Authors: U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Date of Publication: 1978
Sponsoring Agency: U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Performing Organization: U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Report No: SEE-78-2
Abstract:
The public hearing held April 4-6, 1978 focused on derailments and the
carriage of hazardous materials . Forty-nine witnesses testified during the
hearing and provided expert testimony on derailments and the carriage of
hazardous materials. The Safety Board examined safeguard installations for DOT 112A and 114A tank
cars, emergency notification and response procedures, the derailment problem,
hazardous materials track routing, t rack standards, the Federal/State
Participation Program, and other areas of Safety Board concern. Immediate urgent recommendations were issued by the Safety Board to the
Department of Transportation for acceleration of installation of shelf couplers
and head shields for all DOT 112A and 114A tank cars. The Safety Board further
deter-mined that the severity of derailments with subsequent release of
hazardous materials was increased by the lack of information and documented
procedures for identifying and assessing the threats to public safety, the lack
of accelerated action and leadership by Federal regulatory agencies in reversing
derailment trends and minimizing the risk to the public of hazardous materials
releases, the lack of timely notification of accidents, and the need to
research and review current Federal regulations for improvement and application.
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