Canadian rail strike leaves U.S. commodities unable to move; agricultural interests push for a resolution

Rail-traffic has stopped at U.S.-Canadian
border. (Denley Photography, Unsplash)

As U.S. farmers prepare for expected bumper crops of corn and soybeans, the shutdown of Canada's two largest railways threatens a chunk of their incomes. The fallout from Canada's unresolved rail closures stretches beyond agriculture. It could have "dire consequences for North America’s economy, threatening deliveries of cars, timber and petroleum products," reports Lauren Kaori Gurley of The Washington Post. "The U.S. railway Union Pacific has said a shutdown would sideline more than 2,500 railcars that normally cross the U.S.-Canada border each day."

The two Canadian railways, the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroad and the Canadian National Railway have been unable to strike a deal with Teamsters Canada "despite days of heated negotiations," Gurley writes. "The Teamsters say the railways are requesting that the union make concessions 'on crew scheduling, rail safety, and fatigue management' — echoing union concerns at the heart of a threatened 2022 rail strike in the United States." The two railroads insist they have offered "significant pay increases and addressed concerns about scheduling."

U.S. agricultural interests are pushing hard for a resolution. Gurley reports, "In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden as well as other U.S. and Canadian officials, dozens of trade associations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cotton Council, said a rail shutdown would trigger 'harmful consequences for Canadian and American agricultural producers, the agricultural industry, and both domestic and global food security.'”

Earlier this week, U.S. companies worked to slow the flow of goods to the U.S. Canadian border, which means "that massive flow of goods has screeched to a complete halt," Gurley explains. But the problems go both ways. "Murad Al-Katib, chief executive of AGT Foods, one of the world’s largest suppliers of staple foods such as beans and wheat, said food supply chains would be 'immediately disrupted,' noting that many commodities — such as peas, lentils, chickpeas and durum wheat used for pasta — travel across the Canadian border to U.S. processing and packaging facilities."

Meanwhile, Teamsters Canada said that it won't agree to the rail companies' "grueling schedules," and in turn, both railway companies said "they’ve made generous offers to the union," Gurley writes. "The Canadian government has rejected calls to intervene, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged parties to 'get to a resolution.'"

East Palestine's controlled chemical burn in 2023 spread pollutants to at least 16 states, new study shows

Norfolk Southern's controlled burn spread chemicals
to surrounding states. (Adobe Stock photo)

In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, leading to an explosion and a toxic vinyl chloride spill. The subsequent controlled burn, which was intended to prevent further explosions, created a plume that spread air pollutants to at least 16 states, according to research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, Zack Budryk of The Hill reports. The cloud "reached as far north as New England . . . according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin. They found the overall radius spanned more than 540,000 square miles."

Researchers studied soil samples before and immediately after the spill to evaluate the burn's reach. "They found evidence of high chloride concentration in states including Virginia, South Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as particularly high concentrations near Canada's border with New York, an area downwind of the crash site," Budryk explains. 

The chemical plume may have also changed precipitation pH levels in surrounding areas. "Researchers found unprecedentedly high, or more basic, pH values across a broad belt in the Midwest and Northeast," Budryk reports. "They also found elevated alkaline and earth metals levels, in some cases within the 99th percentile of measurements for the last decade."

The study's lead researcher, David Gay, said, "All of these pollutants are important in the environment because their accumulation has an impact on the Earth's aquatic and terrestrial environments in many ways."

In March 2024, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, testified at a Senate hearing that the deliberate burn was not necessary because there was no risk of additional explosions.

Two-person crews are now required for almost all freight trains in an effort to improve railroad safety

Photo by Laurent Jollet, Unsplash

More than a year has passed since the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where cars carrying vinyl chloride exploded and a "controlled chemical burn" was completed and then later disputed as unnecessary. Although East Palestine isn't the only town to face the devastating consequences of a rail disaster, the small town's crisis brought rail safety back into the forefront, and now the federal government has put a new rule in place.

"The Biden administration rolled out a mandate requiring nearly all freight trains nationally to operate with two-person crews," reports Daniel C. Vock of Route Fifty, "ending for now a decade-long fight by the railroad industry to stymie similar efforts in Congress and in statehouses around the country. . . .Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the new Federal Railroad Administration rules will 'address the patchwork of differing uncoordinated requirements that had been developing across the states.'"

"More than 13,000 people commented when the FRA announced its two-person crew proposal, Buttigieg said, and nearly all of them were supportive of the idea," Vock writes. "One worker told the agency that asking someone to run a train by themselves for a 12-hour shift is 'kind of like solitary confinement.'"

The rail industry has maintained that it remains the safest way to move dangerous chemicals, "something the head of the National Transportation Safety Board agreed with in recent testimony in the House -- though officials acknowledge the railroads need to continue improving safety," reports Josh Fund of The Associated Press.

