LONGMONT — Some Longmont residents in the Historic Eastside neighborhood are eyeing the railroad that runs through the heart of the city warily after a spate of recent high-profile train derailments and oil spills.
A Canadian National Railway Co. train derailed March 7 in northern Ontario. Days earlier, a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. car derailed and caught fire near Galena, Ill.
Longmont resident Marco Morelli served on a subcommittee of the neighborhood association that was formed to examine issues associated with trains, including potential derailments. “My main concern is that a derailment could lead to disastrous consequences like an explosive fire,” Morelli said. “And it’s not just oil. I worry about chemical leaks like if a (train car) has something like chlorine.”
Joe Sloan, a spokesman for BNSF, said the railroad is working to make the rail lines as safe as possible and has a hazardous material crew on standby in the area for a worst-case scenario.
“In Colorado, we’re spending over $100 million, and for the entire (28 state) system we’re spending $6 billion on improvements to the track and crews that are continually inspecting the track so it is in the best condition it can be,” Sloan said. “And we try to educate first responders and give grants to first responder communities.”
While oil-related train accidents have made news nationally, Boulder County seems to have had a decrease in derailments. Not every derailment results in a chemical spill or a catastrophe. There have been no reported derailments in Boulder County either from BNSF or from Union Pacific since 2010, according to Federal Railroad Administration data. Previously, from 2005 to 2010, the county averaged 1.6 derailments a year.
Boulder County communities like Longmont and the city of Boulder share resources with the county hazmat team.
Lt. Mike Becker, the hazmat team coordinator in Longmont, said there are roughly 70 technicians certified to keep the public safe from dangerous chemicals, and about 18 of those are on Longmont’s team. Longmont and the county regularly send hazmat technicians to Pueblo for further specialized railroad spill training.
“I’m as concerned about the railroad as I was about a flood making the St. Vrain come a half a mile wide and pour into the city,” Becker said. “Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? It’s not very likely. If it does happen, with the different trainings we’ve done, we are as prepared as we possibly can be prepared.”
Becker said that if a spill were to happen, the hazmat team would be mobilized immediately, and would contact other hazmat contractors that BNSF keeps employed in the Denver metro area.
The next step would be to identify the chemical on the ground or in the air, by either decoding the identification numbers on the derailed train car or calling BNSF dispatch.
Erin Dodge, with the county public health department, said after the initial hazmat response, Boulder County staff would also work to notify water rights owners and property owners downstream or near the spill whether it happened in Longmont, the city of Boulder or anywhere else in the county.
