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Obama Tried to Put on the Brakes [1]

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Date: 2023-02-17  

Some More Thoughts and Prayers?

Safety measures are hard to quantify. Had the stoplight been on the corner sooner, would the last accident have happened? Accidents will happen, but neglect and money over safety can exacerbate the outcomes. In 2015 the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a division of the Obama administration’s Department of Transportation, concluded that electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes were safer for transporting crude oil by train. Of course, the Obama administration’s new rule was met by objections from railroad lobbying groups who called the regulation “rash” and “unrealistic,” concluding it may disrupt commerce.

According to experts, ECP is preferable because, unlike an air brake, the brakes are applied uniformly and immediately, providing better train control and shortening the stopping distance. We have all seen a jackknifed truck on the highway, and ECP brakes are engineered to eliminate a similar occurrence with a train.

Although the Dept. of Transportation rule was meant for trains carrying crude, one cannot help but wonder how long before the technology trickled down to all trains. The Trump administration determined the estimated benefits, which included safety benefits, of implementing ECP brake system requirements do not exceed the associated costs of equipping tank cars with ECP brake systems and therefore are not economically justified—the result, Obama regulation out.

The city of Palestine, Ohio, is literally under a cloud. The residents report a cloud of chemicals causing rashes, sore throats, and no potable water. The Obama regulation would also have called for the braking system on trains that carried “high-hazard flammable” materials. It is not clear if the rule would have covered the materials on the Norfolk Southern Corporation train. The irony is that the Norfolk Southern Corp., in 2007, bragged about “making history” with its plans to retrofit its trains with ECP. The idea of safer, more efficient brakes was in response to a fiery crash in 2013 that destroyed the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, killing forty-seven and leaving dozens of others missing.

The Palestine derailment also exposed a woeful lack of inspection, staffing, and horrendous work hours. Track walkers have told the press the inspection times have been cut in half. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union told the public a month before the Palestine derailment that “very long trains can impact braking performance, decrease time for thorough inspections and increase the likelihood of catastrophic derailments.” It should be no surprise that money ruled the decisions made by NSC and train transportation across the country. Most frightening is if this choice of money over people also extends to passenger trains.

I am a frequent traveler on Amtrak, and I love train travel. I must admit over the years, the groans and strains of the trains as it moves from Pennsylvania to my hometown in Washington, DC, along ever-aching tracks, are becoming more stressful every year. Leaky tunnels, delays, and longer cars—for more revenue- have seen my smooth ride become a bouncing nightmare. Trying to quantify the number of long-term illnesses, potential birth defects, cancers, and other diseases that may not show up for years in Ohio is impossible. What is possible is using the tools we have available to avert disaster. Obama tried to put on the brakes, and maybe I am naïve, but valuing life over revenue is not that hard.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/17/2153461/-Obama-Tried-to-Put-on-the-Brakes

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