Ian Jeffries, the president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, pushed against the new regulations, saying that they had "no proven connection to rail safety," Vock reports. "The FRA's rules require two workers to staff freight trains unless a railroad gets a special exemption from the agency. When companies seek an exemption, the public and railroad workers will get a chance to weigh in before the agency decides."

In East Palestine, Ohio, residents and officials now know the 'controlled burn' was not neccesary

Vinyl chloride is used to make
PVC piping. (Wikipedia photo)

More than a year has passed since the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which left the community of 5,000 facing the aftermath of a chemical explosion followed by a "controlled chemical burn" of vinyl chloride that at the time was presented as the "least bad" of two options. However, area residents and Congress discovered last week that Ohio decision-makers didn't have all the facts needed to avoid the burn.

"The decision to blow open five tank cars and burn the toxic chemical inside them after a freight train derailed in Eastern Ohio last year wasn't justified, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board told Congress," reports Josh Funk of The Associated Press. "But she said the key decision-makers who feared those tank cars were going to explode three days after the crash never had the information they needed."

The East Palestine train derailment.
(Wikipedia photo)

The company Oxy Vinyl made the vinyl chloride inside the five cars, and its experts told "contractors hired by Norfolk Southern railroad that they believed that no dangerous chemical reaction was happening, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said. But Oxy Vinyls was left out of the command center," Funk explains. While vinyl chloride is a flammable gas, it needs a specific combination of heat, air, light, and a contact catalyst to start a fire or explode. Homendy testified that the Oxy Vinyl's experts did not believe this combination or "polymerization" was occurring. "However, that information was never relayed to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the first responders in charge, she said."

DeWine's spokesperson, Dan Tierney, said a lack of information made the burn seem like the only safe option. He told Funk: "The only two scenarios that were ever brought up were a catastrophic explosion occurring, where shrapnel would be thrust in all directions to a one-mile radius, or averting that through a controlled vent and burn. Nobody ever brought up a scenario where if you just did nothing, it wouldn't explode."

East Palestine is in Columbiana
County, Ohio. (Wikipedia)

Area residents now face the heartbreak of knowing the burn was not needed, and some suspect Norfolk Southern pushed for the burn versus waiting for the cars to cool so that more costly delays could be avoided. Funk reports, "Misti Allison, who lives with her family about a mile away from the derailment site, said the findings reaffirm what she believed to be true all along: that the vent and burn did not need to happen." She told Funk, "Norfolk Southern was putting profits over people to get the train tracks up and running as fast as possible and to destroy whatever evidence was left."

Vinyl chloride does not occur naturally and is a category 1A carcinogen. The National Cancer Institute notes that "vinyl chloride exposure is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), brain and lung cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia." 

A year after the East Palestine derailment, some residents have not returned home, and others report health problems

The site of the East Palestine train derailment.
(Photo by Cara Owsley, The Enquirer via USA Today)

More than a year has passed since the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, left the unsuspecting community of 5,000 living in the aftermath of a hazardous chemical explosion and its mitigating "controlled chemical burn." Many residents believe their lives are forever changed because of toxic exposure during and after the disaster.

Five days after the accident, Ohio officials announced that it was safe for residents to return home. "But five families who spoke to The Cincinnati Enquirer . . . just before the one-year anniversary say they're still dealing with health problems," reports Elizabeth B. Kim of The USA Today Network. Despite the lack of scientific studies tying the derailment's toxic spill to long-term health problems, "relocated families are still experiencing symptoms and foot many of their medical bills without help from the railroad or the government. They don't consider their East Palestine homes to be safe, and they're worried that moving back will worsen their symptoms."

Financial help from Norfolk Southern ends on Feb. 9 for families who relocated to other areas. "Some of the symptoms families say they face are chronic, and others are acute, appearing suddenly after a short period of time spent in one's home," Kim writes. "Christa Graves, 49, has had migraines before, but they increased in frequency from weekly to daily starting last February. . . . While Norfolk Southern offered to relocate people living within a mile of the derailment site, Graves lives 1.2 miles away. The railroad denied her request for relocation assistance, and her family has been unable to move out ever since."

Despite residents' reported health problems, the town's air and water have repeatedly passed quality testing. Anne Vogel, director of the Ohio EPA, said, "The agency is not planning to offer more residential air testing following those initial results," Kim reports. Ohio EPA "has also continued weekly sampling of the municipal water system since February 2023 and reported that no contaminants from the derailment have been detected."

Beyond ongoing health issues and expenses, families who have been unable to go home "described the crushing blow of losing their homes, sometimes passed down for generations," Kim reports. "Candy Kiehl still feels a strong connection to her East Palestine house despite feeling unconvinced that it's free of contamination." Kiehl told her: "That was my grandparents' house. That's where my mom passed away. That's where my dad passed away. But is it safe? I don't know."

