As Rail Industry Lobbies Against Safety Bill, Two Trains Derail in Arizona and Washington - CommonDr
As Rail Industry Lobbies Against Safety Bill, Two Trains Derail in Arizona and Washington - CommonDreams
Two trains operated by BNSF derailed in Washington state and Arizona on Thursday as the rail industry and its Republican allies in Congress fight bipartisan safety legislation introduced in the wake of the toxic crash in East Palestine, Ohio.
The Associated Pressreported that the Washington derailment spilled 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel on tribal lands along Padilla Bay. State authorities said the fuel spill does not appear to have flowed toward the water—though such an assurance is cold comfort amid the disaster in eastern Ohio, where residents' concerns about the long-term impacts of the wreck on local water, soil, and air quality remain high more than a month after the crash.
In Arizona, eight BNSF train cars derailed Thursday near the state's border with California and Nevada, though it's unclear whether any spills occurred. The crash reportedly involved a train carrying corn syrup.
More than 1,000 trains derail in the United States each year, but the Norfolk Southern disaster in East Palestine has brought greater scrutiny to the industry's dangerous cost-cutting and lax safety practices—turning wrecks that would typically be consigned to local news coverage into national headlines.
With each derailment since early February, calls for substantive action in Congress to rein in the powerful industry have grown louder.
Link:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/rail-industry-lobbying-trains-derail
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