TETERBORO, NJ – As part of their ongoing efforts to ensure rail safety in New Jersey, this week U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-NJ) and Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) hosted a training for local first responders from across the state to better prepare them to safely manage incidents involving flammable liquid transported by rail, such as crude oil. The training, which was facilitated by officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), utilizes a series of best practices developed by PHMSA based on past experiences along with the expertise of public safety agencies, rail carriers, and industry subject matter experts.
“Given the increase in toxic substances traveling by rail through New Jersey in recent years, we must ensure we are doing everything possible to prepare our first responders for a potential emergency,” said Sen. Booker, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, which oversees America's rail infrastructure. “I was proud to work with Senator Menendez and colleagues to fight for key provisions in the FAST Act that would help address some of our most pressing rail safety needs, including enhancing tank car safety and improving communication for rail crews and first responders. The toxic chemical spill and train derailment in Paulsboro in 2012 underscores the need to make rail safety a primary concern, and trainings like this take an important step towards prioritizing the safety of communities in New Jersey and across the region.”
"It's vital our first responders have all the resources and training options to be best equipped to respond to worst-case scenarios," said Sen. Menendez. "The PHMSA training sessions, like the one held yesterday, provide our first responders with helpful federal resources. New Jerseyans, especially those living in communities that crude oil passes through, deserve top-notch preparedness."
"We have 2,400 miles of freight rail lines in this state, much of which run through densely-populated areas in North Jersey," said Rep. Pascrell. "These are neighborhoods and business districts that need to know that there is a plan in place for train derailments. Anyone near the path of these railways, especially crude oil shipments, should be able to trust that the operations are run in a safe and secure manner. Preparing our first responders for the worst-case scenario will go a long way in a crisis situation.”
"PHMSA'S TRIPR training builds on best practices for rail incident response and offers emergency responders a flexible option for training that can be used by any township or county, throughout the country,” said PHMSA Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez, who kicked off the training in Teterboro.
Sens. Booker and Menendez fought to have provisions included in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the first Federal law in over ten years to provide long-term funding certainty for surface transportation, that will help address rail safety. This legislation not only improves the status quo of our nation’s infrastructure, but it will also help ensure the safe transport of flammable and toxic substances by rail in New Jersey and around the country. Specifically, the FAST Act:
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Requires railroads to increase reporting to states and localities to improve emergency response. Class 1 railroads must generate accurate, real-time, electronic train composition information for first responders and are prohibited from withholding of train composition information from first responders in the event of an accident, incident, or emergency. Increased information sharing will help empower communities to better respond when derailments occurs.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Requires an independent assessment of ways to improve on the information currently carried by train crews. Further data will shed light on whether additional requirements are necessary to improve safety.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Enhances tank car safety by requiring new tank cars to be equipped with “thermal blankets” to protect against heat and flames and requires the addition of valve protection on tank cars to better prevent hazardous material releases in the event an accident.
New Jersey serves as a major passageway for flammable materials by rail, including crude oil. Reports indicate that in Bergen County alone, at least 7 million gallons of oil travel through 11 communities each day. According to PHMSA, at least 1.5 million gallons of crude oil spilled off rail cars in 2013, compared to 800,000 total over the previous 37 years combined. Sen. Booker convened a meeting at his office in September with local officials from north New Jersey to discuss the growing safety issues surrounding transport of crude oil transport in Bergen County communities.