Railroads

Sometimes when Tony and I are doing research into a subject, we like to ask people who are totally unaffected by what we are looking into their opinions. It helps us get two views of how people see the same thing. One of the questionnaires we put together was focused on gathering information from random people about trains. We asked people what they think when driving along and seeing a train moving down the tracks with a string of cars behind it. We heard a bunch of different answers from them. They brought up thoughts of “I always wonder where that train is going,” “How many cars are on that train,” and, “I wonder what is in those cars.” Most responses were fairly neutral.  There were even a few people who thought about what it would be like to just get on the train and go wherever the train was headed. 

 

Then we asked people who specifically lived near train tracks the same set of questions. Most of the people living near the railroad track think about the noise associated with the trains when they pass. They think about how long the train is going to last until it stops vibrating. They talked about how long they sit at a railroad crossing near their house, frequently waiting 10 minutes or longer while the train passes through. Sometimes, they said it could be almost a half hour as the freight train goes back and forth, hooking up to new cars and dropping off others. 

 

Living near railroad tracks can have many more negative impacts on people living nearby than simply being noisy. There have been quite a few studies on the risks and potential health effects caused by proximity to a railroad track. 

 

However, just as there are types of roads, there are types of railroad tracks. Some railroad tracks are more dangerous than others. Factors such as the volume of traffic makes a big difference in pollution levels of air emissions and noise. Freight train lines, as opposed to passenger lines, present risks from the hazardous cargo they move and the potential for accidents. 

 

For those who near railroad tracks, the following issues need to be taken into consideration when evaluating the potential harmful effects.

 

1. Ultra Fine Particulate Matter

 

The majority of train engines burn diesel oil for fuel. Diesel oil is not a clean burning fuel. When combusted, the portion not burned is given off in the form of exhaust containing ultra fine particles. On top of that, diesel exhaust contains many toxic chemicals. The size of the particles is especially significant for the toxic ones. Most larger particles get caught by our nose or outer breathing areas and are expelled from the body. Once the particle size decreases down to fine and ultra fine, these particles are inhaled directly into our lungs. Once inside the lung, they attach themselves and do damage. The particles are also transported into the body from the lungs where they then travel through the bloodstream. The health risks associated with these are lung disease, cancer, blood diseases, and others. 

 

The World Health Organization has linked diesel exhaust from train engines directly to lung cancer. Their science panel also upgraded diesel exhaust from a “probable carcinogen” to the highest level: “carcinogen.”

 

In San Francisco, an area known as Mission Bay is subjected to particulate matter from the trains’ diesel engines up to 20 hours a day at times. The fine particles cling to everything and get into the houses through the smallest cracks. The residents in the area have much higher rates of asthma and respiratory issues.

 

The Mayo Clinic conducted a study on children living close to railroad lines. They concluded that there was a 40-70% higher rate of asthma in children near the tracks than further away. The high levels of fine particulate matter usually found in diesel engines triggered onset of asthma symptoms and more frequent attacks in children involved in the study. 

 

A study done by researchers at the University of Washington examined if any additional pollution was added to the air by the type of cargo the train was carrying. Since millions of tons of coal move by train every year in Washington state, that was a great place to look. They conducted additional research into the specific types of pollution that would only be found if coal was present. The study indeed found when coal carrying trains passed through the targeted study area, levels of particulate matter from coal were also found in the air.  

 

2. Right of Way Areas

 

The areas on either side of the tracks and of course the track itself are considered the railway company’s right of way. They need to keep the area clean and trimmed of any vegetation that may interfere with a train passing. 

 

The usual method of clearing the track area is using herbicides in a broad application across the tracks and out several yards on either side. Every living plant needs to be killed, and the railroad usually only does this once a year, therefore needing a highly effective, long-lasting killer. A blanket spray applicator is usually mounted on a work car running on the train lines. 

 

Herbicides have been known to drift into people’s yards and schools along the tracks. It frequently also drifts and kills private gardens and plants in yards.

