Media release - July 27, 2007
As a part of its 9/11 legislation, Congress approved an amendment authored by Representative Edward Markey (D-MA)that will increase public safety by re-routing ultra-hazardous rail cargo around densely populated areas.
"This new law could eliminate unnecessary risks to large urban
areas where millions of people now live in the shadow of deadly
shipments of poison gases like chlorine," said Rick Hind of
Greenpeace. "President Bush should sign this bill immediately and
expedite the implementation of rules to ensure that major cities
such as Washington, D.C., New York, and others are no longer in the
fallout zone of these cargoes.
"The next step for Congress should be the enactment of
legislation requiring chemical plants to use safer chemicals or
processes so that large quantities of poison gas won't need to be
shipped anywhere. So far this year, the Bush administration has
been AWOL in calling for this legislation and after promising to
take action, the new Congress has yet to move a bill out of
committee."
BACKGROUND
The Markey amendment would also limit the storage of
ultra-hazardous chemicals such as chlorine and ammonia in populated
urban areas. These cargo represent only 0.3 percent of all freight
rail carloads according to the Association of American Railroads
(AAR) which also supports converting to safer chemicals.
Freight trains are among the most vulnerable domestic targets to
terrorist attacks. In 2003, an FBI specialist in weapons of mass
destruction warned, "You've heard about sarin and other chemical
weapons in the news. But it's far easier to attack a rail car full
of toxic industrial chemicals than it is to compromise the security
of a military base and obtain these materials."
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory estimates that more than
100,000 people could be killed or injured within the first 30
minutes of a terrorist attack on one rail car of hazardous
chemicals passing through a major city such as Washington, D.C.,
warning that "lethally exposed people can die at the rate of 100
per second."
Washington, D.C., was the first city in the country to pass
legislation in 2005 barring these shipments through the nation's
Capital. However, the Bush administration and railroads have tied
up the implementation of this law in Federal Court. A judge's
decision is due any day.
VVPR info: Contact: Jane Kochersperger, Media Officer, 202-680-3798 cell; Rick Hind, Toxics Legislative Director, 202-319-2445