Two hurt as truck hits freight train in Jersey City

Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Kate Kowsh/The Jersey Journal

A Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority truck collided with a freight train yesterday afternoon near the intersection of Chapel Avenue and Caven Point Road, city officials said.

The MUA truck overturned and the driver and a passenger were taken to the Jersey City Medical Center in fair condition, said Robert Luckritz, EMS operations coordinator with the Jersey City Medical Center, who responded to the scene.

MUA executive director Daniel Becht said the MUA workers involved in the crash were shaken up but in stable condition.

The workers were on their way to clean debris from nets in the Hudson River, he said.

Conrail police who are investigating the crash could not be reached to comment.

They are expected to release a report today, Becht said.

Chem plant security pits Jersey vs. Bush
Thursday, April 13, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Both of New Jersey's senators vowed yesterday to fight what they say is the Bush administration's plan for federal legislation that would undermine New Jersey's tough chemical security laws.

"President Bush wants to wipe out New Jersey's tough chemical security laws," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, speaking with Sen. Robert Menendez, of Hoboken, on the shore of the Hackensack River.

The news conference was held at the end of a 2-mile stretch that has been billed as the nation's greatest zone of vulnerability to attacks on chemical plants.

"The president wants a weak, industry-favored approach that pre-empts our state's chemical safety and security laws. We say no way."

State Homeland Security Director Richard Canas and .Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy also spoke at the event across the river from a Kearny chemical plant

"Just last September, a minuscule release from that plant closed the Pulaski Skyway in the middle of rush-hour traffic," Menendez said. "We can only imagine the loss of life that would occur if a terrorist attack caused a major release of chlorine gas."

Yesterday's event was spurred by Michael Chertoff's March 21 speech to chemical industry leaders in which the Homeland Security secretary called for federal legislation that would supersede stronger state laws on chemical plant security, Menendez said.

The senators said the Bush administration would allow the chemical industry to inspect itself and set its own guidelines.

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said he rejects the senators' premise entirely.

"We have been waiting for Congress to pass chemical regulations for three years," Knocke said. "Where we may disagree with some of the issues around the edges, we are eager to work with the House and Senate to pass regulations this year."

But Canas said that last year New Jersey adopted regulations that put the state at the forefront of chemical plant security and the federal government should not be able to force the state to lower those standards.

The Lautenberg-Menendez-Obama Chemical Security and Safety Act has been introduced in the Senate and, if passed, would protect the right of states to adopt stronger safety and security measures than federal law and require safer chemicals be substituted for more dangerous ones when possible.

The act also would guarantee workers a role in ensuring the security and safety of facilities, require improvement to physical security of the site to the maximum extent possible and provide strong protections for whistleblowers.

NJ officials want tougher chemical safety rules
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

April 12, 2006, 6:17 PM EDT

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Speaking near a cluster of chemical plants, New Jersey's two United States senators and its new homeland security director said the state should be able to enact tougher safety standards for chemical facilities than those proposed by the Bush administration.

A leak last September at one of the plants forced closure of the Pulaski Skyway at rush hour, Sen. Robert Menendez told reporters gathered along the Hackensack River on Wednesday.

"We can only imagine the loss of life that would occur if a terrorist attack caused a major release of chlorine gas," Menendez said. "This is just one plant among many in our state and nation."

Menendez joined fellow Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Richard Canas, New Jersey's new homeland security director, to promote legislation already proposed by Lautenberg that would let states set their own, more stringent chemical safety standards.

Last month, the Bush administration called for federal regulation of security at chemical plants, but would largely let the industry decide how stiff the protections should be and leave inspections to private auditors. The federal regulations would supersede tougher regulations such as New Jersey's.

"The president wants a weak, industry-favored approach that pre-empts our state's chemical safety and security laws," Lautenberg said. "We say: No way. The Bush administration may favor the interests of the chemical industry over the welfare of our constituents, but we do not."

