Hot Zone news Archives 2007

Judge denies class-action for lawsuit over 2005 UP train derailment TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) - A federal

judge has ruled that a lawsuit over a 2005 train derailment in Texarkana that killed one and sickened others will not become a class-action lawsuit.

District Court Judge Harry Barnes ruled the lawsuit over the Union Pacific railroad crash can move forward, but only with the specific complaints of Samuel Alexander, Gloria Bradford, Ned Burnett and Stella Smith.

In his ruling, Barnes said the lawsuit over the crash did not meet the requirements of a class-action lawsuit.

A trial is scheduled to begin June 2nd.

The October 15, 2005, derailment triggered an explosion that killed a woman who lived near a Texarkana railyard.

A train from Chicago struck another train, from Pine Bluff, in the yard on the south side of town. Some of the cars derailed in an accordion effect, piercing a propylene tanker that leaked part of its flammable cargo. December 31st, 2007,CapitalNews9.com

Ten months after one of the worst local derailments in recent memory, Dave Markson and his neighbors still catch their breath when they hear a train coming.

“All the years we lived here, we never paid any attention to the train,” said Markson, whose home abuts the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad line in Fulton Township. “Now when the train comes through, we all stop and look at it, you know, with our hearts in our mouths, hoping it doesn’t derail.”

But Markson and his neighbors didn’t just sit in fear waiting for the next derailment. They took action, launching a letter-writing campaign to local and state officials asking them to support a plan to improve the rail.

Now, their actions might lead to the largest improvement project in Wisconsin & Southern Railroad’s history, a railroad official said—provided the company gets funding from the state.

Wisconsin & Southern formed plans to replace the rail between Madison and Milton after successive derailments in Fulton Township. The first, Feb. 16, knocked 14 cars off the track and cost the company $1.2 million.

On April 21, another seven cars went off the track.

Shortly after the derailments, the company announced a plan to replace the 90-pound, 80-year-old rail between Milton and Madison with new, 115-pound rail.

But Wisconsin & Southern needs state assistance to make the plan a reality. While the railroad pays for track maintenance, the state pays 80 percent of upgrade costs. The remaining 20 percent is split between the rail company and local governments. December 18th, 2007, Gazettextra.com

Massive Train Derailment: 30 cars off the tracks in southeast Edmonton Crews are cleaning up a

thirty-car train derailment about 40 km southeast of Edmonton.

About 3:35 a.m., Strathcona County Mounties were advised of the derailment near Highway 630 and Range Road 211, near the south entrance to the Antler Lake subdivision. Mounties made their way to the scene and determined that there were no injuries in the incident.

They say they've been advised by CN that none of the derailed cars contain hazardous materials.

Work to restore the rail line will be ongoing and area residents should expect workers and equipment in the area.

Mounties ask that people driving in the area slow down as they pass work crews. December 4th, 2007, EdmontonSun.com

Derailed train cleared, cause under investigation BALTIMORE (Map, News) - CSX says railcars have been cleared from tracks in Baltimore after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed near M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

About a dozen cars of the 131-car CSX Transportation train traveling from Philadelphia to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, came off the tracks on Saturday.

CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan says the cars were cleared off the track late Saturday and trains were able to run through that area again by 10:30 a.m. Sunday. One car that overturned carried residue of tetrachloroethylene, an ingredient in cleaning solutions that can be toxic if inhaled, but Sullivan says nothing had leaked from the cars. November 25th, 2007, The Examiner.com

CPR v. the NIMBYs at Mayo Clinic
It was full-speed ahead for Canadian Pacific Railway's U.S. rail acquisition, right up until the renowned Mayo Clinic suggested that a little-used stretch of rail a few blocks from its Rochester, Minn., campus could be a big problem - especially if it were targeted by terrorists

When Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. went cross-border shopping and spent $1.5-billion (U.S.), it didn't count on a little-used stretch of track near the world famous Mayo Clinic to throw the deal off course.

Just last week, CPR executives said they expected to receive clearance to buy the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp. by May. Any regulatory decision will now likely be postponed until next October, after the U.S. Surface Transportation Board ruled that it will take a detailed look at Calgary-based CPR's plan to buy DM&E from private equity owners.

The ruling comes after a series of complaints, including from rail rival Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. of Fort Worth, Tex., and the Mayo Clinic, which is sounding the alarm on potential terrorism on trains or derailments near the renowned hospital in Rochester, Minn.

Hospital officials argue that William Worrall Mayo staked the ground first.

The Rochester Coalition, a group of Minnesota business and government leaders, opposes plans for sharply increased train traffic without adequate safety buffers.

"This is definitely a grassroots protest," said Bruce Fairchild, regional director of operations at the Kahler Grand Hotel and three other hotels near the Mayo Clinic.

"It's not that we don't want Canadians down here investing their money. If you take a look, you'll see that the train tracks come right through heart of Rochester at street level," Mr. Fairchild said in an interview from the stately Kahler, built in 1921 across the street from the Mayo Clinic.

Today, the medical complex, which employs 28,000 people, has more than 1,500 hospital beds near tracks to be acquired by CPR. Intensive care patients, premature newborns, transplant recipients and accident victims would be placed at risk in the event of a derailment of hazardous materials, with few options for evacuation, the Mayo Clinic said its filing to the regulatory board.

"While Mayo Clinic closely guards the confidentiality of its patients, public information routinely available reveals that national and international leaders and their family members routinely travel to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for diagnosis and treatment of highly complex medical diseases and disorders," the hospital added in its submission. "Such information will not have escaped the notice of those desiring to cause harm and makes Mayo Clinic a unique terrorist target."

The sprawling hospital is vulnerable because it is within two or three blocks of train tracks, and in some cases, right next to the rails, Mayo Clinic spokesman Chris Gade said in an interview yesterday.

The Mayo Clinic said in its filing that it hasn't decided whether to oppose the actual sale of DM&E, but it stated major reservations about CPR's coal expansion plans because up to 43 trains a day would go through Rochester at high speeds, up from two or three trains at slow speeds.

There have been a series of rail owners over the years, including DM&E since 1986, with just two or three trains a day.

CPR first announced the corporate takeover on Sept. 5. The centrepiece of its U.S. expansion strategy would be acquiring Sioux Falls, S.D.-based DM&E's right to haul coal at the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

Burlington and Union Pacific Corp. already transport Wyoming coal, and Burlington has filed its objections to CPR's plans. Other opponents include the City of Winona in Minnesota, the Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa Northern Railway Co.

"While large-scale rail incidents involving hazardous materials are thankfully rare, the potential for disaster for the Mayo Clinic is real," said the hospital, which was successful earlier this year in helping thwart DM&E's plans to obtain $2.3-billion in federal U.S. loans for expansion into Wyoming coal. November 6th, 2007, GlobeandMail.com

Clara City Train Derailment Tragedy Narrowly Averted, As Evacuees Allowed to Go Home

Track problem caused train derailment near Bonner Officials with Montana Rail Link say that a problem with the tracks is to blame for a train derailment that happened near Bonner over the weekend.

MRL says that about 140 feet of track was torn up during the derailment and crews spent most of Saturday re-railing a train car and two locomotives that went off the tracks and fixing the stretch of rail damaged in the incident.

The train car was empty when it derailed after midnight Saturday as it was returning from Opportunity Pond near Anaconda where it dumped off a load of contaminated sediments from the Milltown Dam cleanup site. October 29th, 2007, KPAX.com

Clara City, Minnesota Train Derailment Causes Hydrochloric Acid Leak, Results in Evacuation of 400 People A train derailment in Clara City, Minnesota, forced the evacuation of hundreds of people this morning after it was discovered that a tanker on the train had ruptured and was leaking hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is a highly toxic chemical that can cause severe injuries if it comes into contact with skin or eyes, and its vapors can also cause damage to the lungs and respiratory tract.

The Clara City train derailment occurred on the west side of Clara City, a town of 1,350 people about 95 miles from Minneapolis. According to town officials, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train was passing through Clara City when it struck a parked train at approximately 4:00 a.m. At least 50 cars from the Burlington Northern train came off the tracks, and one tanker that was known to be carrying hydrochloric acid had ruptured and was leaking. Hydrochloric acid is a highly corrosive and toxic liquid that can become a mist if it comes in contact with water. Inhaling hydrochloric acid vapors can cause coughing, choking, inflammation of the nose, throat, and upper respiratory tract, and in severe cases, pulmonary edema, circulatory failure, and death. The vapors from hydrochloric acid can irritate and damage the eyes, and direct contact with the toxin can cause redness, pain, and severe skin burns.

Though no injuries were reported from the Clara City train derailment, about 400 people living on the west and north sides of town, as well as several outlying farms, were evacuated to the Bethany Reformed Church. Town officials said that it could be more than 6 hours before the Clara City train derailment evacuees would be able to return to their homes, and they were instructed to bring any pets and vital medications with them.

