Thursday, September 22, 2016

Who will heed these warnings?

Years of citizen action, testimony, scientists' warnings, facts, studies, papers and other blatant warnings have not been enough to stop the transportation of hazardous substances, especially dangerous Bakken crude oil, by rail along our sensitive environmental centers, through our cities, and next to our precious clean water resources. Our so-called liberal president does nothing to stop it and the railroads' robotic response whenever a disaster occurs, "Safety is our highest priority."

Yet another warning has come in the form of a BNSF derailment near Ferryville. Tell me if any of the highlighted phrases below sound familiar, like you've heard them before from citizens telling governments and railroads that we need to stop these dangerous shipments.

"A BNSF freight train derailed Thursday morning on a washed-out bridge ...}

"One of the locomotives spilled about 2,500 gallons of fuel, with some making its way into the Mississippi River ..."

" ... access to the site is difficult because of damage from two days of heavy rains."

"... high water levels in the Mississippi are preventing crews from deploying booms ..."

What if these trains had been loaded with millions of gallons of even more toxic Bakken crude oil? What if those trains had leaked into the river with access blocked by flood waters?

This may not be our final warning, but it's surely one we must heed.

 






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