Gottheimer Slams Garrett for Allowing "Bomb Trains" to Roll Through Bergen County

Press Release

As Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) officials met with elected officials in Bergenfield today, Josh Gottheimer, Congressional Candidate in the Fifth District, renewed his call for strong safety measures to protect local communities against the hazards posed by transporting highly-combustible Bakken oil by rail.

Over the past three years, there have been at least thirteen major incidents in the United States and Canada in which trains carrying oil have derailed -- and exploded -- with many of these incidents happening in populated areas. The 2013 explosion of an oil train in Lac-Megantic, Quebec leveled 30 building and killed 47 people. As a result, some have called these oil-carrying trains, "bomb trains."

In May, joined by New Jersey Firefighters in Teaneck, Gottheimer announced his plan for train safety, including legislation that would require state officials to share critical information with local officials about trains carrying hazardous materials to local Emergency Management personnel. Currently, information on oil trains is shared only with state officials, but not those at the county and municipal level who would notify first responders in the event of an accident.

Gottheimer's proposal builds on the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which was signed into law on December 4, 2015. The legislation enhances tanker car standards, includes speed restrictions, training for local first responders on spills, and sets emergency response protocols.

Although the FAST Act passed with strong bipartisan support, Scott Garrett voted against the legislation -- the only member in New Jersey, Democrat or Republican, to do so. Instead of acting on key safety measures, Garrett punted and wrote a letter asking for more information.

"Despite the staggering risks posed by oil trains, Scott Garrett put his Tea Party extremism ahead of the safety of our community. As he's done many times before, Garrett was the only member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, in the entire New Jersey delegation to vote against safety measures to prevent and respond to hazardous oil spills. Instead of acting, Garrett spent the last ten months waiting for the federal government to take a train to New Jersey and hold a meeting, that's not even open to the public," said Gottheimer.

An estimated 15-30 trains carry crude Bakken oil pass through Bergen County each week; as much as 7 million gallons pass through the county every day. The Record has reported that about 60,000 tank cars containing 30,000 gallons each traveled through Bergen County in 2014, three times as much as in the prior year.

The FRA and the United States Department of Transportation has been aggressively working on improving the security of oil transporting trains like these, and it's been at the top of Gottheimer's community safety agenda.

This is not the first time Garrett has failed to act on a critical rail safety issue.

Garrett voted against a rule that would have established a program to reduce the probability of train accidents. In June 2015, Garrett voted against an amendment barring funding for a rule that is "designed to reduce the consequences and, in some instances, reduce the probability of accidents involving trains transporting large quantities of flammable liquids." [HR 2577, Vote #312, 6/09/15].

Garrett has consistently voted down infrastructure funding bills that would repair many of the bridges and tunnels in towns like Oradell and Haworth that cannot handle the increased rail traffic and thus, are more likely to cause a derailment.

Scott Garrett opposed the FACT Act to give first responders more information about hazardous and flammable materials being transported through our communities. Garrett was the only member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation (only one of 65 Members of Congress), who voted against the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which would provide first responder training for rail accidents involving flammable liquids and create "fusion centers" that allow first responders and local officials to share critical information and coordinate emergency response. [HR 22, Vote #673, 12/3/15].

"Whether it's responding to an oil train derailment or -- God forbid -- a lone wolf terrorist attack, Scott Garrett has voted for the Tea Party and against action that would better equip and train our firefighters and protect our communities," said Gottheimer. "It's time our families had a representative they could count on to reach across the aisle to help protect our communities."

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