(The following report by Dave Marquis appeared at News10.com on December 6.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The rail cars turned up last Saturday night on a seldom-used rail line in central Galt. Ken Schmitz joked with his wife that they probably contained nuclear waste.
Heidi Schmitz said “He was joking with me. He said, oh yeah, it’s something radioactive.”
On Sunday, the joking stopped when they discovered the cars had radiation warning labels. On Monday morning the train was gone.
The couple could find little information about the labels, and enlisted News10 to help. The cargo on board turned out to have been concrete and rebar from Sacramento Municipal Utility’s former Rancho Seco Nuclear Plant, and contained low-level radiation.
Plant manager Steve Redeker said he understands the couple’s concern. “There’s a train parked there and let’s go look at the train, and oh my gosh, it’s radioactive and it sits there over the weekend,” he said.
Redeker said the cargo posed little risk and the couple would have had only been able to detect only normal background radiation at their home 50-yards away.
Union Pacific said the cars were left there because the crew aboard had exceeded the hours they were allowed to work. A company spokesman said, “We are reviewing the transportation plan so we don’t have to have these cars sit out on a side track.” He said such cars would normally not be parked beside a residential neighborhood.
Ken Schmitz is relieved. “If I see another radioactive train parked next to my house, I’ll raise the concern again. Hopefully something will change.”