(The Daily Freeman posted the following story by Paul Kirby on its website on September 25.)
KINGSTON, N.Y. — Using tanker railroad cars that would carry hazardous materials, representatives of CSX Corp. are training Ulster County firefighters and other rescue personnel about how to handle an accident or spill.
Training sessions this week are part of an effort that CSX promised during conversations with Kingston Mayor James Sottile and Fire Chief Richard Salzmann in the wake of a stopped train blocking several city streets while a member of its crew went for coffee.
This week’s training session began Wednesday and runs through Friday, according to Michael Bethage, manager of field service operations for CSX’s Hazardous Material Systems.
“We teach them how to respond to a railroad emergency, whether it be a diesel fuel leak, whether it be a chemical tanks car problem or whether it’s corn oil from a general service car – any type of incident where they would need to respond to protect the public,” Bethage said.
Salzmann said 40 of his firefighters are receiving the training and 20 firefighters and rescue workers from other agencies in Ulster County also will be trained.
“We have highly trained haz-mat team, but they don’t always get the hands-on stuff,” Salzmann said. “They can read it in a book and we have charts of all the (railroad) cars, but this gives them the opportunity to actually listen to somebody who does it.
“They can get more familiar with it,” he said.
What firefighters are learning, among other things, are which types of cars carry hazardous materials, the kinds of valves on them, what to do with the valves during an emergency, what kinds of metals certain tanker cars are made of and how to properly open containers carrying the materials.
CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan said it’s the hazardous material skills rarely are needed because rail transpiration is the safest mode of moving materials in the United States.
“By leaps and bounds, it is the safest way of carrying the stuff,” Sullivan said. “We all know it’s got to be moved. What we are trying to do is add to that level of safety.”