Railroads, Government Spar Over Chlorine Trains
October 12, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
According to this report, railroads, chemical makers and U.S. government regulators are battling to hammer out new policies on shipments of toxic chlorine gas.
Even as the federal government was proposing new safeguards to guard the public against gas leaks caused by accidents or terrorist attacks, the Union Pacific railroad was asking the government for authority to turn down such shipments and chemical makers sued in court to prevent it from imposing higher tariffs, The Fort Worth (Texas) Star Telegram reported Sunday.
Trade groups representing chemical makers eventually prevailed as the court struck down a Union Pacific policy charging much higher rates for chlorine gas shipments through major cities such as the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, while the U.S. Surface Transportation Board ruled it was the railroad’s responsibility to ensure the shipments remain safe.
“The problem is they wanted to indemnify us for things they did wrong,” Paul Donovan, a Washington attorney who defended the chlorine industry in the court case, told the Star-Telegram.
The newspaper said a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report postulates an attack on a chlorine rail tanker could kill 17,500 and hospitalize more than 100,000 people in an urban area.
10 Chemical Vials Stolen From University of Waterloo Researchers
May 24, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Police are searching for 10 vials of a deadly substance after it was stolen from a group of University of Waterloo students who were doing research at a nearby river.
Students were conducting water tests at Moyer’s Landing Park along Grand River in Cambridge around 9 a.m. Saturday when they noticed 10 vials of sodium azide had been taken from a cooler at the research site, said Waterloo regional police.
The stolen goods are being described as clear liquid inside clear glass vials with vacuum seal tops. Each vial contains about 160 mL of the chemical.
According to the Ontario Poison Centre, the chemical can enter humans through skin contact, inhalation, ingestion and intravenous injection.
While it may produce a pungent odour when reacting to metals or other liquids, the Centre for Disease Control warns that by the time a victim notices the smell, it may be too late.
Symptoms of consumption include low blood pressure, diarrhea, vomiting, central nervous system depression causing sleepiness or even comas, chest pain, heart rhythm problems, shortness of breath, seizures and acute heart attacks.
Exposure can be fatal if left untreated.
