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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2005

SCHUMER URGES HOMELAND SECURITY DEPT. TO ABANDON PLANS TO REMOVE HAZMAT ID SIGNS ON FREIGHT TRAIN CARS

Weekend Utah Accident Shows - Without Clear Identification of HAZMATs in Rail Accidents, First Responders Are Left Woefully Unprepared

Schumer: Hazardous Materials Must Be Clearly Marked on Freight Cars and Local First Responders Must Be Informed of Shipments

Today Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to Secretary Michael Chertoff opposing the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to remove hazardous materials placards from freight rail cars and urged DHS to work more closely with local governments to ensure first responder teams have all they need in the event of a derailment or terrorist attack. Exterior hazardous material (HAZMAT) placards inform first responders of the contents of freight train cars and are essential to inform critical decisions on community evacuation and treatment for victims.

There have been a number of freight rail cars that have derailed in the last few months:
- Last month in Graniteville, SC, after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed, nine people were killed and hundreds evacuated after chlorine gas leaked from a punctured rail car.
- This past weekend, in the Roper Rail Yard in South Salt Lake, UT, a tank car leaked 6,500 gallons of toxic waste leading to the evacuation of more than 6,000 local residents.
- Moreover, according the local fire chief in South Salt Lake, the tanker car’s manifest may have listed the contents of the car incorrectly, leading to dangerous confusion at the accident site.

Sen. Schumer said, “Repeated freight train accidents involving hazardous material, including recent Utah accident, remind us how important it is for local first responders to know what kinds of HAZMATs are contained in freight cars. First responders need to have accurate and easily accessible chemical information on site in order to effectively and safely respond to derailments and chemical spills. These simple HAZMAT placards posted on freight cars are often the only information first responder have at their disposal upon responding to a railroad accident.”

Sen. Schumer introduced a bill with Sen. Lindsay Graham last month, The Rail Crossing and Hazardous Materials Transport Act of 2005, which would require chemical and rail companies to increase, not decrease, the flow of safety and security information from companies to local governments. It would require companies to provide, at the request of the state homeland security team, a comprehensive list of the chemicals shipped through the state.

“The Department of Homeland Security along with the Federal Railroad Administration should err on the side of giving first responders more information, not less. I hope that DHS will abandon its plans to eliminate the posting of content information on HAZMAT freight cars immediately. This plan will not make terrorist attacks on freight trains less likely, but it probably will make loss of life and injuries more likely when a train derailment occurs,” Schumer concluded.

Click here for letter.

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