The Clara City train derailment also forced the closure of schools in the MacCray School District. That school district serves students in the towns of Clara City, Raymond and Maynard. District officials made the decision to close all schools after it was discovered that the chemical cloud created by the Clara City train derailment had headed in the direction of the high school parking lot in Clara City. That parking lot is used by school buses for picking up and dropping off students from several elementary schools. In addition, state highways 7 and 23 had to be closed because of the Clara City train derailment, making student transport difficult. October 29th, 2007, NewsInferno.com

20 years after Montana Rail Link took over track owned by Burlington Northern things have

settled down Funny thing about trains. They're too huge, too powerful, too romantic, too graceful and all too familiar to be of much interest these days.

Take the coal train puffing west from Big Timber the other day. Who cared that it was 125 cars long, and that at any one moment it occupied more than a mile and a quarter of track?

That three giant locomotives pulled the train, but they weren't going to be nearly enough after it cleared the yard in Livingston and approached Bozeman Hill?

That the two engineers in charge had to be off duty and on their way home by 7 p.m.?

Don Smith cared.

His domain is the nearly 1,000 miles of track controlled by Montana Rail Link. In the company's 20 years of existence, Smith has been a clerk in the Missoula yard, a dispatcher at headquarters off North Reserve Street and, since 1992, director of train movement.

"If it's happening within 4 feet of the rail, it's being funneled through this office," Smith said.

The process has changed substantially in 20 years. Gone are the handwritten train orders and hand-pulled yard switches.

These days, siding switches are remote controlled from the Missoula office, sometimes

350 miles or more away...

The Montana Rail Link era dawned bleak, long before the sun came up.

There were 15 to 18 trains running just after midnight on Oct. 31, 1987, when the line changed hands from Burlington Northern to the infant (and lower-paying) Montana Rail Link, one of a number of companies owned by Missoula industrialist Dennis Washington.

Pickets went up across the state as union demonstrators rallied against the BN spinoff. At 3 a.m., three engines in the Livingston rail yard were sent hurtling by vandals. They wrecked on Bozeman Hill at nearly 100 mph, costing BN some $3 million and launching an FBI investigation.

Helper engines in Helena were sabotaged.

Windows were broken at the yard office in Missoula, and by mid-day someone had released the brakes on six cars in Missoula. The rolling convoy was spotted and stopped.

Former Burlington Northern employees were slow to show up for work in face of protesters, who claimed the new line was a union-busting "puppet railroad" to BN.

"It's been some kind of weekend, but everything is running properly now," then-MRL president William Brodsky said the following Monday.

The storms weren't over. Derailments and communications snafus plagued the early years, most notably the cold winter day in 1989 when an unmanned MRL train rolled into Helena, collided with a work train near Carroll College, exploded and knocked out power to much of the city.

Other well-publicized disasters dotted the ensuing decades, including a devastating chlorine spill near Alberton in 1996 and a runaway train in 1997 that flew backward down the Clark Fork Valley from Garrison before a forced derailment east of Rock Creek near Bonita.

Still, MRL's legitimacy as an independent business was proved early on. Ron Dean, international vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, said as much in 1992.

"Prior to startup and after startup - for months and months - the criticism was just heaped on Montana Rail Link. Political pressure was used. Any opportunity to criticize them in the media was used. The critics have absolutely been proven wrong," said Dean.

Safety remains a hot-button issue. The public often hears about MRL only at times of accidents or incidents.

Company president Tom Walsh points to encouraging trends: Worker injuries are down 36 percent in 2007, and there were just four "reportable accidents" - damages totaling $8,200 or more - in the first nine months of the year.

That compared to 21 over the same period last year, and MRL is positioned to break its previous 12-month mark of 11 reportable accidents. Ocotber 28th, 2007, Missoulian.com

Investigation into cause of Painesville train derailment could take two years PAINESVILLE -- There has been no official determination of the cause of a cargo train derailment that created a fire that burned for days and forced hundreds out of their homes for nearly a week.
Painesville fire officials say the cause of the derailment will be determined by the National Transportation Safety Board and that the final report could take up to two years to complete.

CSX is in the process of reimbursing municipalities for reasonable costs incurred during the disaster. Officials say the company has been very cooperative.

The 30 plus cars which derailed contained mostly ethanol, a hazardous flammable liquid, but considered non-toxic. There were also concerns about a tanker or propane-which had firefighter concerned about a potential explosion. Concerns over that tanker car extended the evacuation for those living closest to the tracks.

To date, the city of Painesville says it has been reimbursed for $134,000 for safety forces overtime, vehicle usage, supplies and other expenses. A total of 51 area fire departments responded to the disaster. To date, authorities say 20 have submitted bills for their expenses to CSX totaling $275,000. October 26th, 2007, WKYC.com

RUNAWAY CHLORINE CAR: Rail tanker escape reviewed The runaway chlorine tanker that bisected Las Vegas on Aug. 29 has the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada looking at broader railroad safety issues.

At a Wednesday meeting, Director of Regulatory Operations Kirby Lampley suggested that the commission consider asking the Legislature to fund an additional railroad inspector position. The commission now has four.

A fifth inspector, Lampley said, could take up the responsibility of inspecting switches, which allow trains to change tracks, and crossing guards.
No action was taken on Lampley's suggestion because the commission agenda listed the tanker incident as a discussion item only.

The incident in Las Vegas involving a loaded tanker with the potential to set off Clark County's worst-case disaster scenario was set in motion by a switching mistake.

However, investigators for the commission found that it was human error, not mechanical failure, that began the near-disastrous chain of events.

That fact was a prominent one to Commissioner Sam Thompson, who wanted to know what measures have been taken to prevent human error from sending another runaway car shooting across Las Vegas.
"That type of human mistake could occur again," Thompson said.

Commission Manager of Safety and Quality Assurance Grant Siwinski outlined the new safety measures enacted by Union Pacific at the Arden train yard for Thompson.

All tracks exiting Arden to the north have been blocked by a braked anchor car. If a tanker escapes control of yard staff, Siwinski said, the runaway would not be able to roll free of the yard.
Communication also was a major issue during the 19-minute episode that saw the tanker travel 20 miles from south to north.

While yard staff immediately informed Union Pacific dispatch of the runaway car, police weren't contacted by the railroad company until about eight minutes into the incident.

Thompson asked whether railroad employees have been told to call local police immediately in emergency situations and Siwinski said yes. "The railroad understands that incidents like this need to be reported to local police," Siwinski said.

Commission investigators were the first ones to reach Arden yard after the tanker incident occurred. They are working together with the Federal Railroad Administration and Union Pacific on identifying how the tanker escaped yard control.

Siwinski said a final report has not yet been completed. He did say the conductor of the three-person crew handling the chlorine car took full responsibility for the incident because the conductor had failed to inspect and manually align the switch that would have kept the car from accessing a track that exited the yard.

Other errors also were made, Siwinski said. Miscommunication between the yard and Union Pacific dispatch in Omaha, Neb., also contributed to the escape of the tanker from the yard.

Better training and awareness of the regulations on the part of Union Pacific staff might have prevented the entire incident, Siwinski said.

The tanker incident and the potential of a chlorine gas leak sent shudders through municipal, county and federal leadership, whose members have worked with Union Pacific to revise safety and response protocols. In 2006, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Institute for Security Studies conducted a vulnerability assessment of the state and found that the most deadly disaster the state could face was a chlorine gas accident.

The report found that a massive leak could kill up to 91,000 people if a loaded tanker vented its contents in a densely populated area. October 25th, 2007, Congressman Joe Porter House.gov

Milltown sediment heads for Opportunity Ponds MILLTOWN – The first load of the 2.2 million cubic yards of contaminated sediments to be excavated from the Milltown Reservoir Superfund Site rolled away Tuesday afternoon.

In 28 brand-spanking-new shiny black railcars, nearly 3,000 tons of the arsenic- and copper-laden material headed southeast to its new home at Opportunity Ponds near Anaconda.
The trainload marked another milestone in the cleanup of Milltown Reservoir.

“It’s a big day for us,” said Matt Fein, Envirocon’s senior project engineer.

Over the next two years, an estimated 30,000 railcar loads of sediment will follow the same route to the expansive Atlantic Richfield Co.’s Opportunity Ponds mine waste repository.

“There will be one train a day with between 45 and 55 cars running seven days a week, with the exception of a few holidays,” said Fein. “Each car will carry just a little over 100 tons of material.”

Since January, Envirocon has stockpiled about 450,000 cubic yards of sediment excavated from the huge bypass channel that will reroute the Clark Fork River sometime this winter. It’s enough to keep the trains running for about six months.

On Tuesday, large loaders were busy scooping up the jet black soil from the towering 20-foot tall windrows stacked neatly on the delta just upstream from Milltown Dam into the waiting railcars.

