(The following story by Sammy Fretwell appeared on The State website on January 8.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Not long after learning of Thursday’s tragic train wreck in Graniteville, Bob Amundson wondered about the toxic chemicals that trains carry past his Columbia neighborhood every day.
A major railroad switching yard lies a short walk from his house off Rosewood Drive. Just a mile or so away, major freight lines run along Assembly Street.
“It’s something that has hit close to home for me,” said Amundson, president of the Rosewood Community Council. “There is more of a problem with trains than just the noise from these railroad yards.”
Hazardous materials are a way of life on railroad lines that crisscross Columbia. But residents have known little about the shipments, since train companies aren’t required by federal law to publicize that they are shipping toxic chemicals through town.
Now the deadly chlorine that leaked from a wrecked train in Graniteville is drawing attention to shipping hazardous materials on rail lines, particularly those that run through cities.
Some people are asking if the danger is acceptable — and if another accident of this type could occur, particularly in a more densely populated city like Columbia.
Train industry officials say the fears are unfounded.
The chlorine gas release in Graniteville, which killed eight people living and working nearby, is believed to be the nation’s worst chemical leak from a wrecked train in 27 years. All told, up to 90 tons of chlorine could be spilled from just one car.
“This could happen anywhere that the rails run,” said John Parker, a Lowcountry attorney who specializes in cases against railroad companies. “They run these hazardous chemicals all over their rails.”
Columbia resident Bud Ferillo, who heads a group trying to improve safety at train crossings, said the capital city should take particular note of the Graniteville wreck.
Miles of train tracks slice through heavily populated areas of town, including USC, Five Points, Shandon, Rosewood and Olympia. Major rail lines run within sight of Williams-Brice Stadium, where more than 80,000 fans gather on Saturdays in the fall for football games.
A consultant recently documented more than 20,000 people living within a half-mile of one main track from north Columbia through Five Points to the Congaree River, Ferillo said. Overall, metropolitan Columbia has nearly 500,000 residents.
“It’s an extremely dense population,” Ferillo said. “So there’s a real vulnerability to accidents of this nature.”
Improving safety might have to come from the federal government.
Thom Berry, an S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman, said his agency has little authority over trains carrying hazardous chemicals. But federal regulations do require the cars be marked as carrying toxic materials.
U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, a member of the House Transportation Committee, said he favors tightening safety rules for railroads if warranted. Brown, R-S.C., said he will know how to proceed after the National Transportation Safety Board concludes its investigation into the crash.
“Whatever that reports ends up saying certainly would give us ammunition to take action,’’ Brown said late Friday night.
Norfolk Southern and the Association of American Railroads said the public shouldn’t be frightened.
Major train wrecks are infrequent, and dangerous chemical spills are even rarer, railways association spokesman Tom White said. White said trains are better to ship chemicals in than trucks, which must navigate automobile traffic.
The wreck in Graniteville was “a horrific accident,” he said. “But we do whatever we can to avoid these things. The focus is to operate as safely as possible.”
White noted that the United States needs chemicals and other materials considered hazardous. Chlorine, for instance, helps cleanse swimming pools.
Records maintained by the Association of American Railroads show South Carolina receives 5.4 million tons of chemicals each year on its railroads. That’s the second-highest tonnage of goods, behind coal, brought by rail into the state, but is on par with North Carolina and Georgia, White said.
Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Susan Terpay said her company made 360,000 hazardous material shipments nationally in 2004 without a major derailment that caused an exposure to the public.
Until this week, “Norfolk Southern has never had a chlorine release associated with a train accident,” she said.
Federal records show that in the past 20 years, more than 600 rail cars carrying hazardous materials through South Carolina have been involved in train accidents. Of that, 26 cars leaked, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Although industry supporters say their safety record is solid, others remain critical.
Charleston lawyer Mullins McLeod Jr. said warning systems on tracks are outdated and train cars that transport hazardous materials aren’t always adequate.
“There is no money put on safety,” said McLeod, who is suing the CSX Transportation Co. on behalf of a client over a 2003 chemical accident involving a train in the Pee Dee.
Parker was particularly critical of the speed at which freight trains are allowed to run through urban areas. Federal law does not require them to slow down in cities if the tracks are of a certain quality. The Norfolk Southern train in Graniteville was believed to be running up to 45 mph.
For Columbia resident Amundson, it might be time to raise the issue of train safety with city officials and the Rosewood Community Council.
“I’ll probably bring this up at our next meeting to see what kind of reaction is in the community. It perhaps would be a good idea for people living within a certain impact zone of a train to be provided with safety measures.”
(Staff writer Chris Roberts contributed to this report.)