U.S. rail gets an infusion of cash from Maine to Alaska; projects will include new or improved tracks in rural areas

Department of Transportation map via Route Fifty

Almost every state will receive federal money to build or improve its passenger rail, reports Daniel C. Vock of Route Fifty. "President Joe Biden, known for decades as the Senate's most loyal Amtrak passenger, unveiled his administration's vision for a more robust passenger rail network throughout the country, with more than $8 billion in funding for big-ticket projects and grants for better service in nearly every state." The administration has ignored criticism that many Americans don't use rail enough to warrant that amount of funding.

While many allotments will go to bigger cities, more rural areas will also glean new or improved tracks. "The administration will spend nearly $94 million to add capacity to Chicago's Union Station. . . $27 million to upgrade tracks used by Maine's Downeaster Amtrak route and $15 million to eliminate bottlenecks in Montana," Vock writes. "The so-called Corridor ID program’s planning grants include proposals to upgrade 15 existing rail routes, add or extend service on 47 new routes and develop seven new high-speed rail projects, according to the administration."

The administration is also pushing to "lay the groundwork for future passenger rail upgrades," Vock adds. "The Federal Railroad Administration is giving half a million dollars each to 69 projects in 44 states to help with planning for service expansions. . . . Some of the ideas — like restoring service through the southern tier of Montana — have been talked about for decades. Colorado is getting money to plan service along the Front Range, linking many of its major cities."

States can refuse the federal money, but those that accept it are more likely to have a history of passenger rail support, Mike Christensen, the executive director of the Utah Rail Passengers Association, told Vock. "The vast majority of proposals receiving funding have been preceded by years of grassroots organizing that ultimately culminated in the proposal."

Rail employees who flag safety concerns are often penalized or even fired, according to a new report

Train cars at a Denver facility.
(Photo by Eli Imadali, special to ProPublica)

Rail workers who report problems such as load defects, faulty brakes, malfunctioning valves or other dangers often face retaliation, including furloughs and terminations, report Topher Sanders, Jessica Lussenhop, Dan Schwartz, Danelle Morton and Gabriel Sandoval of ProPublica. "Railroad companies have penalized workers for taking the time to make needed repairs and created a culture in which supervisors threaten and fire the very people hired to keep trains running safely," according to the report. "Regulators say they can't stop this intimidation."

While train derailment may be the most dramatic breach of train safety, other dangerous close calls, including escaped train cars carrying flammable materials, are on a long list of problems train corporations don't report. "The government trusts the rail companies to fix the underlying problems on their own, to heed workers' warnings," according to the report. "But as railroads strive to move their cargo faster, that honor system, ProPublica found, is being exploited. To squeeze the most money out of every minute, the companies are going to dangerous lengths to avoid disruptions — even those for safety repairs."

To substantiate its story, ProPublica "examined 15 years’ worth of federal lawsuits against rail companies, interviewed hundreds of workers including managers, listened to hours of audio recorded by workers and pored over decades of regulatory, judicial, legislative and industry records," according to the report. "We identified 111 court cases where workers alleged they had been disciplined or fired after reporting safety concerns; nearly 60% ended in settlements with the companies. Three in recent years resulted in jury verdicts of over $1 million for fired workers."

Rail inspectors who flag safety concerns are dubbed "complainers" who slow everything down and decrease profits. Supervisors that let issues slide are rewarded, ProPublica reports. "[Rail companies] use performance-pay systems that effectively penalize supervisors for taking the time to fix hazards and that pressure them to quash dissent," according to the report. "As a result, trains with known problems are rolling from yard to yard like ticking time bombs, getting passed down the line for the next crew to defuse — or defer."

Rail employees punished or fired for reporting safety problems can turn to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for whistleblower protection, but the agency takes "so long to conclude investigations that many workers, tired of waiting months for rulings, remove their complaints and sue the companies instead," ProPublica reports. "Once that happens, OSHA has no legal authority to continue its investigation, barring the agency from exposing repeat bad actors or patterns in the industry’s abuse of whistleblowers."

Read the full investigation, including the lengths many rail employees have gone to keep trains safe and how the rail companies have responded.

Low-high, high-low: Mississippi flooded in spring, but now levels are falling and barge traffic could be slowed again

Just below the confluence with the Ohio River, a barge loaded with coal and gravel found the channel close to the Kentucky shore of the low Mississippi River last Friday as the Missouri shore grew more sandy. (Rural Blog photo by Al Cross)

Life on the Mississippi is getting drier as the river faces drought and dipping levels. Low water is "threatening to disrupt commerce for a second consecutive year, months after cities along the vital economic artery saw floodwaters test their sandbag barriers and containment walls," reports Shannon Najmabadi of The Wall Street Journal. "Water levels in St. Louis and Memphis are 10 to 20 feet lower at this point in the year than in 2020 and 2019 due to lack of rain. Parched soils have absorbed moisture instead of letting it run off into the river, though recent downpours have helped, said Lisa Parker, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division."

