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Judge Backs D.C. Ban on Toxic Rail Shipments
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan yesterday upheld the District of Columbia’s right to ban rail shipments of chlorine and other toxic materials from passing through the nation’s capital, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, April 6). The emergency order is scheduled to begin tomorrow. “Vague predictions of increased costs and logistical burdens” made by rail operator CSX and the federal government “pale in comparison to the potential devastation predicted to occur in the event of a terrorist attack on a railcar transporting hazmats in the nation’s capital,” Sullivan wrote in his decision. Sullivan said the federal government, which backed the CSX lawsuit against the ban, failed to submit a rail security plan, the Post reported. “CSXT argues that it has been ‘more than three years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001’ and there is no reason to believe there is an imminent emergency,” Sullivan wrote. “The court sincerely hopes plaintiff is right, but it is unwilling to take that gamble.” CSX said it would take its case to the federal appeals court. In the meantime, it will comply with the law, said company spokesman Robert Sullivan. CSX “continues to place great focus on rail security — as it has since Sept. 11, 2001,” the spokesman said in a prepared statement. The company charges that the ban violates its constitutional right to interstate commerce and infringes upon federal authority over the rail system. CSX also fears the D.C. rule could become a precedent for other cities that could disrupt rail transportation around the country. Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are considering similar bans, according to the Post (Carol Leonnig, Washington Post, April 19).
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