The plan calls for spreading the material about 2 feet deep over hundreds of acres at the Opportunity Ponds – where it will act as a cap for toxic mine wastes stored at the site. The soils at the facility are so contaminated with heavy metals that weeds won’t even sprout.
While contaminated with its own toxic brew, the Milltown sediment is rich in organic material.

“Stuff will definitely grow in it,” Fein said. “We had weeds growing all over our stockpiles.”

Envirocon crews will spread the material over the site. Atlantic Richfield employees will then add whatever soil amendments might be needed before applying grass seed.

Dust has been a problem for people living near the Opportunity Ponds for years.

While some people are opposed to bringing even more toxic soil to the site, Fein said using the sediment to cap a portion of the area should help with the dust problem.

“Even as hot as it was all summer long here, we never had a problem with dust out here,” he said. “It’s just the nature of this material. It doesn’t blow away. I think this is going to be a big help to those people.”

It will take about 800 days to move the 2.2 million cubic yards of sediment above Milltown Dam to the Opportunity Ponds.

If you put the railcars needed to move that much material end to end, they’d stretch 350 miles. Stack them on top of each other and they’d soar 50 miles into the sky, Fein said.
The trainloads filled with sediment will pull out of Milltown each day sometime after the normal shift ends around 5 p.m. October 22nd, 2007, Missoula.com

RUNAWAY TRAIN: Learning from the Vegas tanker scare Most people don't know what's transported through their towns By PATRICIA ABBATE SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL OPINION Fortunately for Las Vegas, the recent incident involving a runaway rail tanker filled with chlorine gas was only a frightening "wake-up" call -- not the catastrophe it could have been should it have derailed or exploded. Officials in your area, particularly Rep. Jon Porter, should be commended for calling all parties to the table to understand how this happened and where responsibility lies. But considering the potential destruction this incident posed, much more needs to be done.

As head of Citizens for Rail Safety (CRS) -- an advisory group on rail safety -- and a participant at Rep. Porter's forum on the subject, I would advise looking far beyond the apologies of the railroad industry or the limited changes made to these particular tracks. Instead, I would use this frightening incident as impetus to look more closely at the threats within our national rail system.

CRS reports on a number of issues regarding the safety, security and capacity of our railroads, including hazardous waste transport and the involvement of trains in terrorist acts. Las Vegas' runaway tanker incident provides a dangerous example of two of our main areas of focus.

We have found through our research that the majority of Americans are unaware of the fact that more than 1.7 million shipments of hazardous materials are transported every year through cities, towns and rural areas throughout the country. Trains carrying combustible substances such a ammonia, alcohol and chlorine almost always arrive at their destinations safely but the few that don't have caused enormous destruction -- from loss of life through contamination, to environmental damage to millions in response and cleanup costs. Not all chemical spills involving rail cars pose as great a threat as a runaway chlorine tanker speeding through downtown Las Vegas, but just one -- at that kind of scale -- would be too many. To avoid such a scenario, we must act immediately to provide better oversight of the entire process by which hazardous materials are transported, including:

-- More accountability from the private carriers who haul the material.

-- Better coordination among the many parties that move and regulate materials as well as those who investigate spills.

-- More time and money into better training our first responders.

The near-miss incident in Las Vegas -- with predictions of a doomsday scenario -- was not lost on anyone in post-9/11 America who has a sense of what terrorists are after. The potential use of our railroads as terrorist targets or weapons, is, above all else, the most important lesson we can learn from this summer incident.

Earlier this year, Citizens for Rail Safety sponsored a report conducted by Penn State University on the potential for and response to the use of railways as terrorist targets and/or weapons. While there needs to be far more research done on the subject, our study concluded that the threat of terrorism by rail is very real while the plan to counter such an event -- or even respond to it -- is all but nonexistent. October 21st, 2007, Review Journal.com

Should We Be Rerouting Hazardous Materials On Trains? Opinion

The citizens of Lake County are very lucky that no one was hurt or killed in the recent train derailment in Painesville. According to the EPA the trains contained alcohol based materials like ethanol and butane. But what about next time? What if the trains had been carrying chlorine or another hazardous material? In my opinion we should not be building houses right next to train tracks. Heisley Park and other housing development in Lake County are way to close for comfort. However if there was a derailment involving a hazardous substance like chlorine everyone could be affected.

Should we be rerouting hazardous materials on trains? Here are some resources and articles that will make you think. Please feel free to leave a comment about your opinion on this matter. October 15th, 2007, Lake County Live

Hazardous cargo legislation stalled on the tracks

Long before the train derailment just outside of Painesville, efforts to reroute hazardous loads around Cleveland have been in the works.
In this twisted metal and a fiery blast furnace are hazardous materials including ethanol. Six hundred people in a half mile radius of the train derailment were evacuated. By most accounts though, it could have been much worse.

"It's pretty horrific and it just shows you how real these problems are," Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone said.

City Councilman Matt Zone proposed rerouting trains with hazardous loads around Cleveland's most densely populated areas last year.

"Most of the cargo that comes through is not for a destination here in our city limits," Zone said.

With the help of 2000 Census figures and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission we took that same half mile radius evacuation area put into effect in Painesville then centered it over Warren Road in Lakewood and the intersecting CSX tracks.

If a train went off the tracks here like that in Lake County, more then eight thousand people would be affected. October 12th, 2007, WKYC.com

Some residents in vicinity of derailment allowed to return home The decision applies only to residents on Brookstone, Cobblestone and Forestbrook lanes.

Those residents were ordered out of their homes on Wednesday after a 113-car CSX Railroad train derailed, leading to an ongoing fire. Concerns arose that cars on fire that carried ethanol and nonhazardous phthalic anhydride could leak and cause a flare-up during the National Transportation Safety Board's cause investigation. October 12th, 2007, NewsHerald.com

Train Derailment Fire Burns Into 2nd Day PAINESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Firefighters on Thursday battled a train derailment fire for a second day and some residents who had been evacuated were allowed to return to their homes.

When the CSX train derailed Wednesday, homes and businesses within one-half mile of the site had been evacuated. It wasn't immediately clear how many people were allowed to return, but the original evacuation zone had more than 1,000 residents.

"The people closest to the incident are still being kept out," said Ken Gauntner, Lake County administrator.

Firefighters had spent the night keeping water on a tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas.

"Now that we have the light of day, we're going to attack the actual fire and put it out," Gauntner said.

About 30 cars in the 112-car train derailed, and eight derailed cars were carrying potentially hazardous materials. Ethanol was carried on some cars, and one had liquefied petroleum gas, said Garrick Francis, a spokesman for Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX Corp.

No injuries were reported. The train was traveling from Collingwood to Buffalo, N.Y.
October 11th, 2007, AP

A CSX train derailed near the Lubrizol Corp. plant in Painesville shortly after noon Wednesday.
Early reports suggested several cars in the train, which was traveling to New York, ignited when they struck a gas line, but that cannot be confirmed, Painesville Fire Capt. Ken Takacs said.
"They will not be able to determine (a cause for the derailment) until the fire is out and they do a rail examination," Painesville Lt. Denise Mercsak said.
Of the train's 112 cars, 30 railroad cars were blown off the tracks and 13 ignited. They continued to burn because some of the cars were carrying ethanol, Painesville Township Fire Chief Frank Whitakker said. October 11th, 2007, News Herald.com

Der

ailed train: 1,000 to remain evacuated for another night PAINESVILLE -- Law enforcement authorities in Lake County said Thursday at a news conference that an evacuation order will remain in effect for about 1,000 people displaced because of a train derailment.

The area still under evacuation includes a 300 home development known as Heisley Park, and three streets: Brookstone, Cobblestone and Forestbrook. Law enforcement refer to the area as a "hot zone" and say the evacuation order will likely last through the day and night Thursday, although they say that is subject to change.

The only road which remains closed is Route 44 north and south between Route 2 and Route 84.

About 30 cars of a CSX cargo train went off the tracks Wednesday, causing an explosion and fire. Most of the burning cars contained ethanol. But safety forces have been keeping a close watch on a tanker car of propane and another carrying a corrosive, Phthalic anhydride. October 10th, 2007, AP

Runaway tanker 911 calls Last month, a runaway railway tanker raced through the heart of Las Vegas. It was loaded with 90 tons of liquid chlorine, an extremely dangerous and caustic chemical.

Metro police have released the 911 tapes from people that witnessed the tanker on its trip through the city. News 3's Jesse Corona reports.

Operator: Do you need police, fire or medical?

Caller: I'm not sure, I have a runaway train car

You can hear it in their voices, even in a city where you can witness a lot of strange sights, the image of a railway tanker on the tracks by itself is hard to believe.

Caller: We just had a tanker come flying by on the railroad tracks. No locomotive at all, doing about 30-40 miles an hour heading north on the tracks.

Operator: What are you reporting northbound on the tracks?

Even 911 operators aren't sure what to make of the calls.

