Unfortunate that the worker in this case and September's (where Amtrak maintenance personnel failed to properly secure a Virginia Railway Express locomotive that was in a rail yard near Fredericksburg. That locomotive <http://www.readexpress.com/read_freeride/2007/10/gravity_caused_vre_locomot ive_to_roll_aw.php> escaped the rail yard unmanned, rolling for about seven miles before it began to slow down and train crews could regain control.) are not identified so that their backgrounds can be examined. How many rail employees actually have background checks? B http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/10/AR2007111001 439.html Train That Derailed and Fell Into River Was Not Properly Secured, CSX Says
By Sandhya Somashekhar Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 11, 2007; C03 The train that derailed and dumped possibly hundreds of tons of coal into the Anacostia River <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Anacostia+River?tid=informl ine> on Friday is believed to have rolled onto a damaged bridge because an operator failed to secure the brakes properly, CSX Transportation <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/CSX+Corporation+Inc.?tid=in formline> officials said yesterday. The bridge was under repair and out of service when the unmanned, 89-car freight train rolled onto the span about 3 p.m. in Southeast Washington, officials said in a statement. It coasted more than a quarter-mile before ending up on the bridge, which collapsed under the train's weight. Many CSX employees "are not working right now while the investigation continues," CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan said. "Any further action would be determined as part of a formal process that is laid out in the collective bargaining agreement." No one was hurt in the accident, but seven coal cars plunged into the river and at least two more spilled their freight, said Alan Etter <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Alan+Etter?tid=informline> , spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Services Department. Each car can hold as much as 100 tons of coal, but it was unclear whether they were all full. Inspectors have tested the water repeatedly and have found no significant environmental threat from the coal, he said. But D.C. environmental officials are very concerned about the impact of the clean-up effort, Etter said. "You've got these really heavy rail cars that have just plunged into the water and into the muck," he said, explaining that decades' worth of pollutants and other harmful materials have settled at the bottom of the river. "When they start to remove these rail cars, it's going to cause this material to wash up and down the river." CSX and contract crews spent yesterday moving the undamaged cars off the bridge and doing initial cleanup. Barges, cranes and other equipment are expected to begin arriving at the scene today, and crews are expected to begin fishing the cars out of the water tomorrow, Sullivan said. The bridge was one of two spans owned by CSX that cross the Anacostia near RFK Stadium <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/RFK+Stadium?tid=informline> . The one that collapsed was taken out of service in November 2006 after a routine inspection found structural problems. The second span was closed yesterday as crews repaired damaged caused by the accident. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
