On September 6, 2001, I wrote about the hazards of transporting toxic industrial chemicals on railcars through urban areas. Two months earlier, a fire in a Baltimore rail tunnel burned for five days, sending a toxic cloud over the city. The point of my commentary that week was that we should avoid industrial accidents. On September 6, 2001, life was still so carefree that we could worry about accidents.
Twenty-eight months and several orange alerts later, hazardous cargo is still shipped through rail tunnels in Baltimore. Much of it then passes through Washington, DC. A main freight line lies within four blocks of the U.S. Capitol building and every year, 4,000 rail cars of hazardous material are shipped through the District of Columbia.
On Tuesday, President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland visited the White House, asking why Poles – who are part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq – are fingerprinted and photographed when they arrive at the American border. Perhaps they should try arriving on the back of shipment of chlorine gas or ethylhexyl phthalate. President Kwasniewski might find it odd that while his citizens face growing barriers to American travel and even American citizens are carefully screened when flying domestically, rules governing rolling stocks of poison gas remain as lax as ever. Perhaps President Kwasniewski should speak with Rick Hind.
Mr. Hind, legislative director for Greenpeace USA’s toxics campaign made calls and wrote letters to the Department of Transportation and the Secret Service in the weeks and months following 9-11. When the Department of Homeland Security was established, he called and wrote there, too. Mr. Hind wanted to warn of the imminent danger posed by toxic transport. Aside from his professional interest, Mr. Hind felt it was a way of making a patriotic contribution to making America safer. The Bush administration has fixed and limited ideas about patriotism in the post-9-11 age and they do not include giving a hearing to environmentalists. Period.
One government official willing to respond was George Gevalla, associate administrator of the federal Railroad Administration. He noted only three people have been killed by chemicals released in rail accidents since 1990. Talk about missing the point. Mr. Gevalla was referring to accidents, not terrorism. How many people die when airplanes accidentally strike buildings?
A jumbo jet loaded with fuel striking a skyscraper is a worst-case scenario. A worst-case railroad terrorist scenario involves the explosion of a 90-ton rail car of chlorine. Such an explosion in Washington, DC would kill 100 people per second for the first 30 minutes, and ultimately endanger 2.4 million people. At 100 people per second, a death toll equal to that of the World Trade Center would be reached in 30 seconds, and there would be nothing any first responder could do to stop it.
This is the kind of scenario the Bush administration refuses to consider. Instead, Mr. Bush and friends are protecting America with the Strategic Defense Initiative – Star Wars, the scheme to shoot down incoming missiles. As of last week, George W. has spent $6.2 billion on SDI and all the experts agree it doesn’t work. The Pentagon has budgeted another $15.6 billion for SDI in the next five years. Rail security? Same as it ever was.
The common theme here is that the Bush White House is not particularly interested in protecting Americans. If a rail car blows in DC, George and Dick have a hole to jump onto; the rest of you are on your own. The real agenda involves – on one hand – placating the filthy chemical and manufacturing industries that roll their poisons through communities across America – and on the other – shoveling taxpayer dollars to Bush’s incompetent and corrupt cronies in the defense industry. On the side, we frisk our allies at the border.
Tomorrow, Rick Hind of Greenpeace will speak to the Washington, DC city council about the terrorist threat posed by the shipment of hazardous material through the nation’s capital. For two years, he has searched for some government official to take responsibility for preventing disaster. Now, the DC council is listening. If a freight line passes through your town, perhaps your local officials should listen, too.
Zero to 9-11 in 30 Seconds
On September 6, 2001, I wrote about the hazards of transporting toxic industrial chemicals on railcars through urban areas. Two months earlier, a fire in a Baltimore rail tunnel burned for five days, sending a toxic cloud over the city. The point of my commentary that week was that we should avoid industrial accidents. On September 6, 2001, life was still so carefree that we could worry about accidents.
Twenty-eight months and several orange alerts later, hazardous cargo is still shipped through rail tunnels in Baltimore. Much of it then passes through Washington, DC. A main freight line lies within four blocks of the U.S. Capitol building and every year, 4,000 rail cars of hazardous material are shipped through the District of Columbia.
On Tuesday, President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland visited the White House, asking why Poles – who are part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq – are fingerprinted and photographed when they arrive at the American border. Perhaps they should try arriving on the back of shipment of chlorine gas or ethylhexyl phthalate. President Kwasniewski might find it odd that while his citizens face growing barriers to American travel and even American citizens are carefully screened when flying domestically, rules governing rolling stocks of poison gas remain as lax as ever. Perhaps President Kwasniewski should speak with Rick Hind.
Mr. Hind, legislative director for Greenpeace USA’s toxics campaign made calls and wrote letters to the Department of Transportation and the Secret Service in the weeks and months following 9-11. When the Department of Homeland Security was established, he called and wrote there, too. Mr. Hind wanted to warn of the imminent danger posed by toxic transport. Aside from his professional interest, Mr. Hind felt it was a way of making a patriotic contribution to making America safer. The Bush administration has fixed and limited ideas about patriotism in the post-9-11 age and they do not include giving a hearing to environmentalists. Period.
One government official willing to respond was George Gevalla, associate administrator of the federal Railroad Administration. He noted only three people have been killed by chemicals released in rail accidents since 1990. Talk about missing the point. Mr. Gevalla was referring to accidents, not terrorism. How many people die when airplanes accidentally strike buildings?
A jumbo jet loaded with fuel striking a skyscraper is a worst-case scenario. A worst-case railroad terrorist scenario involves the explosion of a 90-ton rail car of chlorine. Such an explosion in Washington, DC would kill 100 people per second for the first 30 minutes, and ultimately endanger 2.4 million people. At 100 people per second, a death toll equal to that of the World Trade Center would be reached in 30 seconds, and there would be nothing any first responder could do to stop it.
This is the kind of scenario the Bush administration refuses to consider. Instead, Mr. Bush and friends are protecting America with the Strategic Defense Initiative – Star Wars, the scheme to shoot down incoming missiles. As of last week, George W. has spent $6.2 billion on SDI and all the experts agree it doesn’t work. The Pentagon has budgeted another $15.6 billion for SDI in the next five years. Rail security? Same as it ever was.
The common theme here is that the Bush White House is not particularly interested in protecting Americans. If a rail car blows in DC, George and Dick have a hole to jump onto; the rest of you are on your own. The real agenda involves – on one hand – placating the filthy chemical and manufacturing industries that roll their poisons through communities across America – and on the other – shoveling taxpayer dollars to Bush’s incompetent and corrupt cronies in the defense industry. On the side, we frisk our allies at the border.
Tomorrow, Rick Hind of Greenpeace will speak to the Washington, DC city council about the terrorist threat posed by the shipment of hazardous material through the nation’s capital. For two years, he has searched for some government official to take responsibility for preventing disaster. Now, the DC council is listening. If a freight line passes through your town, perhaps your local officials should listen, too.
(c) Mark Floegel, 2004