(The following story by Dave Thomas was published on January 7 on television station WNEP’s website.)
SCRANTON, Pa. — There are now questions about who needs to know when a train derails in our area. A Newswatch 16 investigation uncovered a federal law that leaves locals on the other side of the tracks.
Police, firefighters and local emergency management officials in Luzerne County said they didn’t know about Monday’s derailment in Wapwallopen until two hours after it happened. At least one local official wants things changed. But the way the !federal law is written, the locals don’t have to be told at all.
The Canadian-Pacific train crashed early Monday morning in Wapwallopen. Twenty-eight boxcars carrying corn starch, clay and water derailed, stacked up and some rolled over. There was no health risk to people in the area. The engineer alerted Canadian-Pacific, the railroad called the Federal Rail Administration. The administration said that’s all they legally had to do.
According to the administration’s website, local people who handle emergencies such as derailments don’t have to be told at all. The railroad even has four hours to tell the federal agency. Even if there is a chemical spill, locals don’t have to be told, adn the railroad has two hours to tell the feds.
Luzerne County Emergency Management Director Al Bardar said his people are trained to handle these situations, and should know right after they happen. “I think that anytime there is a train wreck, that we should be notified, at least the local community,” complained Bardar. A federal rail spokesperson said if local help is needed, they’ll be called. But Bardar feels they should be notified in every case. “When they’re hauling this freight, we don’t know what they’re carrying,” he explained. “With the local crews involved, especially your local emergency responders, get them to the scene they could check for leaks, see what they were carrying and give us a good heads-up if we have to do any kind of evacuation or shelter.”
County officials also point out that if a train wreck did happen in a more populated area chances are people would see it, hear it, and call 911, but county officials would rather not leave that to chance.