[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S2376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if you picked up a paper yesterday, you 
would have seen stories about a transportation wreck again. It was all 
over the television. It was all over the newspapers. There was a train 
wreck on Sunday in Gainsville, VA, not far from Washington. Five cars 
on the train derailed, including two carrying propane, which is very 
explosive. Route 29--I have traveled that road many times going to 
Virginia to watch my boy play soccer--was closed for several miles. 
This is one of the main arteries bringing people to Washington from 
Virginia. The train derailment not only closed Route 29, but two nearby 
elementary schools were closed as workers tried to get the cars back on 
the track and also put the propane back on the railcars or remove them 
completely.
  An emergency worker said if the train cars had rolled in the opposite 
direction, they would have hit an aboveground gas line, and there would 
have been a catastrophe. This is the third train wreck on that stretch 
of tracks since 1997.
  Over the past few weeks, several tragic accidents on highways around 
the country have raised the question: What if? Just this weekend, a 
dust storm reduced visibility to zero on a highway in rural southern 
Arizona. The result was a 26-car pileup. Another dust storm in Colorado 
caused a 30-car pileup on Interstate 70.
  What if a truck carrying hazardous waste had been involved in one of 
these accidents? Less than a month ago at least five people were killed 
in a massive wreck caused by fog on Interstate 75 in northwest Georgia. 
That accident involved more than 100 vehicles, including 20 tractor-
trailers.
  In February, three accidents in 1 day claimed the lives of five 
people in Miami-Dade County, all involving large trucks. The accidents 
were attributed to human error.
  We know accidents involving hazardous waste can and do occur on our 
highways and railways. We all remember the Baltimore tunnel fire last 
year which was caused when a train derailed. The resulting fire burned 
for 1 week, and an extremely dangerous acid was spilled in the tunnel. 
Baltimore was closed basically for 3 days. We are very fortunate this 
accident was not worse.
  Each year crashes kill over 5,000 people--that is, truck crashes--and 
injure another 150,000 people. Over 50,000 people are killed in 
automobile accidents each year. Large trucks are involved in 
multivehicle fatal crashes at twice the rate of passenger vehicles. 
What if more of the trucks on our highways carried hazardous waste? How 
could we ensure the safety of our communities? Are local emergency 
teams fully prepared to respond when hazardous chemicals are released?
  The answer to all of those questions is obvious.
  I can remember being in Ely, NV--I have said this before--where I was 
visiting one of my friends who I went to high school with. He is a 
police officer in Ely. He picked up a teletype indicating there was 
going to be a hazardous load coming through his town. He said: Why did 
they send me this? I would just as soon not know. I cannot do anything 
if something happens.
  He does not know. They do not have the equipment. He is not trained.
  Last summer I introduced, and Congress passed, an amendment requiring 
the Secretary of Transportation to study the hazards and the risks to 
public health and safety, the environment, and the economy associated 
with the transportation of hazardous chemicals and radioactive 
material. This report should come soon. I am told it will be finished 
in the next couple of months. In the meantime, this is an issue about 
which we need to be concerned. These accidents are serious. We have a 
deteriorating infrastructure, and we have more and more pressure being 
put on this deteriorating infrastructure.
  Serious accidents have happened and are going to continue to happen, 
and we need to be aware of this.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming.

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