MUST READ: Our Railways Still Unsecured
March 29, 2006
According to an article in today's New York Times, four years after 9/11, our nation's railways remain dangerously unsecured. Our railways are used to transport 1.7 million shipments of hazardous materials every year, which could be used in a potential terrorist strike against Americans.
Below are excerpts of the article:
"Two signs just inside the entrance of the Oak Island rail depot here hint at dangers inside. 'Our Employees' Safety Is in Your Hands.' one reads. 'You Are Accountable for Your Safety,' reads another.
Beyond those two placards, however, there are few visible signs that security is a high priority at the railyard, just three miles from downtown Newark and seven miles from Manhattan, where 90-ton tanker cars full of deadly chemical gases are routinely stored and shipped. Gates to the depot are unlocked and unguarded, allowing unimpeded access to tracks where cars loaded with deadly chlorine, ammonia or oleum gases are stored.
"In the years since the 9/11 attacks, public concern about a potential terrorist strike at one of the nation's chemical plants has caused federal and local officials to inch toward tighter safeguards at manufacturing and processing plants. . . Even if the chemical plants are secure, the public could be left vulnerable by the railways running in and out of many of them. The railways transport more than 1.7 million shipments of hazardous materials every year, including 100,000 tank cars filled with toxic gases like chlorine and anhydrous ammonia."
To read the entire article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/nyregion/27secure.html?pagewanted=print
