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NS and the Industry Enhance Emergency Response Preparedness


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 06 March 2015 - 07:42 PM

3BL Media, Northampton, MA, 3/5:
 

Norfolk Southern and the Industry Enhance Emergency Response Preparedness

 

To say that the rail industry’s premier training center is in the middle of nowhere is an understatement: Driving east from Pueblo, Colo., it’s 25 miles across desolate flatlands, past the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, where mustard gas is stored; past prairie dogs and pronghorn antelope; and past a security checkpoint with a huge warning sign for rattlesnakes.

 

Since last summer, Norfolk Southern and other Class I railroads have converged on the remote Security and Emergency Response Training Center to help train community emergency responders on how to safely respond to the derailment of a train moving crude oil tankers. The railroad-sponsored training was prompted by a dramatic increase of crude-by-rail transport and several highly publicized derailments – including the July 2013 explosion of a runaway crude train in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people and destroyed much of the downtown area. 

 

As part of an industry initiative to address concerns, the Class I roads, including NS, committed $5 million to develop a three-day, 24-hour training course on crude-by-rail emergency response at the SERTC facility. The Transportation Technology Center Inc., a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, operates the center. The Class I roads are paying for 1,500 first responders to attend the class. 

 

SNIP 

 

Classroom and hands-on training included chemical and physical properties of the different crude oil transported, basic site and damage assessment, tank car design and construction, planning for crude oil incidents, and working withn the railroad.

 

A derailed train consisting of 20 tank cars stays in place on the SERTC property for training that simulates real-life rail scenarios. The setting is equipped with underground pumps that, with the touch of a button, ignite a fire, shoot water from a car to simulate a spilled product, or release steam to simulate escaping vapors. Participants also practice using specialized response techniques, including firefighting foam agents and spill control procedures.

 

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