The BLET Safety Task Force has received Party Status from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to assist with investigations into two Union Pacific derailments that occurred recently: one that resulted in an ethanol leak in Richmond, Texas, on March 18; and an intermodal train derailment in Mecca, Calif., on March 19.
According to media reports, more than two dozen rail cars derailed in Richmond, Texas, a suburb of Houston. No evacuations were ordered even though leaks were detected from two cars carrying ethanol. About 20 rail cars derailed in Mecca, Calif., a desert-area in southern California. The derailment led to the closure of a state highway and UP’s Sunset Route. No injuries were reported in either incident.
BLET Vice President Randy Fannon, who also serves as Chairman of the Safety Task Force, said the BLET cannot publicly comment or speculate on the cause of these accidents due to its Party Status with NTSB. However, the STF will investigate the accidents from the viewpoint of locomotive engineers and trainmen to help determine what occurred and how to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.
The BLET became the first labor union in the railroad industry to establish a formal accident investigation team when it created the Safety Task Force in 1989.
CW39 Houston photo