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Legislator Issues First Direct Acknowledgement of Washington Train Diversion; New D.C. Bill Planned By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A local legislator here has directly acknowledged for the first time in public that trains carrying highly toxic chlorine gas no longer take their longtime route through the heart of Washington (see GSN, Jan. 11). The acknowledgement is contained in a memorandum that District of Columbia Council member Carol Schwartz sent to colleagues Friday. The Washington Post reported yesterday on other aspects of the memorandum. The document, which Schwartz released to the press, came in response to a memorandum earlier Friday in which members Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson — who plan in the coming weeks to introduce legislation, opposed by Schwartz, that would ban chlorine shipments through the city — made reference to last week’s deadly chlorine-train accident in South Carolina (see GSN, Jan. 10). “Such a situation could not happen here in the District of Columbia, where we have been assured by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and CSX Transportation that trains containing hazardous chemicals have been rerouted around the District,” wrote Schwartz, who is chairwoman of the council’s Public Works and Environment Committee. At a closed-door Nov. 4, 2004, meeting of federal, local and CSX officials, Schwartz wrote, “We were told that rerouting of poisonous inhalation gases … has occurred since the Madrid, Spain, bombing last March.” In an e-mail to several reporters this week, Patterson quoted CSX Assistant Vice President for Public Safety Skip Elliott as saying at the Nov. 4 briefing that the rerouting “is temporary — as long as the threat exists.” Citing concerns about security and legal liability, government and CSX officials had carefully avoided directly stating that the trains were being diverted, although they had strongly implied as much. At a public council hearing on Nov. 22 of last year, Skip Elliott told Schwartz, “I … believe that your desire to achieve your goals” — that is, ensuring that the trains do not travel through Washington — “has been accomplished” (see GSN, Nov. 23, 2004). “If CSX would like to talk about rerouting,” the top federal official for Washington’s security, Thomas Lockwood, said at the public hearing, “they can. I cannot.” Lockwood, who is director of Homeland Security’s National Capital Region Coordination Office, said the department could be held to account legally if it disclosed information about CSX security operations. Patterson charged Schwartz with violating the confidentiality of the Nov. 4 hearing, but Schwartz argued yesterday that she was not the first to reveal the information, because comments by CSX and federal officials at the Nov. 22 hearing had amounted to a public acknowledgement of the rerouting. Chlorine has a history of use as a chemical weapon, and local officials and environmental activists have expressed concern that terrorists could target the CSX shipments, which before rerouting traveled within a few blocks of the U.S. Capitol. An oft-cited study by a U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientist indicates thousands of people could be killed within minutes if a rail tanker carrying chlorine ruptured near the National Mall. Council members agree that the trains should be prevented from traveling through Washington but are divided over how to accomplish the goal. Schwartz expressed fears yesterday that proceeding with legislation could backfire, since the federal government has the power to invalidate the city’s laws. She stressed the fact that rerouting is already taking place in the absence of a legislated ban. “Once you’ve accomplished getting these poisonous gases — toxic chemicals —from going through the city, why jeopardize that by actions that could be undone by pre-emption or by the courts?” Schwartz asked. Patterson and Mendelson continue to push for a formal legislative ban. As long as CSX diverts the trains voluntarily, Patterson wrote in her e-mail this week to reporters, “There is no guarantee that there will be permanent rerouting of toxics.” She said federal plans to spend nearly $10 million to “harden” the Washington rail corridor indicate that future shipments are planned. “The Bush administration will spend a significant amount of tax dollars to make certain that CSX can resume the shipments of toxic chemicals through the District of Columbia,” Patterson wrote. “This is not an acceptable resolution and underscores the need for legislation.” Patterson and Mendelson said Friday in their memorandum that they plan “within the next several weeks” to introduce a new version of a bill they have introduced unsuccessfully in the past, then to propose an emergency version of the legislation Feb. 1. Mayor Anthony Williams has said he could sign a bill banning the shipments if the council passed it, a possibility Patterson said yesterday is made more likely by awareness generated by the South Carolina accident and by the arrival of several new council members who won seats in November.
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