(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Jacob Jordan on May 16.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — More federal oversight and regulation are needed to prevent railroad wrecks such as the one that caused a deadly spill in Graniteville more than four months ago, a federal official said Monday.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta was in South Carolina to release a new plan to curb wrecks caused by human error.
Preliminary findings in the Jan. 6 Graniteville wreck, which killed nine people and injured hundreds, have placed the blame on the crew of a Norfolk Southern train who failed to switch the main track into its proper position.
That type of human error, the largest single factor that accounted for 38 percent of all train crashes in the past five years, is not addressed by Federal Railroad Administration regulations, Mineta said. Railroad-company operating rules address human error, and employees who violate them can be disciplined or dismissed.
The recommendation would require more training from the federal agency and possible civil penalties. In the worst case, employees could be barred from certain train assignments, said Dan Smith, the agency’s associate administrator for safety.
The plan also would address crew fatigue, help develop technology that can alert crews to broken rails and improve hazardous materials safety by letting local emergency workers know immediately what material could be involved in a crash.