have plenty of challenges, but not quite on the scale of BC Rail. July 7th, 2006, Langley Times

CN ordered to use dynamic brakes in Fraser Canyon VANCOUVER -- CN Rail has been ordered to use special brakes on its locomotives in a section of B.C.'s Fraser Canyon where a fatal train derailment occurred last week, according to this report published by The Globe and Mail.

Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said the engines should be equipped with dynamic brakes when travelling in the Lillooet area.

Dynamic brakes are a supplementary braking system that helps control the speed of a train when it's going downhill.

Two train crewmen were killed and a third was injured when a locomotive and the single lumber car it was hauling went off the tracks and plunged down steep cliffs last Thursday (June 29). July 7th, 2006, UTU

NTSB determines that crew fatigue caused train collision and chlorine spill near Macdona, Texas As a result of the derailment the 16th car in the UP train, a tank car loaded with liquefied chlorine, was punctured. The chlorine vaporized and engulfed the area surrounding the accident site. Three people, the UP conductor and two local residents, died from the effects of chlorine gas inhalation.

The Board's investigation determined that sleep debt, disrupted circadian processes, limited sleep during the weekend preceding the accident, and long duty tours reduced the capacity of the UP engineer and conductor to remain awake and alert the night of the accident trip. The Board also noted that the UP conductor's consumption of alcohol on the evening before the accident likely added to his fatigue. July 7th, 2006, BLET

FRA auditing hazmat compliance The Federal Railroad Administration has commenced nationwide a 90-day audit of railroad compliance with hazardous materials transportation regulations.

The audit, which began July 1, will be concentrated during second and third shifts and on weekends. Inbound and outbound trains will be targeted. FRA inspectors will operate in teams. Each of the Class I railroads has been notified of the audit.

Among violations that interest FRA inspectors most are improper placement of hazmat cars in trains and missing or improper documentation of hazmat.

FRA inspectors also will focus on assuring train and engine service employees have received appropriate training in hazmat handling and regulations, and that there is proper placarding of hazmat loads.

UTU International President Paul Thompson urged train and engine service employees to cooperate with FRA inspectors, and to report any railroad's knowing and willful violations to local officers, who should pass the information along to state legislative directors with a copy to general chairpersons. The information will be provided to FRA inspectors. July 5th, 2006 UTU

Freight cars derail chlorine car, forcing families out of about 10 homes HERSHEY, Pa. - Thirteen cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed, including three tankers, and officials evacuated families from about 10 homes within a block of the accident.

One of the derailed cars carried chlorine gas. Officials reported no injuries and no hazardous leaks but said Thursday the homes would remain evacuated while the derailed cars were being removed. July 6th, 2006, Timesleader.com

Mayo Clinic collides with coal trains ROCHESTER, Minn. — Trains rumble slowly through downtown about three times a day, blocking traffic for a few minutes on the threshold of the Mayo Clinic.

But a plan by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) to run mile-long trains loaded with coal through here daily has fueled a bitter eight-year battle pitting the famous clinic and its hometown against a growing railroad.

They say as many as 34 trains could come through a day, blocking traffic and emergency vehicles. Because the trains could carry hazardous materials as well as coal, they also worry that a derailment would prompt Mayo's patients to go elsewhere, which could ruin the local economy.

"If a spill should occur, it would be international news," says Kenneth Brown, chairman of the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners. "Then when somebody needs to go to the doctor, they'll say, 'Maybe I should go to the Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins.' "

The fight began in 1998 when DM&E sought approval to expand and upgrade its tracks from the Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that regulates railroads. The Rochester coalition has tried to block the project since then. July 5th, 2006 USA Today. com

Graniteville Train wreck lawsuits to go to trial next June AIKEN, S.C. (AP) - A trial for several personal injury lawsuits involving a train derailment that killed nine people as it spread a toxic cloud over Graniteville has been scheduled for next spring.