Operator: What type of train was it you said?

Caller: It was a tanker car. What was in the tank I don't know, but it went by us like a shot.

Union Pacific officials say somehow the tanker, loaded with 90 tons of liquid chlorine, somehow broke loose from the Arden Train Yard south of the city near state Route 160. From there, it was a straight shot downhill into Vegas

Operator: And it was by itself, it didn't have an engine on it at all?

Caller: Nothing at all, it was all by itself and it was flying by our plant real fast.

And the calls kept coming in

Caller: This my second time to call in. I want to make sure you're clear. This is one of those cars that carry acid or some kind of a chemical.

Operator: Some kind of a liquid or kind of thing?

Caller: Yes.

But it wasn't until Union Pacific police called that people got an idea of what kind of disaster was narrowly avoided.

Operator: Okay, it's a runaway rail car?

Union Pacific: One car. Runaway. Believe it's loaded with chlorine. It was rolling pretty good probably 50, 60 miles and hour

Operator: Do you have sight of it?

Union Pacific: No, we lost sight of it but we are attempting to run it down right now.

The train was stopped by Union Pacific engineers who were able to board the tanker in North Las Vegas and use the handbrake.

Union Pacific says the incident is still under investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration but add they have put additional safety measures into place since the incident to make sure cars don't get loose during switching.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said it was "outrageous" that tankers loaded with chemicals like chlorine are able to travel trough the city without his knowledge. His office says he's still working on amending an ordinance that would prohibit the transport of dangerous chemicals through the city without notification. September 2nd, 2007, Review Journal

Runaway tanker could have been disaster Lucky. That's what hazmat officials are calling Las Vegas. On Wednesday, a runaway tanker full of liquid chlorine escaped a railyard south of the city and raced through Las Vegas.

Union Pacific engineers were finally able to get the tanker under control in North Las Vegas.

You've heard of chlorine being used to clean your pool, but you might not know that chlorine gas was used by the Germans in World War I to kill people in trench warfare. It destroys the lungs and victims end up suffocating to death.

When Mayor Oscar Goodman found out that a tanker full of 90 tons of liquid chlorine raced through the heart of the city out of control, he was not pleased. He says he plans on amending the city ordinance that deals with transporting nuclear waste to cover chlorine.

"Without notifying the authorities that it's coming through, I think they should not be permitted to come through," Goodman said. "I think they should have to notify the authorities. They don't have to have an article in the paper, "Cchlorine Coming Today." That's not what I'm asking. But to tell to the responsible people that there's going to be a very dangerous substance going through the community; I believe it's their obligation."

It's more economical to transport chlorine gas by lowering the temperature and turning it into liquid chlorine. Wednesday's tanker was full of 90-tons of liquid chlorine, which hazmat officials say would fill about 250 railway tankers full of chlorine gas. It could have been a disaster if that tanker had collided with something and ruptured during its trip through the city.

The last chlorine spill we had in valley was in 1991. 40 to 70 tons of chlorine gas escaped from the Pioneer Chlor Alali plant in Henderson. About 200 people were treated at the hospital for respiratory problems and thousands of people were evacuated. September 1st, 2007, Review Journal

EDITORIAL: Runaway train Tanker full of chlorine takes unexpected trip through Las Vegas Last year, UNLV's Institute for Security Studies completed a vulnerability analysis on various threats to the state. A number of natural and man-made disasters were assessed to help policymakers and emergency responders plan and prioritize training and funding requests.

The worst scenario the institute could come up with? Not a hijacked jetliner crashing into a Strip resort. And not a breach of a high-level nuclear waste shipment to the planned Yucca Mountain repository northwest of Las Vegas.

No, the biggest single threat to the population and economy of Southern Nevada is a chlorine gas accident. According to the report, if a railroad tanker carrying 34,500 gallons of chlorine crashed and spilled near the Union Pacific overpass at Charleston Boulevard in downtown Las Vegas, the toxic release could kill between 74,000 and 91,000 people under worst-case conditions.

Such a disaster would dwarf the American death toll of the Vietnam War.

So imagine the fear local authorities felt when they got word Wednesday morning that a tanker carrying chlorine gas had escaped the Arden train yard southwest of Las Vegas and was rolling toward the city, picking up speed.

Las Vegas police units sped to railroad crossings, and a department helicopter followed the tanker on its path through the valley.

The runaway tanker sped through the new neighborhoods around the southern Las Vegas Beltway, right past the Strip and over the Charleston bridge. After traveling about 20 miles at speeds up to 50 mph, the tanker finally slowed on an uphill grade, allowing Union Pacific maintenance workers to board it and pull the hand brake.

"Las Vegas dodged a bullet there," said Steve Calanog, chief of emergency response for the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Southwest region. "Had the train car released its contents in a residential area, the results could have been tragic." August 31st, 2007, Review Journal

Runaway chlorine train car rolls unattended through Las Vegas LAS VEGAS (AP) - Railroad officials were investigating Wednesday how a runaway chlorine tank car rolled for 20 miles through Las Vegas before train crews stopped it.

"No one was hurt, there was no damage and there was no leak," Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Mark Davis said by telephone from Omaha, Neb., before he and company officials headed to Nevada to investigate.

Davis said there were no immediate indications of foul play in the mishap, which was reported just before 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The tanker rolled from a siding in Arden, several miles south of Las Vegas, to a site near Lamb Boulevard and the 215 Beltway north of North Las Vegas.

No trains were in the area at the time and no trains were delayed, Davis said. The freight tracks, parallel to Interstate 15, run behind Las Vegas Strip resorts, past downtown Las Vegas and through North Las Vegas.

Witnesses reported a black railroad tanker car rolling alone on the Union Pacific main line through Las Vegas. Davis said automatic signals activated to stop vehicle traffic at crossroads, but Las Vegas police also were notified of what Davis called the "uncontrolled movement" of the tank car. August 29th, 2007, Las Vegas Sun

CN Derailment Debriefing A tanker of 50 thousand gallons of gasoline was venting and igniting as it was being released. The fire was a result of a collision between two CN trains Saturday morning. It is alleged one train was a “runaway” because it had no brakes. One train side swiped the other on the tracks directly across the Fraser River from Paddle Wheel Park and a major populated area of Prince George.

Water bomber drops fire retardant on blaze during height of CN derailment incident ( photo courtesy Dominic Maguire) August 5th, 2007, Opinion.com

Authorities have checked 16,000 people for symptoms of chemical poisoning following a train derailment that ignited tankers loaded with yellow phosphorous and belched clouds of toxic gas in western Ukraine, the health minister said Friday.

Doctors examined thousands of emergency workers and residents in the Lviv region, where the accident occurred, Yuriy Haydaev said. More than 160 people remained hospitalized Friday, including 34 children.

Haydaev said not all of those sent to hospitals had serious symptoms. "We hospitalized all children who feel discomfort in their eyes or throats, at their parents' insistence, but this does not mean they were poisoned," he said.

There were no reported deaths.

The accident occurred Monday when a freight train derailed outside Lviv, near the Polish border, overturning 15 of its 58 cars.

Six tanker cars containing yellow phosphorus caught fire, sending noxious fumes over 90 square kilometers (35 square miles). About 50 million tons of cargo - 70 percent of which include dangerous substances like chlorine, nitrogen, ammonia and petroleum products - are transported by rail through Ukraine annually.

The chemical blaze and health threat sent shock waves through Ukraine, where many still remember the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown and explosion. July 20th, 2007, Pravda

Kids at day-care center accidentally sprayed with railroad herbicide ABINGDON, Va. — Children at a day-care center were accidentally sprayed with herbicide Tuesday when a train sprayed herbicide on weeds along a track near the facility.

Four kids were playing by a fence at Miss Amy's Child Care, when the train passed by spraying the track. Two children complained of irritation in their eyes and itching.

All the children were immediately taken to a grassy area away from the railroad tracks. The four who were sprayed were taken inside, washed off and their clothes were changed.

Robin Chapman, a Norfolk Southern spokesman said the incident will be investigated further, but said a wind shift caused the spray to blow away from the tracks to the day-care center.

NatureChem, the company contracted to spray the herbicide, did not comment.

Railroad workers washed all the day care centers outdoor toys and began removing 105 tons of sand from the play area so it can be replaced. July 20th, 2007, BLET

A train derailment in Ukraine unleashed a toxic cloud that swept over villages and sent at least 20 people to hospitals. The accident rattled Ukrainians who remember the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster two decades ago.

The derailment Monday evening sparked a fire in a cargo of yellow phosphorous and created the toxic cloud of gas. Officials today said the fire had been extinguished and the toxic cloud had dispersed.

For more on the train derailment and toxic cloud, read this report from Kiev, Ukraine, by Natasha Lisova. July 7th, 2007 ASAPBlogs

p.m. July 8, KQED. Part of “Expose” series, produced and written by Joe Rubin, written and edited by Eli Despres.

