The Rails Program Office asks only for the top cargo trains carry and the information is used internally.
(FILE: Brock Turner, WTIU News)
More than a year after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, releasing toxic materials into the air and forcing over 2,000 people to evacuate, it is difficult to know what trains carry on a local level. It is also unclear when hazardous materials are scheduled to be transported through town.
Freight trains carry anything from chemicals and crude oil to food products and coal. Usually, the federal Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration regulate what trains carry.
Yet Bridgette Hail, state rail programs director for the Indiana Department of Transportation, said neither the state nor cities and counties monitor exactly what trains transport locally. The Indiana Department of Emergency Management does not regulate this, either.
The Rails Program Office asks only for the top cargo trains carry and the information is used internally. Since these companies are privately owned, they are not required to disclose what they carry.
Hail said her office is not permitted to publicize train top commodities, but, after communities suffered the consequences from the East Palestine accident, this lack of transparency concerns officials in the rail industry.
Kenneth Edwards, state legislative director for SMART Transportation Division, a rail labor union, said he worries about how safely trains transport harmful materials. The Federal Railroad Administration defines hazardous materials as energy products, hazardous wastes, radioactive materials and chemicals.
Kenneth Edwards, state legislative director for SMART Transportation Division, a rail labor union, said he thinks there should be more transparency around what chemicals trains carry. (Isabella Vesperini/WTIU)
“For a long time, the rail industry has been profit-driven,” he said. “Their main goal is to make more profit for their stock for their shareholders every quarter. And in the process of doing that, they cut corners on safety, and they cut corners on staffing, and they cut corners on inspecting their equipment before it goes from point A to point B.”
Train length is also a cause for concern, Edwards said. Some trains that pass through Bloomington come from Marathon Refinery in Illinois, and carry hazardous materials, such as benzene and LP gas, a crude oil that contains propane, butane and isobutane. Each train cart carries 30,000 gallons of gas, and many trains stretch over 10,000 feet.
“A train is like a Slinky,” he said. “The longer the train, the more unsafe it will be because you have more moving parts, and you have more forces.”
The chart above shows the how the length of trains in operation has changed since 2000. In 2022, 50 percent of trains were shorter than 5,400 feet. (Association of American Railroads)
Gabriel Filippelli, professor and executive director of Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute, said vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate got into the air because of the train derailment in Ohio. These chemicals can cause cancer in anyone exposed to them for a long period of time. While Bloomington was far away enough to avoid having these chemicals in the air, they were transported via truck and disposed of in a hazardous waste landfill in Putnam County, Indiana.
“Both of these chemicals would be difficult to detect if they leaked during transit unless they leaked a lot,” he said. “If they leaked a lot, it'd be very easy. But that part of the process, their transport and ultimate disposal was pretty safe.”
Filippelli pointed to switching systems and bridges as weak spots in rail infrastructure. Yet he also thinks fuel trucks are a cause for concern.
“The train derailment itself is good evidence for the fact that our transportation system isn't perfect,” he said. “Sometimes it seems like the cargo-like trains that carry products are less well-protected.”
Trains carry a high concentration of ammonia and phosphate through town regularly, Filippelli said. Ammonia gas is toxic and can kill someone quickly. Phosphate in acidic form can cause a high concentration of algae to grow in waterways and worsen water quality.
Gabriel Filippelli, professor and executive director of Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute, said even though some accidents will happen every now and then, it's important to remain vigilant and continue to update safety and transportation regulations. (Screenshot via Zoom)
“Anytime you're moving a chemical around that has potential toxic impacts, there are going to be accidents now and then; that will always remain a concern,” he said. “But of course, we rely on these chemicals. So, it has to be a concern that the benefits of which outweigh the hazards.”
Edwards said he is worried another accident like the one in East Palestine is bound to happen eventually, especially since many trains only have one person to manage the train, when he thinks there should be at least two.
“The next East Palestine happening is not an if, it's a when,” he said.
The government should work more with local officials to increase transparency and ensure trains traveling through town have been inspected properly, Edwards said. He also thinks trains should be smaller and more time should be given for inspections.
“They're not being good neighbors,” he said. “Just like anything else in life, when you go out and drive on the road, you're sharing that road with thousands of other people. When the railroad comes through your community, they're sharing that space with all the residents that live there.”
The State Rail Plan points out that the Federal Railroad Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration have adopted new rules to determine the safest route for trains transporting toxic materials and crude oil. The Association of American Railroads found that 99.99 percent of hazardous material loads are transported without a train-related incident.
A representative from the Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency in Ohio said following the train derailment in East Palestine, Norfolk Southern has added additional hotbox detection crossings and camera inspection points. While they have not increased the amount of training available for first responders, more people may be interested in attending. Officials are still waiting for more definitive legislation to be passed.
“There’s a bomb yet to be dropped,” the representative said.
Last year, over 2,000 people were forced to evacuate after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and spread harmful chemicals into the air. (The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
U.S. Sen. JD Vance and Sherrod Brown have advocated for the Railway Safety Act, which if passed, would require the transportation department to issue more stringent safety regulations for trains carrying hazardous materials. This includes notifying emergency response personnel in advance of these hazardous materials, enforcing train length rules, speed restrictions and more. Among other things, the bill would also provide more training for first responders and requires that crews for certain trains consist of at least two people.
Private companies have spent about $780 billion on maintaining and upgrading their networks, including advanced inspection technology.
The Federal Railroad Administration has safety regulations and training standards that all railroad companies must follow. For example, trains have detectors that track when bearings overheat and notify engineers if they need to stop the train, which is what happened in East Palestine. Automated track inspection systems use lasers and cameras on railcars to inspect the track the train travels on and is capable of detecting issues not visible when the track is not in use. The data collected are sent to a centralized location where employees analyze and schedule maintenance accordingly. Employees are required to visually inspect each train before it departs.
The Biden administration has also implemented the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to increase rail safety, improve infrastructure and further support rail workers.
