Tons of Toxics

We witnessed Hurricane Katrina unleash untold amounts of chemical toxins into a region already dubbed, “Cancer Alley.�? Our nation’s chemical plants, and the railways that carry their products are not safe, and the next disaster may not come from Mother Nature.

Terrorists have already targeted railways in London and Madrid, but a U.S. target could be far more lethal. Experts predict that as many as 100,000 Americans could be killed or injured in just 30 minutes as a result of a terrorist attack on railways carrying lethal chlorine.

Take Action >> Tell your senators to act NOW to prevent further tragedy.

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Dear Senators,

I am writing to ask you to support common sense action to protect our families, our community and our health from possible terrorist attacks.

The Homeland Security Council recently estimated that if terrorists struck a rail car full of chemicals in Washington, D.C. that there could be 127,500 victims, including 17,500 fatalities. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory agrees, estimating that 100,000 people could be killed or injured in the first 30 minutes following an attack with as many as 100 people dying per second.

Four years after 9/11, the federal government has failed to take action on this threat. It is unacceptable to allow our communities to go unprotected any longer. Since October 2001 Senator Corzine as introduced legislation (S. 157) to prevent such an attack by converting plants to safer chemicals or technologies. Senator Susan Collins and Senator Joseph Lieberman are now reconsidering this bill.  However, the oil and chemical industry is lobbying hard to ensure that this bill is killed or riddled with loopholes.
 
On transportation, Senator Biden has also introduced legislation (S. 1256) to prohibit trains carrying large quantities of ultra-hazardous chemicals through high threat, densely populated areas.  Rerouting these trains is an essential first step with conversion of dangerous chemical plants as the long-term solution to protecting our communities.

Please let me know if you intend to support and vote for the Corzine approach of replacing dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives and if you will support and vote for the Biden bill (S. 1256).

Thank you.

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Tons of Toxics

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