"Think Like a Terrorist" is the account of a crusade by a reporter at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review to prove that while the flying of an airliner into a building may be a dramatic way of carrying out a terrorist attack, we need to be aware of more prosaic points of vulnerability, such as chemical plants, petroleum refineries and, most of all, tank cars filled with lethal gases such as anhydrous ammonia, which, we are told, seeks out moisture. That means that, if released into the air, it would zero in on human eyeballs and lungs.

Carl Prine, a former Marine, looks like Clark Kent, but if he were Superman, he would have had an easier time of it crisscrossing the country and strolling casually into any number of chemical plants and refineries to prove their vulnerability. Rick Hind of Greenpeace claims that when it comes to security, American chemical plants are "porous," and Prine proved it again and again for the first series he wrote for the Pittsburgh paper.

The reaction to those articles was substantial. Many readers denounced Prine and his paper for giving the terrorists ideas of where to strike next. But some legislators, at least, took the evidence seriously. New Jersey's Jon Corzine, then a U.S. senator and now the state's governor, offered a bill to tighten security at U.S. chemical plants, which was lobbied into oblivion by the American Chemistry Council. July 3rd, 2007, San Fransisco Chronicle

Squamish residents fear more toxic spills are likely VANCOUVER -- Almost two years after a caustic soda spill nearly sterilized the Cheakamus River in southern B.C., there's little confidence from the community that a similar disaster could be averted again.

And despite a Transport Canada warning against long trains in the twisting and steep corridor, the company responsible for the spill insists that train length is not responsible for derailments.

"CN has no evidence that supports a correlation between the lengths of trains and derailments," said Kelli Svendson, a spokesperson for Canadian National Railway Co.

That contradicts a Transportation Safety Board presentation made to the Railway Safety Act Review Panel that said the board believed long, heavy trains, or the issue of train marshalling, was a factor when the tank cars loaded with sodium hydroxide spilled into the river.July 3rd, 2007, Globeandmail.com

FOCUS: DERAILMENT DISASTER Buffalo engineer set to go on trial over ’06 derailment 77 mph descent left millions in damages, killed thousands of fish

GARDEAU, Pa. — A year ago today, a Norfolk Southern engineer from Buffalo slowly took a freight train up Keating Summit, and then raced down into an environmental disaster, a derailment that caused millions of dollars in damages, killed thousands of fish, and endangered one of Pennsylvania’s finest trout streams.

On a descent so steep the track speed limit is only 15 mph, engineer Michael Seifert’s train never slowed as it cleared the summit, hitting a top speed of 77 mph on its wild, roller coaster trip to the bottom.

Seifert, 46, a Norfolk Southern engineer for eight years, failed a drug test after the derailment. He tested positive for opiate-based pain killers as well as the class of drug found in Valium.

He was fired by Norfolk Southern and is scheduled to go on criminal trial in July in Smethport, about 120 miles southeast of Buffalo. He is charged with two felony counts of causing a catastrophe, and a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment.

Thirty-two of the 44 cars in Seifert’s train jumped the tracks because of excessive speed and operator error, the Federal Railroad Administration said. The derailed cars included four tankers carrying sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda or lye, an ingredient found in drain cleaners.

A nearly $3 million environmental cleanup by Norfolk Southern is almost complete, and local officials are hopeful the trout streams here, a large part of the local economy, will not suffer any permanent damage. The railroad is appealing $8.9 million in penalties the state assessed.

The environmental damage was caused by 42,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide that was dumped into Big Fill Hollow and carried downstream to Sinnemahoning Portage Creek, a Class A trout stream in its upper reaches that attracts fishermen from throughout the Northeast.

The sodium hydroxide slowly made its way downstream, killing everything in its wake.

“Big fish were jumping out of the water, something they do when they’re distressed,” said Jim Zoschg, a local fisherman and Cameron County conservation official at the time. “I found dead fish 35 miles downstream.” June 30th, 2007, The Buffalo News

Settlements for the 2005 Hazardous Chemical Leak in Cincinnati Thousands of Cincinnati residents are eligible to receive a settlement check if they were evacuated or harmed by the styrene leak on the east side in 2005. Styrene, also known as vinyl benzene, is an organic compound that evaporates easily and has a sweet smell. The production of styrene in the United States was increased in the 1940's to supply the war with synthetic rubber. It is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In order to collect a settlement check, claimants must prove they lived in the area at the time of the leak and suffered some sort of loss because of the leak. As many as 20,000 people are eligible to apply for a payment, but lawyers on both sides state that many of the settlement seekers will not qualify.

Resident must prove they suffered a personal injury or loss related to their property. The standard of proof is higher than last year, when 1,200 residents who lived closest to the leak shared a $2 million settlement. Most of those residents had been ordered to evacuate their homes. June 25th, 2007 Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Just before 10 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed yesterday in Jeffersontown, Kory Wright heard a strange noise coming from the rail line, he said.

And then about 2:40 p.m. he saw the freight train leave the tracks, not far from where he stood at the back of Empire Gas on Ruckriegel Parkway near Watterson Trail.

“The cars just started falling off the track like Tinker Toys,” said Wright, 35, a New Albany resident. “Some had skull and crossbones on them, and another had a flammable sticker on it.”

In the end, no one was injured, and no hazardous material leaked, but businesses and some residents within a half mile of the scene were evacuated for about five hours as a precaution. June 23rd, 2007, courier journal.com

Chlorine transport security in the news (again) On June 14, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a safety bulletin warning that some chlorine railcar transfer systems lack effective detection and emergency shutdown devices, leaving the public vulnerable to potential large-scale toxic releases. The Board formally recommended that the U.S. Department of Transportation expand its regulatory coverage to require facilities that unload chlorine railcars to install remotely operated emergency isolation devices to quickly shut down the flow of chlorine in the event of a hose rupture or other failure in the unloading equipment.

Coincidentally, the bulletin raises, yet again, security concerns about transporting chlorine, concerns that are prompting chlorine-using agencies to consider installing on-site chlorinators to avoid spills, releases and becoming a terrrorist target. June 14th, 2007, Salt Sensibility

Diesel pollution from Southern California rail yards can significantly increase cancer risks among people who live nearby, according to state findings released Wednesday.

The population living near a rail yard in Commerce, for example, faces a 69 percent greater risk of contracting cancer, which means about 1.7 cancer cases per 1,000 people instead of one case in 1,000.

By comparison, a rail yard in Mira Loma increases the cancer risk among neighbors by 7.5 percent. The research did not assess the effect on the students at Jurupa Valley High School, which is next to the rail yard. Inland News, May 24th, 2007

Most lawsuits settled in Minot chemical spill BISMARCK, N.D. - Law firms in Fargo, N.D., and Minneapolis say they have settled the majority of court cases arising from a Canadian Pacific Railroad derailment and chemical spill on the edge of Minot, N.D., five years ago.

Attorneys Mike Miller in Fargo and Gordon Rudd in Minneapolis said Wednesday that their firms have reached personal-injury settlements for 1,000 clients, as well as a class-action settlement for people affected by the derailment who have not filed individual suits. That settlement must still be approved by a judge. Details of the settlements were not released.

The early-morning derailment on Jan. 18, 2002, on the west edge of Minot released a cloud of anhydrous ammonia, a toxic farm fertilizer. One man died trying to escape, and hundreds of other people were treated for burns and breathing problems.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that inadequate track maintenance and inspections were to blame, a finding the railroad disputed. Minneapolis StarTribune, May 2nd, 2007

From a tree perch 30 feet off the ground, he can keep close watch on the next-door property in Hainesport, Burlington County, and snap photos of activities there.

He plants numbered flags in his yard, marking pieces of trash that blow from the neighbor's side, and complains to local, state and federal authorities about health and environmental concerns.

His neighbor is a solid-waste transfer station called the Hainesport Industrial Railroad. It serves as the drop point for trucks laden with building-demolition debris, which is dumped onto "tipping" floors there, then loaded onto rail cars and hauled to a disposal site in Ohio.

Because Thomas' neighbor is technically a federally regulated short-line railroad - and not a trash-transfer station - it is exempt from local and state environmental, health and safety regulations.

His complaints about noise, vibration, dust and pollution hazardous to his family have gone nowhere, derailed by the jurisdictional question.

"I've been fighting a losing battle for a long time," Thomas said as he gazed at a wall of stacked metal trash containers towering over his property. "My family can't even use the backyard anymore."

That might soon change. Thomas' problem – his backyard train wreck – and those of other residents living near railroad operations are now being scrutinized by a federal board that is likely to issue a decision in about a month.

