04-23-2011, 09:18 AM
MountainMan Wrote:BNSF has o useful alternate route other than through Monument, and if adverse public opinion forced them to stop moving hazardous shipments...
Maybe. Maybe not. Where do the alternate routes take the chemicals? Do they go through more populated areas? Do they take longer? Do they cross more rivers? Where was the car going?
The Federal Government makes the railroads evaluate the routes of certain hazmats. Fact is that about 75-80% of US main track miles carry hazmat of one form or another.
One locality had an issue with a hazmat car and everybody was in an uproar over why they would route hazmat through their city. The was going to that city's water treatment plant. So if they want running water they get the hazmat too.