ANALYSIS OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD INTO DERAILMENTS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, APRIL 4-6, 1978. RAILROAD PUBLIC HEARING REPORT

The public hearing held April 4-6, 1978 focused on derailments and the carriage of hazardous materials. Forty-nine witnesses testified during the hearing and provided expert testimony on derailments and the carriage of hazardous materials. The Safety Board examined safeguard installations for DOT 112A and 114A tank cars, emergency notification and response procedures, the derailment problem, hazardous materials track routing, track standards, the Federal/State Participation Program, and other areas of Safety Board concern. Immediate urgent recommendations were issued by the Safety Board to the Department of Transportation for acceleration of installation of shelf couplers and head shields for all DOT 112A and 114A tank cars. The Safety Board further determined that the severity of derailments with subsequent release of hazardous materials and assessing the threats to public safety, the lack of accelerated action and leadership by Federal regulatory agencies in reversing derailment trends and minimizing the risk to the public of hazardous materials releases, the lack of timely notification of accidents, and the need to research and review current Federal regulations for improvement and application.

  • Corporate Authors:

    National Transportation Safety Board

    Bureau of Plans and Programs
    Washington, DC  United States  20594
  • Publication Date: 1978-6-23

Media Info

  • Features: Appendices; Figures;
  • Pagination: 55 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00185990
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
  • Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-SEE-78-2
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Dec 29 1979 12:00AM