The Surface Transportation Board's determination could affect operations at all 12 railroad trash-transfer stations in New Jersey and scores more across the country. Pennsylvania has no permanent rail trash stations, though the state monitors rail locations such as the tracks along the Schuylkill near South Street, where CSX allows its garbage-laden rail cars to linger. Philly.com, May 7th, 2007

Searchers find body of missing engineer

The search for a missing CP Rail engineer ended late yesterday afternoon with the discovery of his body underneath a derailed locomotive in Trail.

CP spokesman Mark Seland said it appears the engineer stayed with his train until the end. Two other crew members bailed out before the train derailed Monday near the Teck Cominco lead-zinc smelter.

Two locomotives and eight cars left the tracks, spilling ammonium sulphate fertilizer.

A review of data in the train's equivalent of a black box will show what the engineer tried to do before his death, Seland said. The long-time CP Rail employee showed tremendous bravery to stay with the apparently out-of-control train as it barrelled into Trail from Warfield, Seland said.

It's not clear if the engineer died as he tried to jump or if he was killed while still inside the locomotive. A coroner will conduct an examination to determine the exact cause of death. April 25th, 2007, The Province

It is my great concern - because we live so very close to the railroad tracks and Interstate 90 and are living and working in a very high-use area for activities such as building trains, moving outdated locomotives back and forth 24/7, fueling and winter idling - that the amount of diesel fumes (particulate) in our area is a very serious health hazard, most notably to children. Also a concern is the unrestricted access to the tracks in front of the Gold Dust Apartments.

Because Montana Rail Link has already taken great steps ahead of EPA emissions standards by employing the SD70ACe locomotive in areas of western Montana, I would pray that it would also employ these same fuel-efficient and cleaner engines in Missoula's rail yard as a good-faith effort.
Mark Anthony Kersting, April 23rd, 2007, Missoulian.com

Graniteville residents with personal injury claims stemming from the deadly Norfolk Southern Railroad train derailment and chemical spill will now have more time to decide if they would like to be excluded from a proposed class action settlement.

Deadlines surrounding the settlement have been pushed back, and anyone wishing to opt out of the proposed settlement now has until May 29 to submit a formal written request to be excluded from the class. In addition, the deadline to file objections to the class settlement has also been extended to May 29.

A copy can also be viewed and downloaded online at www.nsrcsettlement.com. Aiken Standard, April 18th, 2007

VICTORIA -- Search warrants were executed yesterday at CN Rail offices in British Columbia and Alberta related to the 2005 train derailment and the spill of caustic soda into the Cheakamus River, north of Vancouver.

Environment Canada officers were at CN offices in Edmonton, Surrey and Prince George with warrants, B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner said. B.C. conservation officers were at the Prince George and Surrey CN offices during the searches, he said.

More than 500,000 adult and young salmon, steelhead, trout, lamprey and other species were killed after the derailment in August, 2005, that spilled toxic caustic soda into the river about 45 kilometres north of Vancouver.

"This is in relation to the ongoing investigation pertaining to the Cheakamus Canyon derailment and spill of 41,000 litres of caustic soda," Mr. Penner said. Globe and Mail, April 13th, 2007

Richmond plant shifting from chlorine gas The city's water-treatment plant is near completion of a $12.5 million project that will eliminate its need for railroad transport of hazardous chlorine gas.

The two-year project will convert the plant's disinfection processes from chlorine gas to liquid sodium hypochlorite, a high-powered bleaching agent that won't pose the threat of a deadly gas plume in case of an accident or deliberate sabotage.

"The transport and use of this chemical is much safer," said Robert C. Steidel, deputy director of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities.

At the same time, the city is preparing to begin a $14.1 million conversion of its sewage-treatment processes to replace chlorine gas with ultraviolet disinfection of wastewater.

Richmond's initiatives have drawn applause from a national advocacy group that wants Congress to eliminate the use of chlorine gas in utility treatment processes to avoid transporting the hazardous chemical by rail through heavily populated areas.

"The only way to truly protect communities is to get unnecessary toxic cargoes off the tracks," states a report released last week by the Center for American Progress. TimesDispatch.com, April 12th, 2007

...As almost any chemically injured person who has had their life derailed by a toxic train will tell you; the very first thing we lose is control. The loss of economic power often follows the loss of control, as many of us lose the ability to work, our medical bills mount while our assets dwindle. Toxic homes push the most severely injured outside sometimes to live alone in cars, or worse. It ain't pretty and yet somehow against all odds most of us -- not all -- but most of us, survive and eventually find some semblance of stability in our lives. ACCERT Editorial April 11th, 2007

Members from the Missoula Emergency Planning Committee say it's time Missoula had it's own Reverse 911 system.

Talks of a possible Missoula Reverse 911 system really came to a head after a two train derailment within a seven-month-period. One of those derailments caused ethanol to spill and people were forced to evacuate their homes, but many neighbors say with an automated notification system in place they could have evacuated quicker.

Members from the Montana Rail Link (MRL) support a Reverse 911 system and this summer MRL will spend $2 million for maintenance to ensure that a derailment doesn't happen again. KPAX.com, April 10th, 2007

Each year, thousands of tons of highly toxic chlorine gas travel by rail in the United States to drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and other industries. These massive railcars traverse some 300,000 miles of freight railways, passing through almost all major American cities and towns. A rupture of one of these railcars could release a dense, lethal plume for miles downwind, potentially killing or injuring thousands of people.

The Department of Homeland Security and numerous security experts have repeatedly warned that terrorists could use industrial chemicals as improvised weapons of mass destruction—and indeed, terrorists recently attacked and blew up several trucks carrying chlorine in Iraq. In this respect, railcars of chlorine gas represent a distinct national security vulnerability. Yet Congress and the Bush administration have not acted to eliminate unnecessary uses of chlorine gas railcars even where undeniably affordable and practical alternatives exist. April 2nd, 2007 Center for American Progress

Montana Rail Link Reworks Troublesome Railyard in Missoula, MT Montana Rail Link has replaced some 10,000 feet of rail in the Missoula area and its directors are making headway on a plan to communicate with neighbors who live near the tracks, MRL officials and neighbors said.

The renovations in the rail yard are in response to two train derailments that occurred along the same curve in the yard in a seven-month period. In a June incident, ethanol spilled and people evacuated their homes.

After mending damage from the wrecks, section laborers tore out old rail along the curve where the derailments took place. In February, they re-laid about 1,000 feet of rail there, and in February and March they set down 9,000 new feet in the same general area. The work cost some $150,000, and the rail is high quality, Keller said.

“It's my goal as chief engineer to do the best of my ability to make sure we never have a track-caused derailment,” he said, though he said he can't guarantee it.

The company also is developing a plan to alert neighbors when derailments occur. Several neighbors had met about three times to talk about how to get an information pipeline going from MRL to area residents, said Nicole Newman, neighborhood council leader.

MRL's goal is to develop a written policy to share with neighbors - and some of those neighbors also are MRL employees, Frost said. The company employs some 350 people in the Missoula area.

At noon on April 10 in the Missoula County Courthouse, MRL plans to air some ideas and discuss its plans.

Frost said the number of cars carrying harmful material is minuscule, and those cars spend little time in town. Last year, 633 cars carried “toxic inhalation hazards,” such as chlorine or ammonia, through Missoula. March 27th, 2007 Missoulian

CSX Train Violations -- Safety Issue or a Defect? An audit by the federal government shows CSX Railroad Company is not doing enough to keep train tracks and the people who live by them safe.

After eight derailments over three months, inspectors fanned out to inspect CSX property in locations across 23 states. They uncovered thousands of potential problems including nearly 200 potential safety violations.

The official CSX position is that a broken rail caused 20 cars to derail on the Lincoln Street overpass in East Rochester in January.

Immediately following the incident, the federal agency which oversees railroad safety (FRA) began its own investigation of almost 600 CSX properties across the nation. March 27th, 2007, 13WHAM.com

Train blaze: Oneida, NY area evacuated, I-90 closed A fiery explosion of a freight train carrying liquid propane forced an evacuation Monday from this small central New York city and shut down a section of the state Thruway.

The 7 a.m. blast sent a huge fireball into the dawn sky. Thick, black smoke continued to pour out hours later as about half a dozen propane tanker cars burned, said Oneida Police Chief David Meeker. Fire crews were trying to keep the flames from spreading to other tankers on the derailed 80-car train, about half of which carried propane.

A 23-mile stretch of the Thruway, which passes within a mile of the explosion, was closed in both directions as a precaution, said Patrick Noonan, a spokesman for the Thruway Authority.

Officials were evacuating an area of about a one-mile radius from the blast, which included most of the downtown area of the city of 10,000. Meeker couldn’t say how many people were evacuated. Up to 4,000 live in the affected area, though the evacuation was mandatory only for homes closest to the blast. March 12th, 2007, Democrat and Chronicle

Homes Evacuated after Train Derailment near Hattiesburg, Mississippi Two workers have been taken to a hospital and 40 homes in Forrest County have been evacuated following the derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials.

