From Carl Prine and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
"Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed new regulations designed to force railroads to better protect their cargoes of deadly poisons and explosives.
"But critics in Congress and the chemical industry say the measures don’t go far enough to safeguard cities from terrorists.
“And a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review probe of rail security across seven states published Sunday detailed ongoing failures with voluntary standards agreed to by the railroads and Homeland Security that already were supposed to guide anti-terrorism standards. A terrorist easily can reach millions of pounds of the most toxic or explosive substances on tracks inside America’s largest city, according to the Trib’s recent investigation, problems federal watchdogs agree are far too prevalent.”
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_487290.html
Dave
Oh no the sky is falling again, I work for the railroad and have had haz-mat and continue to have haz-mat in the trains I run, it is haz-mat transported by truck that bothers me at least I know what I am pulling.
Rodney
Maybe they could just have someone riding on the top of each hazmat car with a shotgun. [4:-)]
It seems strange that the chemical industry would be critical of the railroads handling of hazardous materials. In the end, they will be the ones paying for any additional security measures. If they want additional security, all they have to do is tell the railroads what they want and say, “and we’ll pay for it”. I’m sure that the railroads will be more than happy to oblige.
Scaring people sells papers –
and advertising time on TV!!
Please note that journalists are NOT required to have any kind of training in science and technology - or even common sense.
Despite all the hand-wringing and finger pointing, we live in a world that is safer by orders of magnitude than it has ever been. When was the last person in your neighborhood killed by a wild critter wandering around looking for a meal? When was the last really bad epidemic (one that killed thousands, not just a handful?)
OTOH, what would happen if the entire transportation system shut down? That’s what would happen if Chicken Little had his way.
Chuck