The U.S. Transportation Department this week ordered railroad companies to determine the "safest and most secure" available routes for shipments of radioactive materials, explosives and hazardous chemicals that could become tools of terrorists, the Contra Costa Times reported (see GSN, March 14).
The new regulations, proposed in 2006, are intended to minimize the effects of a terrorist attack on a shipment of potentially lethal materials. They call on firms to begin evaluating the best transportation routes by June and to implement any changes by September 2009.
"The goal of this rule is not to prohibit the movement of these hazardous materials. Moving commodities such as chlorine and anhydrous ammonia by rail is absolutely vital to our national economy," said Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.
Evaluations of the lowest-risk routes must consider 27 factors such as population density, track reliability and nearby landmarks that are potential terrorist targets. Companies could also take measures to make routes safer such as replacing tracks to improve their quality.
For the first time, railroad firms will be required to consult with local jurisdictions in determining the safest train routes, according to Randy Sawyer, the top hazardous materials official at the Contra Costa County, Calif., health department.
"If they do a good job, that would be great, but I'm not sure what they're required to do," he said. Sawyer noted that routes for petroleum gas -- an explosive substance regularly sent through municipalities in California -- would not have to be reconsidered.
Rail security expert Fred Millar warned that the federal regulations do not require sharing of rail lines owned by separate companies. That could reduce the likelihood that companies would choose to use routes that keep trains carrying hazardous materials away from major population centers, he said.
"The way they've defined the problem is by the individual railroads and each railroad's route," Millar said. "That virtually eliminates the possibility of rerouting."
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman declined to predict how many train routes the regulations would affect.
"This is about routing, not rerouting," he said. "Anybody that is predicting no change, I think is premature. My expectation is that some routes for hazardous materials will be safer routes" (Erik Nelson, Contra Costa Times, April 17).