(The following article by Gary Martin was posted on the San Antonio Express-News website on November 16.)
WASHINGTON — San Antonio leaders will press the Federal Railroad Administration today to enforce its regulations more aggressively in the wake of a series of train accidents that have raised safety concerns in South Texas.
Mayor Ed Garza and County Judge Nelson Wolff will meet with federal officials about interim safety proposals until a long-term solution of rerouting rail lines through less populated areas can be achieved.
“We are going to be pushing for more aggressive enforcement of existing rules and regulations,” Wolff said. “And second, we have some ideas to share with them about possible new regulations and initiatives they may want to consider.”
The San Antonio leaders enlisted the political muscle of U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, both Texas Republicans, and Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, after a spate of serious accidents, including two that resulted in fatalities.
Hutchison, chairwoman of a Senate Transportation subcommittee that oversees rail traffic, will host a meeting for San Antonio leaders with Federal Railroad Administrator Betty Monro, whose agency is investigating the San Antonio accidents. Garza and Wolff will also meet with National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners.
A meeting with Steve Rybicki, head of cargo security for the Homeland Security Department, will discuss a $2 million pilot program to monitor toxic chemical cargo on the 168-mile rail corridor between Laredo and San Antonio.
That meeting was put together by Cornyn, who is working to get federal funding for the pilot program and to address safety concerns about hazardous materials.
“Even if it doesn’t solve the problem, it is something that can be done in the interim,” said Cornyn aide Don Stewart.
The rail line between San Antonio and Laredo is operated and maintained by Union Pacific, which has vowed to step up safety training and tests after six derailments and accidents in the area this year that led to four deaths and numerous injuries.
Critics have called into question the relationship between the railroad agency and the railroads, particularly UP, which the FRA oversees.
San Antonio leaders say the FRA has been lax in its enforcement of existing regulations, and Wolff has called for a crackdown to better protect residents from the deadly mishaps that have occurred in South Texas.
A more extensive review of UP operations in South Texas is sought by local leaders who have struggled with a string of accidents, including one last week that killed Roger Bruening, 39, injured another worker and spilled 200 gallons of diesel fuel.
The FRA’s probe began in May, when a train derailed near Brackenridge High School, spilling 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel into the San Antonio River.
Just one month later, a collision of two trains near Macdona left three people dead and sent 50 others to the hospital for treatment when a punctured tank released chlorine gas.
In those cases, a federal probe cited fatigue and the failure of train workers to observe and obey track signals.
“The issue is safety enforcement by the Federal Railroad Administration that needs to be addressed early on, and then we want to talk about long-term solutions,” Wolff said about the scheduled meetings with federal officials.