(The following story by Steve Orr appeared on the Democrat & Chronicle website on January 25.)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Asserting that Rochester-area residents are endangered by two separate railroad problems, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday that he was submitting legislation to beef up federal regulation of railroads.
“The Federal Railroad Administration … right now has the power of a wet noodle,” Schumer said at a news conference held amid frigid, snowy conditions at the railroad crossing on Monroe Avenue in Pittsford.
The New York Democrat said he would introduce legislation Thursday that would bolster the FRA’s power by toughening regulations, increasing its ability to fine railroads and doubling the number of FRA inspectors.
Schumer’s focus was on two seemingly disparate areas — the shipment of hazardous materials by rail and the safety of railroad crossings. To bolster his case he noted a number of accidents, including the December 2001 derailment of a CSX freight train in Charlotte as well as the deaths of a Henrietta couple nearly a year ago at the CSX crossing on South Winton Road.
“They all have the same root — and that is, we don’t regulate our railroads strongly enough. … I hate to say it, but railroads get away with murder,” Schumer said.
Population at risk?
Schumer said people across New York state, including tens of thousands in the Rochester area, are threatened by the shipment of hazardous cargo on local rail lines. He said that 1 million tons of chemicals and other hazardous cargo pass through this region each year. Schumer noted the Jan. 10 derailment of a tanker carrying chlorine in a small town in South Carolina, an accident that killed nine people and sent 250 to hospitals.
“Imagine if it had occurred right here in Pittsford” or in another, more populous area, Schumer said.
The senator said half of the 60,000 rail tank cars that carry hazardous materials predate current federal rules and should no longer be used. He said his legislation would require the use of newer tank cars that are more crash resistant.
His bill would require railroads to install automated switches on all tracks. The failure of a crew member to throw a manually operated switch on a track siding has been implicated in the Graniteville, S.C., accident.
About 40 percent of rail switches nationwide are manually operated, he said.
Schumer said his measures, which would be phased in over five years, would cost railroads several hundred million dollars.
He also wants to increase FRA inspection of hazardous shipments, and increase the maximum fine that the agency is allowed to levy in relation to hazardous materials violations.
Hazardous cargo here, too
CSX, the nation’s third-largest freight railroad and the dominant carrier in the Rochester region, hauls hazardous cargo on rail lines that traverse Monroe County, as well as on a spur that runs to Kodak Park and then to Charlotte. It was a train hauling coal and three tank cars of toxic solvents to Kodak Park that rolled out of control and derailed in Charlotte in December 2001, causing a huge fire and contamination of soil and water.
CSX spokeswoman Jane Covington said she could not comment on the quantity of hazardous shipments here, or their frequency, for security reasons. “We do share that type of information with agencies that need to know. It’s not something that we share publicly,” she said
Two smaller railroads — Rochester & Southern and the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville — also carry some hazardous shipments in the region, according to the companies’ Web sites. Officials from those companies could not be reached for comment Monday.
Covington noted that chemical shipping companies, not CSX, own the tank cars used to transport hazardous cargo. Railroads are legally obligated to move the cargo as long as the shippers meet federal rules, she said.
There were 12 train accidents involving suspected hazardous shipments in New York state in January through October 2004, according to FRA data. No hazardous materials leaked in those accidents and evacuation was ordered in just one case.
Railroad crossings
Schumer also said he intended to upgrade FRA enforcement in the area of railroad crossings.
His legislation would double the number of FRA inspectors, from 400 to 800, he said, and would give the FRA broadened power to investigate and prosecute railroads that chronically violate rules. He also wants to give the FRA the ability to impose larger fines, including discretion to seek million-dollar penalties if needed.
As the Democrat and Chronicle reported last month, only about three percent of all FRA inspections in 2003 focused on rail-crossing regulations, and the average fine per violation in recent years was $2,133. The maximum possible penalty for most violations now is $11,000.
Steve Kulm, a spokesman for the FRA, said the agency had received a letter from Schumer about his concerns and would respond directly to him.
Kulm said that over the last four years, the FRA has increased the number of inspectors by 12 percent, the number of inspections by 33 percent and the fines collected by 141 percent. This year’s federal budget includes funding for 17 more inspectors, Kulm said.
“In a general sense, the Federal Railroad Administration has been involved in improving rail safety for the last 30 years, and we’ve had great success.”