La Coalition Rail Safety Campaign Travels to Washington D.C.
Members met with legislators in D.C., asking them to work with federal agencies in addressing the national issue of school safety in preparation for emergency response and evacuation planning specific to hazmat incidents and to collaborate with labor unions and make trains safe.
Rail Safety Campaign members came from as far as Texas to meet face-to-face with legislators about their concern for rail safety and the parents' right to know if their child attends school where they could be negatively impacted by a rail-related hazmat incident such as school children in East Palestine and those over the border in Pennsylvania after five tankers filled with vinyl chloride were released and burned in an iconic plume of smoke releasing phosgene gas into their air, water, and soil - a chemical warfare weapon so deadly it was banned after WWI. Several of these unprepared schools are now litigating Norfolk Southern for their negligence related to this catastrophe.
Gloria Charland (IL) said, "I was impressed at the knowledge some Congressional staff members had on the issue and appalled at the lack of information possessed by other Congressional staff. More work needs to be done!" Sarah Zarling (WI) adds, "We have a strong team and accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. We are always looking ahead to further our progress and the important work to be done."
Over 5.7M school children attending 14,800 schools nation-wide can be harmed by hazmat-related incidents specific to the rail transport of hazardous cargo. Chicago, alone, has 77,000 kids at risk. Appallingly, despite the public’s Right to Know mandated by Title III of SARA legislation (Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986), most parents have no idea their children’s health and safety is threatened.
Emergency response is sorely underfunded and understaffed. Only three paid staff work at the Lake County, IL Local Emergency Planning Committee. The director of McHenry County's LEPC estimated it would take eight paid staff a minimum of two years to identify and plan a four-corner - N, S, E, W - evacuation for each school in his county since evacuation literally depends upon which way the wind blows. Some states only have one LEPC for the entire state! Even worse, our firefighters depend more and more on volunteers to fight the atomic bomb-sized infernos that can burn up to four days.
Kreschendalyn Backus (TX) reflects, "It was exhilarating to be on sacred ground, knowing this is where change can happen. I had a hand in making it happen! I can only pray that the people who work in those buildings every day feel the same."
Please contact your Congresspersons and ask them to:
1. Work with federal agencies in addressing the national issue of school safety in preparation for emergency response and evacuation planning specific to rail-related hazmat incidents, and
2. Collaborate with labor unions to make trains safe!
