(The following article by Patrick Driscoll and Laura Jesse was posted on the San Antonio Express-News website on October 13.)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — While the city’s latest train derailment has some residents more frazzled than ever, officials on Tuesday reiterated promises to improve railroad safety.
But they had little to say about what caused nine cars to derail Monday near Quintana and Cassin roads.
“That one’s still under investigation,” Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.
The 71-car train wasn’t carrying any hazardous chemicals, but three other times this year freight trains loaded with dangerous materials derailed in Bexar County.
In May, three men were injured and 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel spilled along the San Antonio River. In June, three people were killed and 49 sickened or injured, mostly from chlorine gas. A wreck last month was considered a close call but there were no toxic releases.
Under pressure from county officials, Union Pacific agreed last week to change operating procedures, increase training and add workers to deal with increasing freight traffic.
That would help at least in the short term, officials said.
“I don’t know if there are any answers beyond that right now,” County Judge Nelson Wolff said.
Wolff has been pushing Union Pacific to reroute rail lines away from downtown. But that could take years and cost more than $40 million for up to 40 miles of new tracks.
Still, Davis said Tuesday that the company is committed to considering the idea.
“It’s something we’ll be working with the (Bexar County) Rail District in the coming months and years to see if it’s feasible,” he said, adding that a solution would be a long time away.
The first step would be a study, and last week U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, called on the Federal Railroad Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate railroad infrastructure and policies in the San Antonio area.
Calling the string of derailments “environmental racism,” members of the Southwest Workers’ Union and the Committee for Environmental Justice Action gathered Tuesday on Quintana Road to demand rerouting of trains carrying hazardous cargo.
The protesters also called for an emergency evacuation plan for neighborhoods near railroad tracks and full, public disclosure of all items carried on trains.
Davis said Union Pacific’s hands are tied by federal laws that say the company can’t refuse hazardous shipments and must tell local emergency responders what’s being carried but can’t release that information to the public.
County and city emergency responders said they have evacuation plans, but not for specific neighborhoods because there are too many potential scenarios.
“It would be too prohibitive,” said Scott Lampright, assistant emergency management coordinator for the county. “It wouldn’t be practical, either.”
Robert Alvarado, 63, who lives on Baker Street near the railroad tracks, said he loses sleep over the derailments and fears there will be one involving hazardous cargo near his home.
“I’m wondering how long it’s going to take the railroad generals to get up and inspect the trains themselves,” he said. “We’re tired of having all these spills. We can’t sleep no more with the chemical spills. I don’t know where to run, where to go in case it does happen by my house.”
The union and the environmental group will have a community meeting to discuss problems with the railroad at 6 p.m. today at the San Antonio Mennonite Church, 1443 S. St. Mary’s St.
The church is near Brackenridge High School, near where two trains derailed in the past five months.