Our Society and more than a dozen other North Jersey organizations are sponsoring a rally and media conference in Teaneck on July 6, the 10th anniversary of the oil train derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people.
The rally, from 5 to 6:30 pm, is at Dr. Barnett S. Bookstaver Park, 855 Windsor Road, across from the CSX rail line and Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Station, near Cedar Lane. Bus routes and parking are nearby. Sign up here to attend.
The deadly Lac-Mégantic derailment also destroyed the downtown. Surrounding communities are dealing with the serious health impacts of derailments of trains carrying vinyl chloride, which produces toxic dioxin when it burns. Earlier this year, a 150-car train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals, and in 2012 a train derailment in Paulsboro, NJ, spilled vinyl chloride.
A call for safety measures
This rally is a call for passage of A5605, legislation for rail-safety safety measures in New Jersey, including minimum crews of two persons, shorter trains, wayside detectors, and other important provisions that can help prevent accidents.
Trains carrying petroleum, vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials travel through towns, cities, and rural communities here in New Jersey, putting us at great risk. Hazmat trains cross bridges over reservoirs and other water bodies, threatening the safety of drinking water. The Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains and the Work Environment Council, main organizers of the rally, are stepping up efforts to prevent rail accidents and to protect our safety with the introduction of a new rail safety bill, A5605.
Hear from victims, first responders, rail workers
At the rally, hear (virtually) speakers from Lac-Mégantic and the East Palestine, Ohio, area; read the names of victims at Lac-Mégantic; hear from first responders and rail workers, legislators, community advocates, and the Solidarity Singers
Co-sponsors: Central Bergen Circle of GreenFaith, Don’t Gas the Meadowlands Coalition, Environment NJ, Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, Food and Water Watch NJ, Franciscan Response to Fossil Fuels, Hackensack Riverkeeper, League of Women Voters–Teaneck, National Council of Jewish Women-Bergen County Section, Northern NJ NOW, Occupy Bergen County, Resistance Café, Saint Anastasia Haiti Support Group, Sierra Club North Jersey, Social Action Committee of Temple Emeth, Teaneck Peace and Justice Vigil, United Muslim Action, Waterspirit.