Attorneys for Norfolk Southern said they need to locate at least 25 medical experts to look at different complaints regarding the effects of the chlorine gas that was released into the air when a train crashed into parked railroad cars in 2005. June 30th, 2006 Island Packet.com

Toxic Transport Thousands of tons of hazardous chemicals are transported throughout the United States each day by trucks, trains and barges, often through heavily populated areas. Despite the danger they pose, national security experts say these transports are largely unguarded and very vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

And the terrorists know it. American intelligence agencies have been aware for several years that Al-Qaeda is interested in targeting U.S. railroads. In 2002 the F.B.I. found photographs of U.S. railroad engines, cars and crossings in Al Qaeda's possession.

"I'm sorry to say since 9/11 we have essentially done nothing in this area," Richard Falkenrath, formerly one of President Bush's top advisers on homeland security, said in Senate testimony last year. June 30th, 2006 Now

One-man train crew plan raises train fears Critics say that the proposal could leave trains open to attack; railways say technology will boost security. Thousands of tons of toxic materials — including chlorine, ammonia and radioactive waste — are crisscrossing the United States every day, rolling past homes, schools and densely populated areas.

But now, railroad companies want to reduce the size of the crews that control those trains from two or three people to as few as one person.

Critics who point to the deadly bombings of passenger trains in London and Madrid, Spain, call the lone crewman proposal “a prescription for disaster,” arguing that not enough has been done since Sept. 11, 2001, to safeguard the nation’s rail system from terrorist attacks.

“Even one tank car of chlorine, if it derails and opens, has the potential of killing hundreds of people through a deadly cloud,” said Frank Wilner, a spokesman for the United Transportation Union, which represents conductors who probably would lose their jobs. June 29th, 2006 Kansas City.com

Cleanup continues, residents still displaced after chemical spill

About 50 people remained displaced from their homes near this St. Louis suburb today as crews continued cleaning up hazardous materials spilled when part of a train derailed the previous day.

Officials said about 20 of the 131 cars on the CSX Corp. train went off the tracks about 3 p.m. Tuesday between Troy and St. Jacob, about 20 miles east of St. Louis.

No one was injured, though nearby residents were ordered cleared from their homes as a precaution within a one-mile radius of the wreckage, authorities said. June 28th St Louis Dispatch

Lawsuit Filed over 2004 Bexar Chlorine derailment Two survivors of a 2004 train derailment that resulted in a deadly chlorine gas leak and four volunteer firefighters who responded to the scene have filed a federal lawsuit against the city, county and a sheriff's deputy over the rescue effort's management.

The tragedy that claimed four lives and injured dozens already is the subject of an earlier lawsuit filed in January by different plaintiffs, who accused Union Pacific of safety violations in connection with the disaster. June 27th, 2006 SanAntonio.com

'So shall ye reap' It is written – and most recently by the UTU – that “as ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

Railroad management has been sowing seeds of dishonesty, disinformation and disrespect.

“If the end game of rail management is the destruction of rail labor, then rail management better do some soul searching.”

That was the message of UTU International President Paul Thompson in his state-of-the-union speech June 21 at UTU’s western regional meeting in Reno, Nev.

“Carriers have lied to us during this round of national negotiations. They have attempted to pit one labor union against the other. They say they are in favor of improved safety. But what they do is fail to provide employees with sufficient training and rest. They fail to hire sufficient train crews.

“We exposed their lies about positive train control. We exposed that the technology is experimental. We exposed that the technology doesn’t even work. We exposed that public safety and national security would be jeopardized by one-person crews.

“We won a lawsuit preventing the carriers from demanding we negotiate one-person crews in national negotiations. We forced the carriers back to the bargaining table to discuss training and fatigue mitigation.”