Over half of U.S. soybeans are exported, and most of that goes down the Mississippi, Najmabadi notes. Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, "said the Army Corps of Engineers has begun monitoring water levels and has 16 dredges operating on the Mississippi River to keep the water channel and harbors deep enough for transit. Steenhoek told the Journal, "We've really seen this ebb and flow—this dramatic ebb and flow—this last year more than we've seen in years past."

Part of spring's water highs stemmed from Minnesota's record snowfall melting in April, its runoff engorging the river, but it is increasingly plagued by droughts. "Low water levels on the Mississippi River last fall contributed to $20 billion in economic losses, according to an AccuWeather estimate. Some barges were grounded on sandbars," Najmabadi reports. "Other vessels lightened their loads to keep them from sitting too low in the water, which increased transportation costs for farmers and others."

The river's fluctuating levels are affected by weather and changing climate, but the river is engineered by humans. Nicholas Pinter, a University of California professor who has extensively researched rivers and watersheds, told Najambadi, "Climate change is in there. . . . [But] it's smaller than the impacts of levees and navigational infrastructure on portions of the Mississippi River."

Bob Criss, a professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis and "critic of the Corps' management of the river, said U.S. goods should also be moved by rail," Najambadi reports. "Because locks and dams used to make the Mississippi River navigable create a slow-moving, deep channel that has changed the environment." Criss told her: "The Mississippi River from St. Louis all the way to New Orleans was twice as wide as it is now. It was full of islands and sandbars, which are habitats for birds and everything else. The barges do not pay for the river maintenance. . . . They pay nothing for the dredging."

Tracy Zea, president and chief executive officer of the Waterways Council, which represents river shipping interests, "is hopeful water levels won't be as low as last fall," Najambadi writes. "About 500 million tons of goods, worth more than $158 billion, are transported on inland U.S. waterways each year, Zea said. The vessels are more fuel-efficient than trucks or trains. One barge can carry the load of 70 fully loaded semi-trucks."

Railroad employee, working solo, got warnings but says he was too busy to notice before derailment; safety bill stalls

Aerial view of the deliberate burning of hazardous vinyl chloride
(Columbiana County commissioners photo from NTSB via ABC)

One employee watching 19,500 miles of track could have prevented Norfolk Southern Corp.'s February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, but he says he was distracted by other trains and failed to see  warnings that a wheel bearing was heating up and would fail, reports Darrel Rowland of ABC News: "He wasn't even looking at the readings from defect detectors along the tracks on the bearing, suspected by the National Transportation Safety Board of causing the fiery crash in East Palestine."

Gary Rambo, automatic train-control analyst for the Atlanta-based railroad, told NTSB investigators "he was monitoring other Norfolk Southern trains at the same time," Rowland reports. "Thus, he didn't notice a 'trending alert' from the wayside defect detector showing a spike of 103 degrees in the bearing of doomed train 32N in Ohio. . . . He said, 'Honestly, I didn't see it when it first came in. There were three other trains I was working on.'"

"Rambo said he didn't know for sure the train had derailed until he heard from the chief dispatcher's office that 'We got a lot of cars on the ground' and 'They're on fire,'" Rowland reports. "He told investigators that on the day of the crash, he – as usual – was working solo on a 12-hour shift, attempting to monitor from home all the company's trains on 19,500 miles of track in the eastern U.S. . . . He said he did not even have a scheduled lunch break or time to use the bathroom as he tried to keep up with an average of 300 alerts per shift. . . . Rambo said two persons used to work the shift until Norfolk Southern staff cutbacks a few years ago."

Should Rambo had noticed the warning, he may not have acted, Rowland writes: "The temperature fell just short of the railroad's threshold to stop the train – although whether someone like Rambo could have asked for a halt due to the rapid temperature rise remains unclear. . . . Critics say the nothing-to-see-here stance of Norfolk Southern on a crucial element of the derailment provides just one indicator of how hard it's proving to bring real change on rail safety as we approach the six-month anniversary of the crash where 38 cars from the 1.75-mile-long train derailed in East Palestine, including 11 with toxic materials that first responders had difficulty identifying."

Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance are pushing a bill to create more rail safeguards. The Senate Commerce Committee approved it in May, and a handful of other "Trump-aligned conservatives have signed onto the effort, but party leaders on both sides believe the legislation in its current form lacks enough GOP support to clear the 60-vote threshold" in the Senate, Punchbowl News reports. "The problem for most Republicans is that the bill goes too far in imposing new regulations on the industry.”

