Hazmat Rerouting Decision Delayed

White House Accused Of 'Playing Politics' Over D.C. Rail Line

Chlorine carried by a train is among the 6 million tons of chemical freight annually that passes within four blocks of the U.S. Capitol. D.C. officials want to bar hazardous material shipments from a CSX Corp. rail line through the city. (J. Dougherty -- The Sierra Club)

D.C. lawmakers and environmentalists are accusing the Bush administration of waiting until after the Nov. 2 election to decide whether to require railroads to route hazardous materials around Washington, charging that security is taking a back seat to politics.

Since the District introduced legislation a year ago to bar hazardous material shipments from a CSX Corp. rail line through the city, the Transportation Security Administration has missed several self-imposed deadlines to address the issue.

"This president, this administration, is playing politics in an election year with the safety of my community and my family," D.C. Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), co-sponsor of the bill and chairwoman of the council's Judiciary Committee, said at a news conference. "That is unconscionable. It is unforgivable."

Each year, as many as 8,500 rail cars carrying chlorine, ammonia and hydrochloric and sulfuric acid roll through the city. About 6 million tons of chemical freight a year traverses the capital along the CSX route, passing within four blocks of the Capitol, south of the Mall and across the Potomac River, according to the National Capital Planning Commission, which wants to study moving the line.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the city and the Bush administration have been grappling with how to regulate the highly toxic chemicals. Critics contend that the administration already has decided to allow the chemical industry to voluntarily reroute potentially dangerous chemicals but that it is withholding an announcement until mid-November.

Department of Homeland Security officials said that no such decision has been made and that delays in funding and program planning are to blame for the timing, not politics. Administration and industry officials said that environmental groups, several of which favor Democrats, are the ones playing politics and that such groups as Greenpeace, which is lobbying for a ban, have longstanding positions against any use of some toxic chemicals.

Administration sources said they face criticism either way; if they announced a ban on hazardous material shipments in the capital, Bush would be denounced for fanning terrorism fears before the election.

"The big picture is we were waiting for money and making sure we have programs in place," said Thomas J. Lockwood, national capital region coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security. He explained that his agency only recently received its appropriation from Congress for fiscal 2005.

The dispute comes near the end of a presidential race in which President Bush and Vice President Cheney have cast Bush as the champion of the war against terror, warned that a weapon-of-mass-destruction attack on a U.S. city is the greatest threat facing the nation and accused the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), of being too weak to lead. Kerry has vowed to lead a united global campaign to kill terrorists and accused Bush of not doing enough on homeland security.

Federal safety reports indicate that the rupture or sabotage of a 90-ton rail car carrying chlorine in Washington could kill or injure people living within 14 miles, depending on wind direction and weather. A chief U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientist testified before D.C. Council members last winter that a catastrophic release near a gathering such as the Independence Day celebration on the Mall could kill 100 people per second and 100,000 in 30 minutes.

At the request of Homeland Security, CSX has delayed or rerouted hazmat shipments during certain events, including the State of the Union address and last year's NFL season kickoff celebration on the Mall.

But federal regulators and rail and chemical industry representatives said that a permanent ban on shipments through the District would trigger a rush by any number of cities and states to shift the risk elsewhere, disrupting the economy, raising costs and creating other security problems.

The vulnerability of chemical supplies and shipments has been a top concern for counterterrorism and FBI officials, who long have worried about a domestic version of the 1984 disaster in Bhopal, India, in which a leak at a Union Carbide Corp. pesticide plant killed at least 2,000 people and injured tens of thousands.

The issue has become particularly thorny in Washington. TSA and Federal Railroad Administration officials opened talks with the District after the D.C. Council held a public hearing in January on the proposed ban. Now proponents say federal authorities are dragging their feet in announcing a security plan for regional rail transport.