Authorities say Thursday's derailment happened near Hattiesburg at U.S. 98 and Ralston Road.

Road blocks have been set up in a one-mile radius around the accident.

A spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Lea Stokes, says the workers were assessing the wreck for leaks and possibly came in contact with a chemical.

Stokes says it appeared that two cars were possibly leaking hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The cars were also carrying chlorine, another potentially harmful chemical. March 8th, 2007, WBLT.com

What if train wreck happened downtown Hattiesburg? For Vickie Fokakis and employees and patrons of the Coney Island Café, incidents involving trains are nothing new. But she dreads the day a major incident occurs near her family's downtown restaurant.

"If it happened here, it would be a terrible disaster," Fokakis said as a short cargo train carrying chemical tankers and freight cars cruised over the Main Street crossing at approximately 30 to 35 mph. March 8th, 2007, HattiesburgAmerican.com

Evacuations Ordered After Texas Train Derailment Firefighters and emergency

crews are evacuating areas along the Henderson and Smith County lines after a train derailment. A substance is on fire, and while the large plume of smoke has not been deemed toxic, inhalation could cause respiratory distress. One official source told KLTV 7 News that antifreeze was involved, along with possibly other chemicals.

While the chemicals are on fire, the fire is being extinguished as the substance enters the Neches River on the far northern reaches of Lake Palestine. The City of Tyler has decided, as a precaution, to shut down the Lake Palestine Water Treatment Plant.
The evacuation area is south of Highway 31, west of F.M. 315 in Chandler eastward to F.M. 2661 in extreme western Smith County. Residents of that area are told to go to the Harvey Convention Center in Tyler and await further instructions. March 4th, 2007, Now Public.com

Senator’s railway lobby link may have helped derail loan The federal government killed a $2.3 billion railway loan after opponents attacked Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), because he was the railway's lobbyist before winning election and backing legislation favoring the loan to his former client. February 28th, 2007, Washington Post

Train derailment spills hydrochloric acid in B.C. canyon GOLDEN, B.C. (CP) - Schools were closed and there was an early possibility this mountain community might have to be evacuated Wednesday over concerns of an environmental disaster after three chemical tanker cars left the tracks.

One of the CP Rail (TSX:CP) cars began leaking hydrochloric acid, a highly corrosive and toxic chemical. Two other cars contained sodium hydroxide, an alkaline compound used in the manufacture of chemicals and soaps and in petroleum refining.

The train derailed in the Kicking Horse Pass, about five kilometres east of Golden. February 28th, 2007

FRA Administrator Denies DM&E Powder River Basin Loan Application Citing Unacceptable Risk to Federal Taxpayers Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman today denied a $2.3 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan application from the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern (DM&E) railroad concluding it posed an unacceptably high risk to federal taxpayers.

In a decision released today, Boardman found that while the Powder River Basin project met some of the RRIF program's statutory requirements, there remained too high a risk concerning the railroad's ability to repay the loan even with an appropriate combination of credit risk premiums and collateral.

He said he was concerned by several factors, including the DM&E's current highly leveraged financial position; the size of the loan relative to the limited scale of existing DM&E operations; and the possibility that the railroad may not be able to ship the projected amounts of coal needed to generate enough revenue to pay back the loan. February 28th, 2007, Track the Truth

Heat’s on Hunter Hunter is now facing a strike by 2,800 railway conductors and yard workers who are members of the United Transportation Union (UTU) after they walked off the job on the weekend and set up picket lines at Walker Yard and other strategic CN locations.

“The membership has spoken overwhelmingly against working under the present conditions,” blasted UTU Canada general chairman Rex Beatty.

“We would have preferred to deal in a reasonable manner with reasonable people. Unfortunately this has not been the case.”

But Harrison’s troubles go beyond a job action that could grind his Canadian lines to a standstill. CTV chose last weekend to air its W-Five “Off the Rails” expose of CN’s recent safety record, which the network described as “disturbing.”

It claimed that the railway had an “astonishing” 103 derailments across the country in 2005.

“That’s an average of one derailment every three-and-a-half days,” said the CTV press release.

That’s including the disastrous wreck at Lake Wabamun that CN lawyers are vigorously defending in court, even though at worst they will only receive a slap on the wrist fine under the Alberta Tories’ ludicrous environmental laws. February 13th, 2007, Edmonton Sun.com

Engineer Gord Rhodes has been a railroader for more than 30 years. He figures he's made the trip from Williams Lake to Squamish more than 2,000 times. Like most experienced railway faithful, he knows what makes a safe train and what doesn't.

"We've done that trip so many times, it's not funny. Up and down the mountain. Switching and coming home," Rhodes says.

On June 29, 2006, Rhodes and two colleagues -- Tommy Dodd and Don Faulkner -- took a CN train trip that would change their lives forever.

"The reality was that we weren't coming out of it. We weren't gonna live," says Rhodes as he ponders what went wrong with Engine 9606. "Nobody was saying anything. 'Cause this isn't supposed to happen," Rhodes adds.

Suddenly the train Rhodes and his team were on gained incredible speed and began to careen out of control.

The safe speed limit on this section of track is 15 miles per hour. Closing in on 50 miles per hour the locomotive is racing along the steep curve - and then jumped the tracks.

"Well the engine, when it hit the ground....it flicked me off like a bug. And I went airborne and I tumbled and rolled. I could hear all this crashing and booming," Rhodes tells W-FIVE.

The locomotive had crashed down the mountainside. Tommy Dodd and Don Faulkner were dead. Only Rhodes was alive. February 10th, 2007, CTA.ca

Railroad Firms Bringing Aboard Lawmakers' Lobbyist Relatives The railroad industry is hiring relatives of Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff members as it faces tighter federal safety legislation, employing a tactic untouched by the Democrats' new ethics proposals: lobbying by congressional family members. February 8th, 2007, Washington Post

Safer Train Tank Car Tech Rolling Down the Line Last month's fiery freight-train crash near Louisville, Ky., which spewed toxic smoke across a wide area and shut down a nearby interstate highway, highlighted the need for improved safety in the pressurized tank cars that carry millions of pounds of toxic chemicals around the country each year. Those improvements are coming—eventually—through a joint industry-government initiative called the Next-Generation Rail Tank Car Project.

The standard tank car used to transport toxic chemicals today—known as a “jacketed pressure car” in industry parlance—typically consists of a 500-psi pressure tank made of TC-128 steel, surrounded by 4 to 8 in. of fiberglass insulation held in place by an outer jacket of thin 11-gauge steel. With virtually none of the crashworthiness technology that is common in the automotive and aviation industries, today’s rail tank car is highly vulnerable to punctures and leaks in a derailment. February 6th, 2007, Popular Mechanics

Rail neighbors want better communication Montana Rail Link has not had a stellar year in Missoula.

That's the perspective of some people who live along the town's railroad tracks, and this week's accident didn't help.
In 2006, MRL trains wrecked four times in Missoula County, according to the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety. One of those times, an inattentive truck driver - not MRL - was at fault for driving in front of an engine “at the last second.”

The other wrecks were charged to the railroad; altogether, they resulted in 10 derailed cars.

In June, a five-car derailment at the Missoula switchyard spilled about 12,000 gallons of ethanol. Nearby residents had to be evacuated. February 2nd, 2007, Missoulian

Texas Congressman Testifies on Rail Safety Problems In his testimony, Rep. Gonzalez highlighted the fact that despite overall improvements in rail safety, 1,344 accidents occurred in Texas, 94 in Bexar County alone. He noted, “the number of serious train accidents in my congressional district in or near San Antonio over the past few years clearly demonstrates the need for improved rail safety.”

San Antonio was the site of several major accidents from 2004-2006. In May 2004, a train derailment near Brackenridge High School resulted in three injuries and a 5,600-gallon diesel fuel spill along the San Antonio River. One month later, a train collision in Macdona, caused the rupture of a railcar carrying toxic chlorine gas, which killed the conductor and two residents living nearby. Several residents, including emergency responders and the train engineer were treated for respiratory distress. In November 2004, a train collided with Crystal Storage Company building on the east side of San Antonio, resulting in one fatality - a man sitting at his desk inside the building was crushed to death. Lastly, a 17-car derailment in October 2006 destroyed two houses that were unoccupied at the time.

Congressman Gonzalez stated, “the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) needs to implement the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations and it needs to do so quickly. The City of San Antonio cannot wait for another fatal accident before they act. They have the authority to issue the rules and regulations necessary to make our rail system safe and more importantly they have the power to hold the rail companies accountable for failing to comply with safety standards. It does the FRA no good to have this authority if they do not use it.” January 31st, 2007, Capitol Annex Press

Kentucky got very, very lucky last week: Two train wrecks in two days spewed hazardous materials into the air and water, causing evacuations but few injuries.

Still, experts say, the wrecks should bring more awareness to a potentially dangerous problem that rolls through most communities in Kentucky.