Joe Perticone of The Bulwark’s “Press Pass” reports, “The bill’s fortunes started shifting around the same time that the Norfolk Southern Corp.” political-action committee “was cutting big checks to PACs and members of Congress whose positions made them critical to the bill’s fate.“

Norfolk Southern loses bid to protect itself from state-court action; Supreme Court justice alludes to recent derailment

A Norfolk Southern employee sued in Pennsylvania but claims
exposure in two other states. (Photo by Nate Smallwood, WSJ)

In a loss for Norfolk Southern Corp., the Supreme Court ruled "that states can require companies to submit to their courts' jurisdiction as a condition of doing business within their borders," reports Jess Bravin of The Washington Post. "Norfolk Southern had sought to limit its state-court liability in states where it does relatively little business. . . . At issue was a Pennsylvania law requiring that companies operating within the state consent to lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania courts—even if the allegations involve conduct that took place elsewhere. Norfolk Southern argued that imposing such liability on the railroad. . . violated the Constitution's due-process clause."

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, "Its cargo? Hazardous chemicals." That suggested "that under the railroad's argument, the Constitution could, in theory, shield the company from some state-court lawsuits while leaving its employees exposed to liability," the Journal reports. "Norfolk Southern's safety practices came under new scrutiny after the February derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, released more than 1 million gallons of hazardous chemicals into the environment. The company is facing multiple lawsuits from the incident."

The case at issue was "a workplace lawsuit filed by a retired railway employee from Virginia, Robert Mallory. . . who alleged he developed colon cancer from workplace exposure to carcinogens. . . while working in Ohio and Virginia but filed suit in Pennsylvania state court in 2017," Bravin reports. "The Mallory case was of interest to businesses nationwide for its potential to limit a practice called forum-shopping, in which litigants try to steer cases into courts they hope will be more sympathetic to their claim. . . . Pennsylvania law authorizes lawsuits against any company registered to do business within the state."

Norfolk Southern "argued it was unconstitutional to give Pennsylvania state courts blanket jurisdiction over any potential claim against the company," Bravin reports. "Not so, Gorsuch wrote. . . . The court had resolved the matter in a 1917 case when it upheld a lawsuit that an Arizona mining company filed in Missouri against its Pennsylvania-based insurance company for fire damage to a smelter near Cripple Creek, Colo. . . . States began adopting such laws, in response to the explosive growth of corporations in the 19th century. States required consent to liability 'in exchange for the rights to exploit the local market and to receive the full range of benefits enjoyed by in-state corporations.'. . . Norfolk Southern, Gorsuch said, had complied with the Pennsylvania requirement for decades."

Longer trains block vehicles for longer waits, costing lives

Washington Post graph from Assn. of American Railroads data

Longer trains are blocking rural vehicular traffic for longer waits, including by emergency responders. There have been extreme delays and, in one case, an infant died. So far, railroads have been slow to respond to complaints, report Andrea Salcedo, Luz Lazo, and Lee Powell of The Washington Post.

Their object example: "For decades, those living along Glover Road in Leggett, Texas — a rural community with fewer than 150 residents  — wrote letters, sent emails and called authorities pleading that trains stop blocking the neighborhood's sole point of entry and exit for hours. Some residents and a county judge sent letters to the railroad company, warning of a 'greater catastrophe,' including a toxic train disaster."

The community's fears were justified: "In 2021, baby K'Twon Franklin died. His mother, Monica Franklin, had found the 3-month-old unresponsive in her bed and called 911," the Post reports. "Paramedics responded, but a Union Pacific train blocked their path on Glover Road, according to Franklin and a local police report. It took more than 30 minutes for them to carry K'Twon into an ambulance. Two days later, the baby died at a hospital in Houston. Franklin told the Post, "Unfortunately, the delay has cost my child's life."

The tragic events in Leggett are not an exception. "In Tennessee, a man died of a medical emergency after an ambulance crew was held up at a train crossing. In Oklahoma, a man perished from a heart attack after first responders were stuck behind a train at the only entrance to their street. . . . So far this year, there have been more than 1,400 reports of first responders blocked by trains," the Post reports. "Trains have mushroomed in length for a simple reason — to save money and generate profits for railway companies and their shareholders. . . . U.S. railroads have paid out $196 billion on stock buybacks and dividends to shareholders since 2010." Congress is working some solutions: "The Railway Safety Act, which would require railroads to maintain a toll-free number where people can report blocked crossings, advanced this month to the Senate floor, where it will probably need 60 votes to pass. The legislation also would set standards. . . . apply new rules to trains transporting hazardous materials and curb efforts by railroads to reduce their workforces."

