Should We Be Rerouting Hazardous Materials On Trains? Opinion

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

Flames, smoke fill air after train jumps tracks  

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

Derailed 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

About 16,000 people examined in Ukraine after toxic train derailment

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

Train derailment in Ukraine unleashes toxic cloud 

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

A daily danger -- chemical sites, tanks, rail cars  Think Like a Terrorist: Part 1, 2 p.m. Sunday; Part 2, 2

Quote of the week for July 4th, 2007, Raj Kahlon, a Squamish councillor, "It was a disaster waiting to happen, the way they [CN] were running and not listening.."

 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

Picacho Peak rail yard plans merit scrutiny

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

Evacuation lifted in J-town derailment; no leakage 

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

State study finds higher cancer risk near rail yards

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

Don't play in the yard 

Steve Thomas doesn't like his neighbor.

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.

So far to no avail.

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

Montana Rail Link Use cleaner locomotives in Missoula  Letter to the Editor

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 Injury claims deadline extended 

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

2005 Toxic Train DERAILMENT CN Rail offices searched over Cheakamus incident 

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

Making Salt: Eleventh Anniversary of the 1996 Montana Rail Link Toxic Train Derailment ACCERT Editorial

...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

Missoula, MT committee seeks new disaster warning system

 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

Toxic Trains and the Terrorist Threat

How Water Utilities Can Get Chlorine Gas Off the Rails and Out of American Communities

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

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

Off the Rails

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

'Greatest Danger' rides the rails

• GAO rail safety report (.pdf)
• U.S. Naval Laboratory report (.pdf)
• Top 150 hazardous materials transported by rail (.pdf)
• Suggestions for handling chlorine release (.pdf)
• Top 20 chemicals
• What to have in an emergency

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

Kentucky Track, equipment get hard look; evacuees wait  No indication of error by crew is found 

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

Kentucky derailment burns on. No time on residents' return, I-65 reopening

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

Stuck on the Tracks
Officials dream up $150 million solution to longtime nightmare at Colton Crossing
Each day, more than 100 trains, some more than a mile long, make their way through Colton Crossing, an intersection of railroad tracks and switching equipment that is the railroad equivalent of a four-way stop.

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