“Immediately I was thinking, ‘These poor people,’ because I know what’s coming their way,” said Pat Schubert as he watched first responders in Ohio struggling to respond after this month’s train derailment containing tank cars of toxic vinyl chloride. A decade ago, a Conrail train derailed on a swing bridge in Paulsboro, South Jersey. Four tank cars of vinyl chloride plunged into Mantua Creek. One car cracked, sending up a hazardous chemical vapor cloud that lingered over the neighborhood where Schubert lived. “I have friends that were out there on the first responder team without the proper equipment they needed, trying to help do whatever they could. And it was just a disaster,” Schubert said.
Tracy Carluccio of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network agrees. “They did the best they could, but they were not properly prepared and this is a problem we have across our entire nation. We’re not preparing our emergency responders, we’re not giving equipment that’s needed.”
New Jersey lawmakers will try again to change that with a bill that would require railroads to report hazardous cargos and how to handle them during an emergency. Meanwhile, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is blaming the rail industry for lobbying against safety upgrades while pocketing billions in profits. He’s promising stiffer fines and regulations.
