“Secretary Ridge’s claim yesterday is a politically self-serving
lie,” said Rick Hind of Greenpeace. “CSX has been re-routing these
shipments for seven months and there was no legitimate security
reason for keeping such a positive development a secret. In fact,
we should want to make public that attacks on these trains would be
pointless.
“Apparently Ridge is using the bin Laden tape as convenient
cover for the fact that the Bush administration opposes re-routing
hazardous rail shipments,” continued Hind. “If the administration
were truly serious about removing the threat posed by these trains,
it should re-route them permanently.”
The vulnerability of hazardous rail cargo to attack is one of
the most serious threats to homeland security. Testifying before
the D.C. City Council (October 6, 2003 and January 23, 2004), Dr.
Jay Boris of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, warned that,
“terrorist attacks in an urban environment can put 100,000 people
or more at risk in a 15 to 30-minute time span…lethally exposed
people can die at the rate of 100 per second.” The impact of such
an attack on Amtrak, Metrorail, VRE and MARC passenger trains,
which share or run parallel to the CSX freight train tracks, would
be catastrophic.
Greenpeace has called on the Bush administration, the U.S.
Congress, the Transportation Security Agency, the Department of
Homeland Security, and other government agencies to institute a
permanent ban on hazardous chemical shipments through cities.
Greenpeace is also working with a bipartisan coalition of city
council members to pass legislation before the District of Columbia
City Council that would prohibit the transport of such shipments
through Washington, D.C.
In the long-term, the risks of transporting hazardous chemicals
can be eliminated entirely by switching to safer chemicals and
processes. For example, Washington, D.C.’s Blue Plains sewage
treatment plant used chlorine, a highly volatile and toxic
chemical, prior to September 11, 2001. The plant had seven rail
cars of chlorine stored on site. Within eight weeks after the World
Trade Center attacks, the plant converted from chlorine to safer
chemical substitutes and the facility no longer poses a threat to
D.C. residents.
Related Links
Comments to the Department of Transportation Regarding Re-Routing
Hazardous Cargo
President Bush Guilty of Hypocrisy on Chemical Security
Is the Bush Administration Taking Preventable Risks with Public
Safety?