So far, during this current round of national negotiations, Thompson said, railroads “spit in the face of labor and they spit in the face of public safety and national security. June 25th, 2006, UTU President

Safety and Security Concerns about Derailment of Train Hauling Atomic Waste: Inconsistencies Raise Questions about Emergency Preparedness

Surrey Township, Michigan— Concerned citizen groups are raising questions about the nature of the radioactive wastes aboard a derailed train amidst conflicting press reports. The Associated Press first reported that the train, which derailed in the early morning hours of June 16 in Clare County, was hauling eight to ten railcars containing radioactive water used for cooling nuclear materials at Consumers Energy's Big Rock Point nuclear power plant in Charlevoix, Michigan. However, Consumers Energy spokesman Timothy Petrosky later told the Saginaw News that Big Rock no longer ships radioactive liquids, and its cargo aboard the derailed train consisted of radioactively contaminated concrete and soil. According to a spokesman from the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's Waste and Hazardous Materials Division, the six rail cars carrying 42 "inter-modal" atomic waste containers from Big Rock are bound for a licensed radioactive waste dump in Clive, Utah. June 25th, 2006 NIRS.org

Protecting rail workers from nuclear waste exposure LAS VEGAS – Delegates attending the BLET’s First Quadrennial Convention today were warned of the dangers of transporting spent nuclear waste and discussed ways of ensuring their safety as well as the safety of the general public.

Scott Palmer, the BLET’s Oregon State Legislative Board Chairman, alerted the delegates about the serious threat of transporting spent nuclear fuel by rail and the possible threat of radiation poisoning.

Palmer, who has studied the issue in depth, advised the delegates that rail workers do not receive proper training to handle spent nuclear fuel and do not receive the same protections that are afforded other nuclear industry workers. June 22nd, 2006, BLET

Train derails outside Sweetwater A 21-car train derailment just north of Sweetwater forced the evacuation of dozens of people in a half-mile radius of the accident early Tuesday morning.

Sheriff Doug Watson said five cars in the train were carrying hazardous materials, including two cars carrying propane along the Norfolk Southern railway that runs parallel with Highway 11.

The derailment occurred across from two factories just north of the Sweetwater city limits, Tennessee Packaging and Powell Military Supply and near the East Tennessee Livestock Center.

The accident forced Miller Excavating and Valley Building Supply to close.

Watson said the propane would have to be pumped from two overturned railcars.

While Watson stressed the potential danger from the propane cars, other officials were stressing the danger from two other hazardous materials on the train. You can check on the status of friends and family members who have been evacuated by calling (423) 519-0678. June 20th, 2006, Monroe County Online

Missoula Derailment prompts concern It took 38 minutes for Montana Rail Link officials to call 9-1-1 and notify emergency responders that five cars had derailed and one was leaking ethanol in the Missoula switchyard early Sunday.

The derailment occurred at 4:50 a.m. and the call went out to emergency crews at 5:28 a.m, MRL spokesperson Lynda Frost said Monday.

Missoula City Fire and members of their hazmat team were first on the scene and were assessing the situation by 5:39 a.m, said Battalion Chief Russ Beree. At 6:28 a.m., Missoula City Police were called to evacuate four homes next to the switchyard on Phillips Street, and residents were notified of the situation by 7 a.m.

The cause for concern: 12,000 gallons of the colorless, flammable liquid had leaked out of its container. About 12,000 gallons remained in the container, and lying next to it was another full container holding 24,000 gallons of ethanol.

For many residents who contacted the Missoulian on Monday, the response time took far too long to address a chemical spill in the middle of the city and in the middle of their neighborhood. June 20th, 2006 Missoulian

Train Jumps Tracks: Missoula homes evacuated

A five-car derailment in the Montana Rail Link switching yard on Missoula's Northside delivered a rude awakening for residents on the 900 block of Phillips Street early Sunday morning.

Five cars in a 75-car train jumped a broken rail just east of the Scott Street Bridge about 5:30 a.m., shaking the ground and thundering to a halt.

