(Source: Associated Press, October 18, 2011)
LOS ANGELES — Accounts of families and children living near transportation corridors and experiencing health problems helped prompt a conservation group and two environmental justice groups to file a lawsuit Tuesday against two of the nation’s biggest railroad companies.
The Natural Resources Defense Council filed the suit under a unique legal theory that diesel exhaust is hazardous waste and companies should be held accountable for health problems suffered by residents living near rail yards.
The lawsuit filed in federal court against Union Pacific Corp. and BNSF Railway Co. accuses the companies of violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which regulates hazardous solid waste disposal. The lawsuit alleges problems at 17 rail yards across California, from Oakland to San Bernardino.
Full story: Washington Post