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Articles
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| Environment derailed |
VOICE writes, " The CSX railroad has been cleaning up the mess caused when its rail cars crashed through a decrepit bridge into the Anacostia River. We can’t think of an excuse for the railroad's negligence in allowing this near-catastrophe to have happened.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is justifiably troubled by the "risk of catastrophic consequences from terrorism and from mishandling hazardous materials transported through" the District. "
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The freight cars reportedly rolled from the local rail yard, crashing through a barrier before reaching the bridge, because a worker did not properly set the train's brakes. The bridge itself, according to a CSX spokesperson, has been out of service because of corroded supports.
When the railroad realized the bridge was in danger of collapsing, it should have put up barriers strong enough to prevent any rail car from reaching it. Human errors occur. The company should have realized that there is always the possibility that a worker might not properly set the brakes on a train. Given the potential danger to both the railroad's employees and property, as well as to the public, there is no excuse for lack of prescience.
Luckily, the pollution from the coal spill has been contained, but cleaning it up will show us just how bad the pollution that has been flowing into the river for years has become. When a train falls into a river, it’s a spectacle. But the human waste that flows quietly into the Anacostia every day is easy to ignore. We should use this accident to pay attention to it.
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Posted on Dec 13, 2007 04:20am.
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