Will railroads end up building roads to grade separations where vehicles can cross? "In Leggett, there is a solution to the crossing blocks. To build a short connector road to another crossing, giving Glover Road residents a way out. They could then cross the tracks and drive 15 minutes to Livingston, the nearest town. Or if all crossings were blocked in Leggett, they could take the long way to Livingston, about a 45-minute drive," the Post reports. "Union Pacific said it is committed to working with communities — including Leggett — to resolve issues with blocked crossings. But local officials and residents say that, despite the county and state facilitating land acquisition, the railroad has not made it a priority."

UPDATE, June 5: In Hensley, Arkansas, a largely Black village of 139 people south of Little Rock, the Union Pacific Railroad is installing a longer siding to keep trains from dividing the burg, which has only one railroad crossing, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

Kids are crawling under stopped railcars, and aren't the only ones with train problems; railways ignore requests for help

One child helps another cross over a parked freight train blocking their route
to school in Hammond, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis, ProPublica)

Watching a train go by used to be a relaxing pastime. But now they take longer to go by because they have gotten longer, and their stops block more streets, roads and pathways, no matter who or what needs to get through -- be it ambulances or students trying to walk to school, report Topher Sanders and Dan Schwartz of ProPublica and Joce Sterman of Gray Television. "Recent spectacular derailments have focused attention on train safety and whether the nation's powerful rail companies are doing enough to protect the public — and whether federal regulators are doing enough to make them, especially as the companies build longer and longer trains. . . . In Hammond, Indiana, reporters sat by a train blocking a school path and "witnessed dozens of students. . . . climbing over, squeezing between and crawling under train cars. . . An eighth-grade girl waited 10 minutes before she made her move, nervously scrutinizing the gap between two cars. She'd seen plenty of trains start without warning. 'I don't want to get crushed,' she said."

Multiple reports tell an ugly story: "Ambulances can't reach patients before they die or get them to the hospital in time. Fire trucks can't get through, and house fires blaze out of control. Pedestrians trying to cut through trains have been disfigured," ProPublica and Gray report. "An Iowa woman was dragged underneath until it stripped almost all of the skin from the back of her body. . . . In Hammond, the hulking trains of Norfolk Southern regularly force parents, kids and caretakers into an exhausting gamble: How much should they risk to get to school?"

Hammond's school district has "asked Norfolk Southern for its schedule so that the schools can plan for blockages and students can adjust their routines. The company has disregarded the requests, school officials said. . . . In written responses to questions, a spokesperson for Norfolk Southern said children climbing through their trains concerns the company," they write. The journalists showed footage of kids making the crossing, including an elementary student crawling under a train, to representatives of Norfolk Southern, lawmakers and Transportation Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg; "He was shocked" and said, "Nobody can look at a video with a child having to climb over or under a railroad car to get to school and think that everything is OK."

States and local authorities can issue citations to trains for blocking intersections longer than state laws or local ordinances allow, but after rail companies found a way to negotiate those fines, the practice was largely abandoned. "State and local officials grew hopeful when the Supreme Court invited the federal government to comment on a petition from Ohio seeking the authority to regulate how long a train can block a crossing. The high court will likely hear the case if the solicitor general recommends it, said Tom Goldstein, publisher of SCOTUSblog, which is widely seen as an authority on the court," ProPublica and Gray report. "Nineteen other states have signaled their support for a Supreme Court case. Goldstein expects the solicitor general to respond in November or early December. A favorable court opinion could allow other states to finally enforce their laws on blocked crossings. . . .[In the meantime] the problem has become so endemic in Hammond that getting 'trained,' or stalled at crossings, has become a verb."

Pro-Russian Twitter accounts spread false information preying on 'legitimate concerns' after Ohio train disaster

Drone photograph of Feb. 6 Norfolk Southern freight train derailment in
East Palestine, Ohio (Photo by Gene Puskar, The Associated Press)

Something strange and noteworthy followed the Feb. 6 train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. "Soon after the derailment, anonymous pro-Russian accounts started spreading misleading claims and anti-American propaganda about it on Twitter, using Elon Musk's new verification system to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility," reports David Klepper of The Associated Press. "The accounts claimed without evidence that authorities in Ohio were lying about the true impact of the chemical spill. The accounts spread fearmongering posts that preyed on legitimate concerns about pollution and health effects and compared the response to the derailment with America's support for Ukraine following its invasion by Russia."

One posting cried, "'Biden offers food, water, medicine, shelter, payouts of pension and social services to Ukraine! Ohio first! Offer and deliver to Ohio!' [The account] boasts 25,000 followers and features an anonymous location and a profile photo of a dog," reports Klepper. "One video features ex-President Donald Trump's remarks about the train derailment, complete with Russian subtitles."