In the tumble, valves on a car carrying ethanol - a colorless, flammable liquid made from distilled agricultural crops - broke and leaked about 12,000 gallons of the liquid before emergency crews were able to stop the flow, said Nate Nunnally, assistant fire marshal for the Missoula Fire Department. June 19th, 2006 Missoulian

Railroad investigating chemical spill that snarled commuting

CHICAGO -- The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company is still investigating what caused one of its trains to spill several bags of acid powder along the tracks west of Chicago last week.

The spill stranded thousands of Metra commuters train riders for as long as four hours Thursday evening while hazardous-materials crews cleared the area.

Metra chairman Jeffrey Ladd said part of the problem was that Burlington Northern did not have a hazmat crew readily available when it was discovered that as many as 35 bags of stearic acid had been scattered along a 27-mile stretch between Cicero and Aurora. June 19th, 2006 BLET

Train derailment called sabotage FARWELL, Mich. -- The derailment of a train carrying radioactive material from the defunct Big Rock Nuclear Power Plant appears an act of sabotage, railroad officials said today.

"We feel strongly there was some tampering, some vandalism going on," said Mike Bagwell, chief executive of Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway.

Seventeen of the train's 38 cars left the tracks about 1:15 a.m. Friday as it traveled through a switch near the Renosol Corp. plant in Surrey Township, Clare County officials have said. June 19th, 2006 BLET

Hazmat shippers oppose 1-person crews

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In what may be a first for rail labor, a major shipper organization told Congress it shares with train and engine service employees an urgent safety concern.

Specifically, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) told the House Railroad Subcommittee that “proposals to permit one-person train crews should not be considered until proven technology solutions are in place to allow for safe operations with a single crew member.” June 16th, 2006, UTU

Graniteville Coalition asks for money to plan recovery Discussions about the most effective ways to help the recovery of Graniteville continued at an Aiken County Council budget work session Wednesday.

This group is hardly alone in its efforts to secure funding for Graniteville's well-being. Last week representatives of another community group came to a budget work session trying to convince the council that a $340,000 state allocation for Graniteville disaster relief should be spent on an emergency alert system and health screenings.

Larry Fridie said Wednesday that a strategic plan would include issues such as affordable housing and economic development.

He said about 7,000 people were affected by the train wreck.

"Now we've got an employment issue that also has to be put into this plan," said Mr. Fridie, referring to the recent announcement that Avondale Mills will shut down its Aiken County operations in July. June 15th, 2006, Augusta Chronicle

Weeds menace railroad Officials propose controversial use of herbicides.

The Alaska Railroad is reopening an old and contentious debate with a plan to use herbicides to kill weeds, brush and other plant growth in and alongside its tracks.

Railroad officials have sought to resume using chemical weed-killers several times, but resistance from rural Railbelt communities like Talkeetna and environmental groups have stopped each effort. One opponent, Pam Miller of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, said at least two of the chemicals the railroad is proposing to use are known to cause health problems or birth defects. June 14th, 2006 Anchorage Daily News

Railroads Ask Congress To Limit Financial Risk Chemical industry opposes liability cap for rail shipment of hazardous materials Declaring that the existing environment for transporting hazardous materials is "untenable," the nation's railroads are asking Congress to either provide the industry with liability limits or eliminate its federal mandate to carry chlorine, ammonia, and other toxic substances.

"The railroad industry cannot continue to transport highly hazardous material under the conditions that currently exist," Association of American Railroads (AAR) President Edward R. Hamberger told the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee's Railroads Subcommittee on June 13. June 14th, 2006, Chemical and Engineering News

Testimony of Bob Chipkevich, Director Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations National Transportation Safety Board
...However, despite these improvements, railroad accidents in the past five years, such as those in Minot, North Dakota; Macdona, Texas; and Graniteville, South Carolina have raised new concerns about the safety of transporting hazardous materials in railroad tank cars. The derailment of a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train near Minot, North Dakota, on January 18, 2002, resulted in the catastrophic failure of five tank cars. Each tank car held almost 30,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia, a poisonous liquefied gas. The nearly instantaneous release of 146,700 gallons of anhydrous ammonia resulted in a toxic vapor plume that was approximately 300 feet thick and 5 miles long. An estimated 11,600 residents of Minot were affected by the toxic plume. One resident was fatally injured, 11 were seriously injured and 322 others sustained minor injuries. Damages and environmental clean-up activities exceeded $10 million dollars. Another 74,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia were released from six additional damaged tank cars over a five-day period following the derailment. June 13th, 2006 NTSB.Gov

Trainload of debate on nuke storage Environmental groups vow to fight a Utah tribe's plan. If approved, waste would likely roll on Denver tracks.

