(The following report appeared on the Daily News Journal website on December 6.)
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — “Location, location, location…”
La Vergne, Smyrna and Murfreesboro are fortunate to be located in the heart of Tennessee at the hub of many major transportation hubs.
That’s why Nissan built its plant and why Rutherford County is the fastest-growing county in Tennessee with a population of more than 200,000 people.
We are within a day’s drive of 75 percent of the nation’s markets and only minutes from three major interstates. We have great air service through Murfreesboro, Smyrna and Nashville International airports.
And we are on the main railroad line connecting points North with points South. Our railroad connection is the chief reason the Battle of Stones River was fought here some 141 years ago.
But with the good always comes a little bad.
Some nasty stuff passes through our community on a regular basis. And we aren’t really referring to shipments of illicit drugs being constantly stopped by the Sheriff Department’s Interstate Crime Enforcement unit.
We are talking about hazardous materials that are transported via truck and the railroad. Few longtime residents have forgotten about the tragic Feb. 22, 1978 train derailment that nearly destroyed Waverly, a railroad town like Smyrna and La Vergne.
It was a miracle only 18 people died when a tank car filled with liquid propane exploded while rail workers were trying to offload a derailed train. A dozen buildings were destroyed, and 20 more had heavy damage.
After the Waverly explosion, the state of Tennessee formulated a set of standards and a training program for hazardous materials responders in the state.
Quick notification is a key ingredient to proper response in an emergency situation.
That is why La Vergne officials were disturbed Monday when CSX railroad failed to quickly notify them about a 17-car derailment.
“What concerns me is that from the time it occurred, we did not get a call to our emergency services for 20 minutes after,” Alderman Jerry Gann said.
And apparently that is the case in most of these types of wrecks. It is not normal policy for local emergency responders to be notified by transportation companies of hazardous materials traveling through jurisdictions.
“It would be like the roadways and the semi-trucks hauling hazardous materials,” explained Joe Reed of the Rutherford County Emergency Management Service. “They are placarded for emergency responders.”
While that may be the norm, we agree with Gann that it is not good enough.
Who can respond quicker? CSX workers or the emergency services of the county or municipality where the accident occurred?
That’s a no-brainer.
And if CSX isn’t a good enough corporate citizen to participate, the state should require it. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to trains derailing and threatening our community.