Lt. Matthew Tiedemann, the Bergen County Office of Emergency Management
coordinator, talking about the newer cars that carry Bakken crude oil at
the summit for first responders. | CHRIS PEDOTA/staff photographer
New Jersey firefighters warn county officials
they don’t have staff, equipment, expertise; suggest the county buy
equipment and bill CSX
Local firefighters warned Bergen County officials on Monday that they don’t have the manpower, equipment or expertise required should there be an accident involving trains carrying millions of gallons of volatile Bakken crude oil that pass through their towns every day.
At a meeting of about 75 first
responders in Hackensack, emergency officials said a coordinated countywide
approach is the only way to deal with a potential derailment involving the
enormous increase of trains carrying Bakken crude. The highly flammable oil has
been involved in several fiery crashes throughout North America in the past
year….
……
Several first responders said they need equipment like booms, large quantities
of foam retardant and absorbent materials to deal with a potential fire and
spill, saying it would take the county time to move that equipment if a crisis
occurred.
One particular area of concern is
that the oil trains cross a small bridge over the upper reaches of the Oradell
Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to 750,000 people. Harrington Park
Fire Marshall Tom Simpson said there was no way his volunteer fire department
nor any of the ones in surrounding towns could stop thousands of gallons of oil
from going into the reservoir.
"Any spill above the reservoir
is going to contaminate the reservoir," said Simpson who suggested that the county buy the equipment
for local towns and then bill CSX. "We don’t have the equipment to
contain that much flow into the reservoir."
Bergenfield fire Capt.ain Jim Kirsch
said putting the equipment near the rail line could be a bad idea. "I walk
out my [firehouse] door, I walk 20 feet and I’m on the track bed," he
said. "A derailment in Bergenfield means I’m probably going to have a tank
car in my firehouse…. read more here
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