Rail, chemical industries at odds over safety

The U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee recently passed the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008, requiring high-risk facilities to use safer chemicals and methods that “reduce the consequences of a terrorist attack,” but the freight railroad industry is calling on chemical manufacturers to cease manufacturing hazardous products, like chlorine, when safer substitutes are available.

Continued: Click on Read MoreIn a statement released after a House Homeland Security Committee meeting last month, American Railroad Association President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger argued that “we can no longer continue to risk the lives of millions of Americans by using, transporting and storing highly toxic chemicals when there are safer alternatives commercially available.”

A report by the Center for American Progress cited six drinking water and 19 wastewater treatment facilities that have switched to chlorine alternatives such as liquid bleach or ultraviolet light. The report suggests that as a result, “more than 26 million people no longer live within range of a chlorine gas release from these facilities, and additional millions are no longer in danger from rail shipments to these facilities.”

The American Chemistry Council supports the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008, but opposes the rail freight industry’s call to cease production of some chemicals.