The Goshutes have signed a deal with a consortium of utilities to create a temporary storage site on their reservation, 45 miles west of Salt Lake City, for as much as 40,000 metric tons of spent fuel rods that once powered nuclear reactors.

The idea is controversial: Seal the radioactive rods in 4,000 concrete and steel casks, surround them with two 8-foot fences, and let them sit for decades in a kind of nuclear parking lot until a more permanent solution is ready.

Much of that waste would probably travel to the reservation by train through Denver.

Environmental groups call it irresponsible. Some of the tribe's own members say it violates American Indian values. The governor of Utah has vowed to lie down on the railroad tracks to stop the project. June 11th, 2006, Denver Post

Springing a Leak: Montana Rail Link digs up a diesel spill

In the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 3, workers at Montana Rail Link (MRL) were busy moving locomotives around the Missoula rail yard when three locomotives unexpectedly ended up in the same place at the same time. One of those locomotives “sideswiped” another, rupturing the other engine’s fuel tank and spilling nearly 2,500 gallons of diesel fuel onto the ground about 225 yards east of the Northside pedestrian overpass. Missoula Independent June 8th, 2006

05 crash doomed textiles company
S.C. chlorine spill sent firm into death spiral

When a Norfolk Southern train slammed into another on a railroad spur near Graniteville, S.C., in 2005, chaos and chlorine filled the air.

The accident, near a manufacturing complex operated by Georgia-based textiles maker Avondale Mills, ruptured a tanker car, releasing deadly chlorine gas. Nine people, including six Avondale workers, died after inhaling the gas.

On Tuesday, the train accident claimed another victim.

Avondale Mills, which is based in Monroe, said it will close most of its 17 textiles plants by July 31. A few plants might be sold, but most of the company's 4,000 workers, including about 500 in Georgia, are likely to lose their jobs. Atlanta Journal Constitution May 31st, 2006

Settlement Reached In Deadly Train Derailment And Chemical Spill COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Avondale Mills Incorporated says it has reached a $215 million settlement with its insurance company for damages at its Graniteville, S.C. plants caused by a train derailment and toxic chemical spill.

The company says it already has been paid $115 million by Factory Mutual Insurance Company in connection with the January 2005 accident.

Nine people were killed and hundreds hospitalized when a Norfolk Southern train derailed after it ran into parked rail cars and spilled a toxic cloud of chlorine gas.

The settlement comes a day after the company said it would close or sell all its plants in three states. May 23rd, 2006, WSOCTV.com

Devastating news not really a surprise Graniteville -- Mrs. Craig, 53, said she did not know how she would recover from the latest round of bad news to hit the mill town.

"I'm afraid of bankruptcy now," she said. "I've about lost everything I've got now. The only thing I've held on to is the house."

Mrs. Craig, who said she has suffered from heart and lung ailments since the 2005 train derailment and chlorine spill that killed nine people and displaced thousands more, did not think others in the community would fare much better." Graniteville resident Tina Bevington said the closings were inevitable.
"The disaster wasn't over the day after the disaster," she said. May 22nd Augusta Chronicle

Avondale Mills could close all its plants GRANITEVILLE, S.C. - Georgia-based Avondale Mills said it is considering closing all its plants because of increased foreign competition and a train wreck more than a year ago that released a cloud of corrosive chlorine gas just outside the gates of its Graniteville plant, killing nine people.<