(The following article by Julia Scott was posted on the Oakland Tribune website on January 10.)
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — On any given day, thousands of gallons of toxic materials sit in tank cars at the South City train yard, a liability that has many city officials fearing a toxic disaster.
City officials are lobbying state and federal lawmakers to rid their train yard of the tank cars carrying hazardous materials and sitting downwind of San Francisco International Airport and hundreds of biotechnology workers.
Up to 30 Union Pacific tank cars containing unidentified chemicals can be found in the rail yard on Dubuque Avenue near Highway 101 en route to regional facilities. Local officials are unsure which tanks are full, what they contain or how long they are going to be there. But they fear an accident could harm thousands of citizens or contaminate the environment.
“It’s everything from petroleum products to flammable agents. There’s the strong possibility of a spill. If it doesn’t burn, it releases chemicals that are toxic,” said South San Francisco Fire Chief Phil White.
White was alerted to the issue at the rail yard by Caltrain officials in early September, when they handed him a list of materials in temporary storage over a two-week period in August. It included hydrochloric acid, methyl bromide, ethyl alcohol and other corrosive chemicals — all of which are legally permitted, as long as they are moved within 30 days.
A surprise audit conducted last week by the Federal Railroad Administration found Union Pacific in compliance with federal safety standards, which cover things such as the proper labeling of train cars and accuracy of shipping documents, said Steve Kulm, the administration’s spokesman.
There are no federal or state laws regulating what sorts of materials can pass through an urban area or be stored there temporarily, he said.
“Other than that the tank car is the right tank car for the material that is being transported, we do not get involved with the material,” he said.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office will inspect the site next week.
Caltrain officials met with Union Pacific to discuss moving the cars several months ago, but the company, which owns a portion of the rail yard, would not comply.
Mayor Joe Fernekes said he would not take “no” for an answer. On Monday, he drafted a letter to Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos and local leaders asking for their support in removing the tank cars.
“They don’t belong there,” he said.
White said the legality of the tank cars is not the issue — it is their unpredictability. Their content changes every day and is nearly impossible to track, which affects the Fire Department’s ability to prepare for a catastrophe.
The cars themselves are only marked on the outside with the universal symbols for “flammable” or “poisonous.” The exact contents are listed on the train’s manifest, which is only readily available if the locomotive is still attached to it, according to White. Some of the train cars are empty save for a chemical residue, but even a few gallons of residue could be very dangerous if exposed to the right conditions, he said.
Mark Davis, a spokesman for Union Pacific, said the company tried to move the train cars “as expediently as possible.”
“It’s not uncommon to switch cars between trains and leave them sitting for a while,” he said.
Union Pacific moved the tank cars from a rail yard in San Jose to the South City tracks earlier this year to meet increased customer demand, according to Davis. Caltrain also added extra service, which narrowed the window of time the freighters could use the tracks to get back and forth.
Davis said that Union Pacific would meet with South San Francisco officials, but would not stop parking the tank cars on its tracks at the rail yard.
“This is the only way we can provide service to the customers in the area in a timely manner,” he said. There are chemical manufacturers and distributors on the Peninsula.
Several communities have been affected by chemical spills in the past year. A chlorine gas leak from a train wreck in Graniteville, N.C., on Friday killed nine people and injured 250 others. On April 5, a Union Pacific train carrying pressurized chlorine derailed in west San Bernardino, forcing the evacuation of 300 residents.
In May, an appeals court invalidated a ban enacted by the local government of Washington, D.C. on rail shipments of hazardous cargo within city limits. The judges ruled that no community has the right to supersede the government’s role in regulating the railways.
Nonetheless, Mayor Fernekes was resolute.
“The old rule needs to be changed. What was acceptable (before) is not acceptable now,” he said.