(The following editorial appeared on the New York Times website on July 5.)
NEW YORK — The weakest point in America’s defense against terrorism may be an inconspicuous little bridge a few blocks from the Capitol. Rail tanker cars filled with deadly chemicals pass over the bridge, at Second Street and E Street SW, on their journeys up and down the East Coast. The bridge is highly vulnerable to an explosion from below, and if deadly chemicals were released on it, they would endanger every member of Congress and as many as 250,000 other federal employees.
This vulnerability could be easily eliminated by a federal law barring the transportation of hazardous materials through Washington and other locations at high risk of a terrorist attack. But the railroads have fought such legislation, which would increase their costs. If the Bush administration and Congress are serious about homeland security, they will get a chemical transportation law passed at once.
When antiterrorism experts try to predict what could happen in the next 9/11 attack, the dispersal of deadly chemicals is at or near the top of their list. An assault on a chemical plant or a rail car filled with chemicals would turn another unremarkable part of the infrastructure into a powerful instrument of death. An attack on a single rail tanker filled with chlorine could kill or seriously harm 100,000 people in less than an hour. Because of its location in the middle of official Washington, a chlorine leak from a rail tanker on the bridge at Second Street could endanger much of the federal government, including Congress and the Supreme Court.
Such an attack would be frighteningly simple to carry out. The 90-ton rail tanker cars that carry chlorine and other deadly chemicals are clearly labeled. Terrorists could wait for such a shipment to reach the bridge and then explode a truck bomb from below, causing the tanker to derail and crack open, releasing its deadly contents. On a recent visit, a member of the editorial board found virtually no barriers to such an attack. The bridge runs over a public street that has little traffic and plenty of space for a truck to lie in wait. We saw no sign that police or other security officers were protecting it.
Earlier this year, the City Council in Washington passed a law prohibiting the transport of ultrahazardous materials within 2.2 miles of the Capitol. But CSX, the railroad that operates the two main lines running through the district, has gone to court to challenge the law, which would add to its costs. It claims that city governments do not have the power to interfere with interstate rail shipping. A federal court has blocked the law from taking effect, though CSX has temporarily stopped shipping ultrahazardous materials on the rail line closest to the Capitol.
The Bush administration filed a brief supporting CSX in its challenge to Washington’s law, and, incredibly, it has made no effort to do the job with federal regulation. When it comes to defending the nation from terrorism, the president and the Republican leadership in Congress have been unwilling to make large corporations, many of them big campaign donors, shoulder their share of the burden. Washington’s residents and employees should not have to risk their lives to save CSX the cost of rerouting shipments of ultrahazardous materials.
There is a simple solution. Senator Joseph Biden, Democrat of Delaware, has introduced a bill aimed at keeping hazardous rail shipments out of areas like downtown Washington, where the terrorist threat is greatest. Any member of Congress who is not already supporting Mr. Biden’s bill should take a short walk to Second Street and E Street SW for a reminder of why it is urgently needed.
An Insecure Nation: Editorials in this series remain online at nytimes.com/insecurenation.