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the federal Homeland Security Department, said the administration wants Congress to pass a chemical safety bill by the end of the year. He said Homeland Security is willing to work with lawmakers on the details.

"The security of chemical plants is an absolutely critical issue, one the administration has been working on for the last three years," he said. "We have laid out our principles. This is an issue that cannot wait."

Canas said New Jersey's tougher standards "should not be pre-empted by federal law."

"Given the significance of the potential threat, late last year New Jersey moved from voluntary to mandatory standards," he said. "This was an important step."

John Pajak, president of the New Jersey Work Environment Council, said he knows firsthand about the danger of toxic, explosive and flammable substances. He has worked the past 15 years at the Conoco-Phillips Bayway Refinery in Linden.

"An accident or a terrorist attack on a chemical plant could endanger thousands of lives," he said. "Corporate executives and their lobbyists must not be allowed to put even higher profits ahead of worker and public safety and security."

Cities Move To Prevent Rail Attacks

JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 7, 2006
Written by Alexandra Marks - Christian Science Monitor.

"In their mind, it's better for the public to be at very high risk and in blissful ignorance than to do something about it."
Fred Millar, consultant

Boston officials envision keeping rail cars carrying hazardous chemicals at least 10 miles away unless the city is their destination.

A plan in Chicago would prohibit such tanker cars in its downtown Loop. In Cleveland, city officials are considering banning them near Lake Erie, water treatment plants, and crowded neighborhoods.

Transport of these chemicals presents one of the knottiest public policy problems in the effort to protect the nation's cities from terrorist attack. Federal law requires railroads to carry such chemicals, which are used in manufacturing, water-purification systems, and wastewater-treatment plants.

But with no federal regulations for securing the transport of these chemicals, The District of Columbia has enacted rules of its own and at least five other cities are considering them. These moves have drawn a sharp rebuke from industry and federal officials, who say such piecemeal efforts are misguided. Since 9/11, they point out, railroads have fortified rail yards and worked with the chemical industry to conceal where and when these tanker cars pass near or through cities.

The threat looms large. Government studies suggest that the explosion of one tanker car carrying, say, chlorine would cause up to 100,000 deaths in a densely populated area.

So Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Chicago have proposed ordinances requiring that such deadly chemicals be rerouted around them unless they're destined for the cities themselves. The fact that the rail industry, with federal support, has sued the District of Columbia over its law has not deterred them.

"The federal government says, 'We preempt the field,' but their preemption is abdication because they're not doing anything. They're letting the railroads determine the routes," says Stuart Greenberg of the Cuyahoga County Emergency Planning Committee in Cleveland. "Either we need to allow local jurisdictions to exercise their obligation to protect the public, or we need a comprehensive federal routing system designed by a neutral party."

Critics' main concern is that it's too easy to gain access to the tanker cars. A few miles from midtown Manhattan, for example, a chain-link fence topped with razor-sharp wire surrounds a rail yard in Jersey City, N.J. "No Trespassing" signs abound. But it's easy to step through some weeds and onto the tracks that lead directly into the fenced-in rail yard. No one stopped a reporter when she approached those tracks or tracks in two other areas where tanker cars sometimes travel.

Rail officials contend that's not a fair representation of how easy it would be to target dangerous cars. First, they represent a small percentage of the nation's rail cargo, they say. Of 1.7 million carloads of hazardous materials transported each year, only about 100,000 contain the most dangerous toxic inhalants like chlorine and anhydrous ammonia. Second, the industry has increased the safeguards on information about where and when such shipments travel. Third, and most important, rerouting toxic chemicals would cause them to travel longer routes on less well maintained rural tracks, increasing the risk of accidents.

"You're compromising safety in the name of security, which is not a good idea or public policy," says Peggy Wilhide, of the Association of American Railroads in Washington, D.C.

Critics counter that an accident or an attack in a less populated area would create far less damage, mitigating the trade-off. They also say the federal government is intentionally downplaying the risks.

"In their mind, it's better for the public to be at very high risk and in blissful ignorance than to do something about it," says Fred Millar, a consultant to the Washington, D.C., city council.

