Feature story - August 3, 2007
In the years since 9/11, our nation's most populated cities have been vulnerable to terrorist attacks with the potential to kill or injure more than 100,000 people. That's because freight trains carrying toxic gases, such as chlorine, have continued to travel through cities like Washington D.C. In the event of an attack or an accident, these ultra-toxic airborne chemicals have the potential to kill 100 people per second, putting up to 100,000 people at risk in the first half-hour.
Now, after 6 years of working on chemical security, Greenpeace
has a major win to share with you. As part of its 9/11 legislation,
Congress has approved an amendment that will increase public safety
by re-routing ultra-toxic rail cargo around densely populated
areas. And, President Bush has just signed the bill into law.
However, the President now needs to make sure the Department of
Transportation puts the new security rules on a fast track to
ensure that major cities such as Washington, D.C. won't have to
wait another year to be out of the fallout zones of these dangerous
cargoes.
What are Hazardous Rail Cargoes?
Our nation's railways connect thousands of U.S. chemical
facilities. As a result, the majority of ultra-toxic chemicals
transported in this country are done so by train. One Government
Accountability Office report stated that 95% of the most dangerous
chemicals are shipped by rail. Yet, these poison gases represent
only 0.3% of the freight rail business. According to the Argonne
National Laboratories, chlorine gas accounts for the majority of
risk.
90-Ton Bull's-Eyes
Freight trains are among the most vulnerable domestic targets to
terrorist attacks. In 2003, an FBI specialist in weapons of mass
destruction warned, "… 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."
The widespread presence of graffiti on freight trains, including
markings on 90-ton railroad tank cars is proof of the ease with
which they can be accessed.
Preventing Tragedy
Re-routing the transport of extremely hazardous cargo is one of
the first and most effective steps we can take to immediately
reduce opportunities for terrorists by eliminating their targets.
This legislation will empower cities to demand that railroads
re-route hazardous materials so we don't have 90-ton bull's-eyes
rolling down the tracks through densely populated communities.
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. That legislation (H.R. 5695) was moving in Congress last
year but was blocked by the chemical industry. Similar legislation
will be reconsidered this year.