"The accounts were identified by Reset, a London-based nonprofit that studies social media's impact on democracy, and shared with AP, " Klepper explains. After the accounts were identified, "Zignal Labs, a media intelligence firm, conducted a study. . . . At first, the derailment received little attention online, but mentions grew steadily; Zignal found a time lag that gave pro-Russia voices time to try to shape the conversation. . . . the accounts received an extra boost from Twitter itself. . . . . Musk replaced it [Twitter's Blue check mark verification system] with Twitter Blue. Under the program, Twitter Blue users can write and send longer tweets and videos. Their replies are also given higher priority on other posts."

Felix Kartte, a senior advisor at Reset, told Klepper, "With no one at home in Twitter's product safety department, Russia will continue to meddle in U.S. elections and in democracies around the world." Kartte noted Reset's "findings indicate Twitter is allowing Russia to use its platform like a bullhorn."

Tips from the Society of Environmental Journalists for tracking hazardous-materials shipments along rail lines

Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013, after an oil-tanker train derailed
in the town center. (Photo from Sûreté du Québec, Wikimedia Commons)

Before last month's train derailment and explosions in East Palestine, Ohio, why didn't the town's residents know there were hazardous materials on the train? Easy. "The public is not allowed to know," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "That’s the effect of 2008 federal regulations. . . . Those rules let states decide to keep the routing of trains carrying hazmat secret — although they require the federal government to inform the states. . . . Under existing rules, the train that derailed in Ohio wasn’t enough of a potential hazard to merit routing disclosure to anyone. . . . A few states do disclose some of the info. That’s not enough."

Finding rail hazmat routes begins with knowing what you're looking for: "There are many kinds of hazardous materials carried by rail. Crude oil is hazardous, but it may not be the most hazardous thing rolling through your community," Davis writes. "Because public concern was focused on oil trains, the Department of Transportation created a category called high-hazard flammable trains, and focused regulatory action on that. The train that derailed in Ohio was not an HHFT."

Davis notes, "In response to the Ohio spill, several Congress members have already introduced bills to tighten up rail hazmat regulations. But none make it easier for the public to know about hazmat cargoes or routing in advance."

Davis gives these tips to uncover hazmat cargo that may threaten your community:

Find the main freight line(s). This is not hard because many main freight lines run right through towns and cities, or right next to them. The biggest are called Class 1 freight railroads.

Stake out the line(s) that may be of concern. Visit at different times of day. Use binoculars and a long-lens camera to learn the contents of cars by looking at the diamond-shaped placards. Bring your press card. Sometimes you can focus on rail yards or industrial facilities.

Identify potentially hazardous cargo by looking up the UN numbers on the cars (especially tank cars). These numbers identify hazardous cargo. You may have to do the lookup back at the office. Then you need to sift through and find the most worrisome, frequent or voluminous ones.

Figure out where trains are coming from — and going to — if you can. Are you near a source of oil or chemicals? A place that uses them?

Try to build a list of train accidents near your area. Here’s one starting point. The FRA Office of Safety Analysis data portal provides another.

Now learn all you can about the health consequences of a spill of cargoes of concern.

Go back to the maps and your knowledge of the community to figure out what vulnerable facilities or populations are near possible accident sites (i.e., near the tracks). Schools? Nursing homes? Apartment buildings? Population centers? Lakes, streams or wetlands?

Talk to the first responders who might be called to an incident. It could be the police department, the sheriff, the firefighters, the ambulance service — or even the emergency room of your local hospital.

Ask questions to help your community prepare. Does your local fire department have a hazmat unit? Ask about their plans for dealing with a big hazmat incident. Talk to your local (or tribal) emergency planning committee, an entity required under federal law to plan for such blow-ups. To find yours, you may have to go through your state emergency response commission. Contact information is listed by state. Some places have agencies called 'multi-hazard' agencies; that’s likely who you want."

Consider using these other reporting resources:
National Association of SARA Title III Program Officials: A professional organization of people from government agencies and private industry who deal with hazmat incidents for a living.
EPA regional offices: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office may have staff who can help with information about a hazmat event.
UN Number reference guides: Apps are available for Android or Apple. You can also find lookups on the web, for example here.
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration: Check out the phone app that carries its Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG2020).
CAMEO Chemicals software: A suite of tools meant for emergency responders. here.

Feds approve $31 billion merger of two major railroads into the first one that connects Canada, the U.S. and Mexico

Map prepared by the two companies in 2021 shows their rail lines and the main areas of Canadian grain production, U.S. grain processing and Mexican grain consumption near the lines. 

With federal approval yesterday, the first railroad to span Canada, the U.S. and Mexico has been created. In a $31 billion deal, Canadian Pacific Railway will acquire Kansas City Southern Railroad and become Canadian Pacific Kansas City as early as April 14, Freight Waves reports.

