Michaud, Pingree Meet with NTSB Chairman on Rail Safety

Press Release

Today, Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree met with Deborah Hersman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB is an independent federal agency with responsibility for investigating transportation accidents; conducting transportation safety studies; issuing safety recommendations; aiding victim's families in aviation disasters; and promoting transportation safety. More about the NTSB can be found here.

On July 11th, Michaud and Pingree sent a letter to the NTSB, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in the wake of the Lac-Megantic rail accident. They met with the FRA last week and will be receiving periodic updates from the agency on the progress of its inspections in Maine.

In addition to the meeting today, Michaud and Pingree also received a letter from NTSB formally responding to their inquiry. In the meeting and the letter Chairman Hersman highlighted the agency's cooperation with Canada's Transportation Safety Board as well as their safety concerns with DOT-111 tank cars, which were among the ruptured cars in the Quebec tragedy.

"We appreciate the responsiveness of the NTSB and all they are doing to help their Canadian counterparts put together the pieces in the aftermath of this tragedy," said Michaud and Pingree after today's meeting. "We need to get to the bottom of exactly what happened in order to truly prevent such an accident from happening here in Maine. We share Chairman Hersman's concerns over DOT-111 design flaws, and we call on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to issue a new rule enhancing the design of these cars as soon as possible. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation in Canada, we should all be able to agree that our railroads should be utilizing the safest cars possible when transporting hazardous materials through our communities."

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has jurisdiction over railroad tank cars and is currently in the process of formulating a new rule on tank car design standards.

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