It was an ordinary day. That was until I began reading my latest Sunday Newspaper. Shortly after I turned to the Sunday "Opinion" page of my Sunday News, I began to do some figuring. Went like this.... how far am I from the railroad tracks that I cross perhaps a few times every day? Then I began to get worried. And...how far is my new home at Woodcrest Villa from those tracks? The title of the story on the "Opinion" page read "Left in the dark about toxic trains." Seems that trains that run on about 135 active miles of rail in Lancaster County can at any point be carrying hazardous material according to Lancaster news reporter Ann Rejrat. But, getting real time information on those materials is nearly impossible because in a post-9/11 environment, railroads aren't required to share that information. Reporters for Lancaster Newspapers and TV station WITF sought detailed information about train cargo from 12 central Pennsylvania counties. Only three of those counties said they had lists of specific chemicals being carried by trains. None had real-time information. That secrecy means emergency responders might not know what hazardous materials they're dealing with until they reach the scene, and that there is no single, consistent way to find the information at the scene....all of which could slow response time or put them in danger! If that's not scary enough...I sometimes cross those tracks several times each day when I go to the grocery store, doctor's offices and a variety of other stores every day! And...then I began to do some calculations...and I really became alarmed. I might possibly live within the distance that can be harmful to myself and my wife if a hazardous material leak might happen on one of those trains!! And, not only me, but the entire Woodcrest Villa development. And, then I began to think about all those homes that are within a stones-throw of the railroad tracks! The newspaper article said that they requested information about the hazardous materials that are carried on the trains and exactly how harmful the hazardous material might be and how far it can travel in distance of the tracks if it would spill due to a train accident. Seems there are about 115,000 households within a recommended evacuation distance of the railroad tracks! If something awful did happen, what would those 115,000 households do? Would emergency responders be able to reach the area? And, if they could reach the area...would they help...not knowing what to expect? When you have an event such as a train derailment...that's bad enough, but to throw a couple train cars filled with hazardous material on top of that...well, you just know something bad is going to happen. And, I live within that area!! My wife and I moved to Woodcrest Villa about 9 months ago and never gave living that close to the railroad tracks a thought. Maybe I have nothing to worry about...but...! The newspaper story read...It seems ludicrous that railroad companies are not required by law to make that information available to emergency responders. The reason for the secrecy---that information might fall into the hands of those intent on causing maximum harm---doesn't seem adequate, particularly as one of the lessons of 9/11 was the critical need to be prepared to deal with unthinkable catastrophes. And, the state of Pennsylvania only requires county officials to compile hazardous commodities transportation lists every five years. At least Lancaster County requires a list every other year. Trains must carry a manifest, or train inventory, that must be kept within arm's reach of the train's engineer. But, if the train's engineer is injured, that wouldn't be of much help. I did read that the state of Pennsylvania has now proposed a bill that to transport hazardous material on a train, a manifest must be carried on the train. Yeah...yeah...yeah!! Here's hoping that.....It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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