Summary
Chlorine, officials from the Federal Railroad Administration, Association of American Railroads and American Chemistry Council all agree, is one of the most lethal chemicals in existence; as a military weapon, heavier-than-air chlorine gas killed thousands of soldiers in their trenches in World War I. Its primary use is in the production of the hard-plastic building material polyvinyl chloride, or PVC - molded into plumbing and sewer pipes, house siding, even window and door casings. In 1999, recognizing the posed danger, MSD switched from ordering chlorine by the 90-ton tanker to using a diluted form of sodium hypochlorite akin to household bleach, and the water company is finalizing designs for its own chlorine-generation facility, slated to be completed by the end of 2009, ending its need for chlorine deliveries by rail. Although Federal Railroad Administration statistics show that the number of train accidents and derailments has decreased over each of the past three years and that the year-by-year percentages of accidental hazmat releases are miniscule - in 2005, for instance, 99.997 percent of rail hazmat shipments reached their destinations without a release - the statistics also show that 2,000 or more train derailments (of all kinds, not just hazmat) do occur nationwide each year.
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Extract
Rail Roulette
Crescent Hill is, by all accounts, a picturesque neighborhood. With its Victorian houses, locally owned shops and restaurants, and old Main Street feel, it's like a small town in the middle of a large city. Longtime Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson is a resident. And part of the charm, for locals and the East End suburbanites who venture in for a taste of urban hubbub, is the rail line running alongside Frankfort Avenue, whose freight trains imbue a sense of authentic Americana to the whole experience of being there.
It must be blissful ignorance - or denial - that allows them to appreciate the presence of a diesel-fueled behemoth that most likely includes tank cars containing chemicals that are toxic or corrosive or flammable enough to be labeled "hazard...See the full content of this document
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