People don't realize it, but 30 rail cars a day carry hazardous materials through the heart of Lexington, said Pat Dugger, head of the Division of Environmental and Emergency Management for the city. Toxic inhalants, which include chlorine and ammonia, make up 15 percent of the cargo going through Lexington, according to figures from two years ago, the last numbers available. January 21st, 2007, Lexington Herald-Leader

Cities seek disclosure of train cargo
Details a mystery on harmful freight Freight trains pull tankers of deadly chemicals through the Louisville area daily, but what they're carrying is a mystery to most.

Cafe customers sipping cappuccinos just feet from a busy CSX rail line along Frankfort Avenue in the Clifton and Crescent Hill neighborhoods are in the dark. So are the local officials who would be the first to respond to an accident that could sicken people as far as 15 miles from the site.

That's because the federal government largely prevents state and local governments from regulating railroads in order to keep rules uniform across the country.

Concerns about what trains are carrying through cities became heightened last week when an 80-car train on its way to Louisville derailed, exploded and sent toxic smoke from burning cars of methyl ethyl ketone and cyclohexane billowing into the sky in Bullitt County.

"Do I worry about the trains? You bet I do," said Lamarr Moore, a certified public accountant in Anchorage who has one rail line behind his business and another in front. January 21st, 2007, Courier-Journal

Federal investigators focused yesterday on equipment and track conditions as the possible cause of Tuesday's massive Bullitt County train derailment, while CSX Railroad workers labored to reopen the line within a few days.

Residents within a mile of the crash site still have no idea when they may return to their homes, or what they will find once they get there. January 19th, 2007, Courier Journal

Safer rail tankers pledged On a day when two Kentucky towns coped with dangerous train derailments, Federal Railroad Administration officials on Tuesday promised to strengthen tank cars that carry hazardous materials through neighborhoods across the United States. Railroad officials said they don't know when the tougher tank cars might be on the rails or when an estimated 23,000 outdated cars will be retired. January 17th, 2007, The Press-Enterprise

Federal, state and local authorities, as well as a representative of CSX, discussed their plans at a press conference about 8 ½ hours after a toxic train derailed in Bullitt County.

There was also a report of a release of chemical into a creek near the accident site just after the derailment, but it is not known at this time how much or which chemical was released, Smith said.

EPA officials, who arrived at the site about 11:30 a.m., will continue to monitor the air quality downwind from the site and will test to see water in the tributaries that lead to the Salt River to see if they have been affected by the reported chemical release, he said. January 16th, 2007, Courier Journal

5 Years Later, Train Derailment Still Resonates Fargo, N.D. A deadly derailment on the edge of Minot five years ago is still being fought in the courts.

The Jan. 18, 2002 derailment punctured and shattered tanker cars carrying about 290,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia, releasing a cloud of the toxic farm chemical. One man, John Grabinger, died trying to escape and hundreds of others were treated for burns and breathing problems. Lawsuits against the Canadian Pacific Railway sought damages for more than 1,000 people.

"Five years after the derailment, these people are having to cope with very serious injuries as well as the economic consequences of the injuries," said Sarah Herman, a Fargo attorney working on claims against the railroad.

"Many are without adequate health insurance and suffer more because they cannot afford the medications they need to cope with the injuries they suffered from the derailment," Herman said. January 15th, 2007, wcco.com

Watchdogs question training of rail workers Federal watchdogs are becoming increasingly concerned about who's training the trainmen.

In 2003, the Federal Railroad Administration mandated security training for railroad workers. Throughout the next two years, FRA inspectors handed out 1,066 warnings to 76 railroads to shore up hazmat security and safety training. January 15th, 2007, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Critics call for trains to be rerouted from urban areas The shortest distance to avoid a terrorist attack isn't a straight line. That's what an increasing number of cities are thinking: They won't be targets if they reroute dangerous gases and explosives around metropolitan areas.

In 2005, a federal judge upheld Washington, D.C.'s ban on particularly deadly rail shipments on CSX tracks through the capital. While the ban is being appealed, nearly a dozen other cities and the state of California are watching to see if legislation they've drafted can become law, too.

"It's only going to take one attack, just one attack and none of this will be an issue," said Fred Millar, an architect of the district's rail rerouting plan who consults for labor unions, environmental organizations and city governments. "If you want to avoid a disaster in your city, tell the railroads to reroute the chemicals around it." January 15th, 2007 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

No consensus on rail shipment regulations Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed new regulations designed to force railroads to better protect their cargoes of deadly poisons and explosives.

But critics in Congress and the chemical industry say the measures don't go far enough to safeguard cities from terrorists.

And a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review probe of rail security across seven states published Sunday detailed ongoing failures with voluntary standards agreed to by the railroads and Homeland Security that already were supposed to guide anti-terrorism standards. A terrorist easily can reach millions of pounds of the most toxic or explosive substances on tracks inside America's largest city, according to the Trib's recent investigation, problems federal watchdogs agree are far too prevalent.

If adopted, the reforms would require rail workers to inspect chemical tank cars for bombs. Documented "chain of command" handoffs would occur when a locomotive drops off hazardous materials with a customer, cutting the days deadly gases idle on unprotected rail sidings. January 15th, 2007, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Reporter's interest forged in Iraq Not only was that a definite "yes" to all of the questions in that experiment, but I was able to pretty much replicate this thing in Atlanta, Seattle, Tacoma, numerous sites around the San Fransisco Bay area, Las Vegas and also at port facilities in Oregon and Washington.

So, we ended up with about 50 places, in seven states, surrounded by pretty heavily urbanized populations that are open to terrorists.

These rail cars go through major population centers and they carry potentially catastrophic, highly toxic or explosive chemicals, stuff like chlorine gas, anhydrous ammonia or fuming sulfuric acid, and also flammables such as propane or liquid petroleum gas -- what a first-responder would call LPG.

Firefighters will be the first ones to tell you just how nasty some of this stuff is. Chlorine was a weapon of mass destruction in World War I. The gas is is so corrosive it will eat through human teeth.

I think the question we're asking is: Have we prepositioned weapons of mass destruction in our major cities? January 14th, 2007, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Terror on the Tracks Let's say the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter really was a terrorist.

What if those were bombs he was placing on the chemical placard of a rail car inside the Thatcher Chemical Co. plant in suburban Las Vegas, and not his business cards?

Instead of a camera recording lax security over some of the deadliest chemicals ever produced, he held a detonator? And the string of chlorine gas cars trundling down Union Pacific Railroad tracks in the heart of Vegas was his prey?

If he was a terrorist, and his goal was to release a potentially catastrophic cloud of deadly gases, explosives and caustic acids -- in unguarded cars, left abandoned -- then a U.S. Department of Homeland Security's planning scenario might apply: 17,500 people dead, another 10,000 suffering injuries and 100,000 more flooding trauma wards, convinced they've been poisoned. The environmental damage would take weeks to clean up, forcing the evacuation of as many as 70,000 residents from a city built on sin, military might and heavy industry. January 14th, 2007, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Despite security defects, FRA hands out few violations The Trib's roadmap to locate, penetrate and photograph lax security was provided by the Federal Railroad Administration, a small agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Trib obtained the information through a federal Freedom of Information Act request.

From Oct. 3, 2003, to Oct. 6, 2005, almost 400 FRA and affiliated state inspectors fanned out across 42 states. They wrote 793 reports detailing 4,997 security defects at rail yards, chemical plants and warehouses owned by 525 corporations.

To the FRA, a "defect" is like a warning given by a cop to a speeding motorist. According to the FRA, only one out of every 173 companies nicked with security defects ever receives a "violation" or enters into a long "enforcement action" process.

"It's kind of like 'prosecutorial discretion.' Filing violations can be very expensive and time consuming, and our mission is to get someone to start complying with safety or security regulations as quickly as possible," said FRA spokesman Warren Flatau. "There are times when it's necessary to start an enforcement action. But if our goal is to achieve compliance, then that's not always the best way for most companies." January 14th, 2007, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Trains loaded with televisions, toaster ovens and tennis shoes bound for Chicago, Houston and New Orleans compete for access with trains hauling chemicals, lumber and other products destined for use around Southern California. They roll along on two of the nation's busiest rail lines, which intersect at Colton Crossing at a 90-degree angle. Some trains inevitably have to wait, sometimes for hours.

The congested crossing means that trains transporting goods imported from Asia through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach sometimes travel only about 65 miles before they come to a screeching halt -- with more than 2,000 miles to go. January 8th, 2007, Press Enterprise.com

Clara City Train Derailment Tragedy Narrowly Averted, As Evacuees Allowed to Go Home

Should We Be Rerouting Hazardous Materials On Trains? Opinion

Chemical trains need rural route requirement Editorial The Department of Homeland Security wants railroad cars full of hazardous chemicals to be secure when they are standing still. January 8th, 2007, Bay City Times