Railroads, gov't spar over chlorine trains

FORT WORTH, Texas — Railroads, chemical makers and U.S. government regulators are battling to hammer out new policies on shipments of toxic chlorine gas, observers say.

Even as the federal government was proposing new safeguards to guard the public against gas leaks caused by accidents or terrorist attacks, the Union Pacific railroad was asking the government for authority to turn down such shipments and chemical makers sued in court to prevent it from imposing higher tariffs, The Fort Worth (Texas) Star Telegram reported Sunday.

Trade groups representing chemical makers eventually prevailed as the court struck down a Union Pacific policy charging much higher rates for chlorine gas shipments through major cities such as the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, while the U.S. Surface Transportation Board ruled it was the railroad's responsibility to ensure the shipments remain safe.

"The problem is they wanted to indemnify us for things they did wrong," Paul Donovan, a Washington attorney who defended the chlorine industry in the court case, told the Star-Telegram.

The newspaper said a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report postulates an attack on a chlorine rail tanker could kill 17,500 and hospitalize more than 100,000 people in an urban area.