In response, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation last Friday issued "recommended security action items" for the rail transport of "toxic inhalation hazard materials." It calls for putting one person in charge of these shipments; restricting access to information about them; and ensuring regular communications with federal, state, and local emergency responders. But the memo's second sentence reads: "All measures are voluntary." That prompted an angry reaction from some on Capitol Hill.

These "are the latest sign of how this administration would sooner jeopardize homeland security than ruffle the feathers of a big corporation," says Rep. Edward Markey (D) of Massachusetts.

Federal transportation and homeland security officials defend the guidelines as just a first step that can be implemented right away. They also say the guidelines don't preclude future regulations. "Our goal is to balance safety and security, rerouting doesn't mitigate the risk, it simply moves it to another location," says Darrin Kayser, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.

Rail officials contend this is one of the most difficult and expensive security problem it faces. Indeed, Ms. Wilhide says the railroads would rather not carry such dangerous cargo at all. Recently, the AAR came out in favor of industry switching to less dangerous chemicals where possible, a move that puts it at odds with its customer, the chemical industry.

"If we had our choice we wouldn't move it because it constitutes less than 1/10th of our profit and 99 percent of our risk," says Wilhide. "We'd at least like a clear set of guidelines."

While I might not have my PHD in any form of chemistry, I do have thorough knowledge of handling haz-mat chemicals as I work for a trucking company.

Dangerous chemicals have been transported throughout the entire country in all its entirety for many years. You probably have passed a semi-truck carrying any form of haz-mat while walking the dog down the street. You may have also driven by a truck transporting haz-mat chemicals as well. However, since 9/11, there has not been that much detail paid to how we as a transportation industry (consuming air/land(truck & rail)/ship), safely secure this dangerous product.

While I believe your local Jersey City politician may not be as in-tune with ridding JC of deadly chemicals moving throughout our neighborhood, our federal government in conjunction with many transportation companies (including my own), have taken MANY necessary steps to train our industry in the transport of these chemicals.

Highway Watch
HM-232 Training & Certification
CT-PAT Awareness

Of course, there is ALWAYS the potential for a dangerous situation in handling any haz-mat chemical. However, I doubt that you will ever be able to stop these chemicals from moving within your residential community. If that were the case, say goodbye to fertilizer used on any commercial/residential lawns. (See the product used in the Oklahoma City Bombing).

I will say that the transportation industry is taking a PROACTIVE approach to preventing any future disaster. However, as we have seen, disasters, including terrorism, happen when we least expect...

There have been deadly chemicals being shipped through Jersey City since the 1830's when the railroad was first built.
You don't even want to know about the chromium contamination in the soil in Greenville. At least we are not Kearny, Elizabeth, or Newark, they have big permanent storage tanks of nasty chemicals. I don't think this is the first time this issue was brought up, I believe one of the issues Lou Manzo ran on when he ran for mayor was securing the chemical plants and railroads.

Jersey City is criss-crossed by active freight rail tracks, all of them west of the Turnpike Extension.

I was just stopped at the rail crossing today and had some time to look at the 60,000 lb tank cars slowly passing by.

I saw tank cars full of Phosphoric Acid, Sulfuric Acid, Phenol. Probably 1,000,000 lbs combined. On one train.

I did not see a Chlorine Gas tank car, but I am sure they are there. One ruptured tank car like that (whether by accident or a terrorist act) could wipe out thousands of Jersey City residents.

Who dies, would depend solely on the wind direction at a time of such an event.

Why in the world are there laws allowing such extremely dangerous bulk cargo to be freighted through one of the most densely populated areas in the US???

Even a brain-dead terrorist could pull a stunt dwarfing 9/11 in terms of human casualties.

And, just to make sure it is clear that I know what I am talking about, I am a PhD chemist and am intimately familiar with the above chemicals, and many, many more.

What are Jersey City politicians doing about the deadly cargo in our midst?