HAZARD RIDES THE RAILS AND ROUTES

At any given time, 5-15% of all trucks on U.S. roads carry toxic, corrosive, flammable, explosive or otherwise hazardous materials and about 80 million tons of such cargo are transported by rail every year. Hazardous cargoes are transported in all kinds of weather through uninhabited countryside and densely populated cities. Although these hazardous materials could include spent nuclear fuel, they are, for the most part conventional materials such as fuels, fertilizers, plastics and paints. Accidents which involved hazardous materials are described in this article. The Materials Transportation Bureau (formed in 1975) of the U.S. Department of Transportation specifies how hazardous materials must be packaged and shipped but the responsibility for enforcement rests with the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Aviation Administration, and the Coast Guard. Also, certain cargoes have their own overseers: for example, the Environmental Protection Agency holds sway over pesticides and agricultural chemicals. The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (1974) attempts to consolidate these responsibilities but it's enabling legislation is very complicated and a dozen or more states have have not incorporated the act into their codes. State inspection programs too, are filled with holes. A 1983 National Academy of Sciences report takes the Federal government to task for its handling of hazardous materials transportation. It outlines a number of pressing problems including the need to clarify and improve the training of hazardous materials personnel, and to clarify the role of public officials at different levels. Emergency hot lines are noted: CHEMTREC and the National Response Center (NRC) in Washington.