"In approving the deal, the regulator, the Surface Transportation Board, said the new single-line service would shift about 64,000 truckloads a year to rail from the roads, potentially enhancing safety and reducing carbon emissions, and add more than 800 union jobs. The Surface Transportation Board said the merger would not reduce competition," Niraj Chokshi and Mark Walker of The New York Times report. "Martin J. Oberman, the chairman of the five-member board, told reporters, 'On balance, the merger of these two railroads will benefit the American economy and will be an improvement for all citizens in terms of safety and the environment.'"

The Times reports, "The decision came amid mounting concerns with the deal. The Justice Department said it had 'serious concerns' about industry consolidation and asked the regulator to carefully scrutinize the merger. . . . The board has a congressional mandate to take into account the effect mergers would have on transportation for the public and on competition. . . . Oberman noted that Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern were the smallest of the large U.S. freight carriers known as Class 1 railroads." The combined firm will also be the smallest, Freight Waves notes. Olberman "acknowledged criticism that the industry had already become too consolidated in recent decades," but told the Times that the merger “will actually provide a stronger competitive landscape." Freight Waves notes that Board Member Robert Primus dissented, citing consolidation cocerns and saying "The transaction will harm communities along the path of the newly combined network."

In reviewing the merger, "The board took into account the environment and other factors," Chokshi and Walker report. "In a detailed review in January, the board found that the merger would have little negative effect on safety, air quality or other concerns, though some communities could see heightened air or noise pollution, it stated." The two railroads have littel if any overlap and are linked by CP's southernmost line, ending in Kansas City. Canadian grain interests hope the new line will ease exports to Mexico.

Putting the mighty back into the Mississippi: River levels rise

The Mississippi River and its tributaries could be back
to normal by this spring. (Photo by Chip Flory, Farm Journal)

After months of drought and barge congestion, "The shipping crisis on the Mississippi River might finally be ending," reports Michelle Rook of Farm Journal. "Since last July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the river 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ease shipping backups. With improved snowpack in areas such as Montana and precipitation through the midsection of the country late last fall and this winter, the Mississippi River and its tributaries could be back to normal by this spring."

The needle is moving in the right direction. “When you look at the river gauges for points such as Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo., we’re seeing water levels equal to or at least comparable to this time last year,” Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition told Rook. "So, we’ve seen about a 20-foot swing in river levels since last fall, which is really meaningful."

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports, "In 2020, the river carried more than half of the 165.5 million tons that moved between 12 states." With that amount of traffic, "Steenhoek says it takes time for barge and river traffic to resume normal levels," Rook reports."Steenhoek says barge freight rates have also eased in the past year. In early February, the Department of Agriculture reports the barge rate for a shipment originating in St. Louis was $18.55 per ton. That is 26% less than a year ago. Last October, freight rates for St. Louis cargo hit $105.85."

The Mississippi shipping crisis reignited a push for the U.S. to add transportation flexibility through fortification of rail systems, which also struggled to meet demand during the drought.

Rail-borne hazardous materials moving through American communities are 'often invisible' until they leak or explode

East Palestine, Ohio (Photo by Gene J. Puskar, The Associated Press)

What do crude oil, ethanol, vinyl chloride or methane have in common? They are hazardous chemicals moving coast to coast on U.S. railroads. On the heels of the early-February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, "Communities alongside rail lines had two more close calls this week as freight trains carrying hazardous materials derailed in Houston and Detroit," reports Saul Elbein of The Hill. "Where this week’s wrecks took place, the damage was less severe than symbolic: a reminder of the importance of rail-borne hazardous materials to every part of the economy just after the crash in Ohio."

The additional derailments amplify "the risk posed by hazardous materials moving through the nation’s towns and cities. . . . That is a risk that is often invisible until, suddenly, it explodes." Elbein writes. "Last year also saw a spill of 19,300 gallons of hydrochloric acid from a derailment in Oklahoma and 20,000 gallons of nervous system-distorting methyl methacrylate monomer. Since 2015, the U.S. rail system has been responsible for 106 derailments in which hazardous materials were released, according to Federal Railway Administration data analyzed by The Hill."

“Local communities don’t know what’s in these trains,” said Kristen Boyle, an attorney with public interest law firm Earthjustice, told Elbein. “Local communities can’t find out. They can’t stop the trains from going through, and they have been unable to get safety regulations. . . . And then they’re the ones left with, you know, the explosion."

The potential for problems is large. "Trains also carry far more cargo than trucks — making the risks of a spill far more severe. And the sheer volume of U.S. rail travel means that even a failure rate of 0.1 percent can lead to a lot of damage," Elbein reports. "For example, about 20,000 rail shipments of vinyl chloride — the highly explosive and carcinogenic chemical that Norfolk Southern contractors poured in a ditch and burned off in East Palestine — cross the country each year, according to the American Chemical Society. . . . That 99.5 percent success rate would still allow for 100 possible releases of a hazardous chemical — such as crude oil, ethanol, vinyl chloride or methane."