 

This haphazard application of herbicides is one of the more dangerous situations about living near the tracks. The railroad company claims they use control methods for drift. However, because of the large area they need to spray and using work trucks on the tracks that they are shooting the herbicide from, drift from the herbicides in the air to surrounding properties is almost unavoidable. The usual method is to have large tanks of chemicals in the bed of pick up trucks specially designed to run on the railroad tracks. The truck moves along the targeted area using their jet sprayers to hose down all the vegetation and areas on either side of the tracks. 

 

The railroad and their contractors like to use the most powerful herbicides they can because the longer vegetation stays dead, the less maintenance they need to do and the less they need to spend. Past herbicides have included similar defoliants used in war zones to kill every living piece of vegetation. 

 

Because many of the best chemicals are now banned, one of the favorite chemicals used now is known by its market name: Roundup. This chemical has already been labeled by the EPA as a known/likely carcinogen because it has caused bladder cancer, kidney cancer, and breast cancer in studies with laboratory animals. However, if the government allows the use of the chemical to keep tracks clear, the industry will use it until concerned citizens force them to stop. 

 

Other herbicides used in right of way applications include Triclopyr, which is highly corrosive to the eyes and skin. Short-term exposure may cause difficulty breathing and tremors; long-term exposure may cause reproductive and developmental issues. There are several other chemicals used to control vegetation, and most of the studies on health effects are done by the manufacturers themselves, seeking approval to use these chemicals in widespread applications. 

 

Such was the case with Roundup and the active ingredient glyphosate. It is now known after many years of use to be linked to liver and kidney damage, reproductive and developmental issues, health risks to children and pregnant people, and cancer. In 2018, a jury unanimously agreed the product was responsible for causing the health issues and the company was guilty for failing to warn people of the risks associated with the product and awarded over $250 million in damages to the plaintants.

 

In Virginia, children playing along a fence in the back of their day care were directly sprayed by railroad workers with a blend of herbicides and pesticides, including Roundup. Three of the chemicals used for the spray have been linked to reproductive problems, neurotoxicity, and cancer. The pesticides in the air were inhaled by the children and blanketed their exposed skin. Some of the children experienced mild pesticide poisoning with irritated nose, throats, and eyes in addition to nausea and skin irritation. Three of the children experienced acute pesticide poisoning with symptoms including bloody noses, diarrhea, and skin blistering. The company that sprayed the chemicals on the children had previously been fined by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for 809 violations. 

 

In Rhode Island, a railroad company was caught spraying herbicides along their tracks in violation of state regulations. The poison they sprayed affected wetlands and also killed off vegetation in people’s yards along the tracks. They were ordered by the state to stop, but much of the damage was already done. The pesticides in the wetlands killed off some of the protected vegetation areas. People who had gardens sprayed with the pesticides were unable to use those areas due to chemical contamination caused by the spraying. 

 

3. Noise

 

Intense, loud noise can have a significant effect on our mental and physical health. This may lead to higher levels of stress, which in turn create other issues. Disruptions to sleep, cardiovascular issues, and hypertension are a few of the effects. It is impossible to overstate how big an impact noise can have on the well-being of people subjected to it continuously. For children it can be even worse. Over 20 studies have shown constant exposure to environmental noise affects cognitive performance and learning. The CDC says noise levels of more than 80-85db can cause hearing loss. Most of these compressors exceed that. 

 

In Oswego, Illinois, the railroad would idle trains on the railway behind a residential neighborhood. The noise and diesel fumes inside the houses became unbearable. The local police came out in the middle of the night once and measured the noise at 90 decibels. Imagine the sound of a gas powered lawn mower or a leaf blower outside your house. Or even the sound of a motorcycle at the end of your driveway. That is comparable in level to these compressors. This went on for months until finally a city resolution was made.

 

In Garden City on Long Island, New York, idling trains, construction, and trains backing up were a nightly problem encountered by residents. The neighbors knew they were located near train tracks; however, the tracks were part of a train line and not an overnight workyard or transfer station. The railroad was working on a construction project further down the tracks during the daytime hours and decided the quiet track behind these neighborhoods was the perfect place to do all the overnight preparation of the construction for the next day. Cutting rails and moving materials all through the night became the norm. Neighbors were becoming ill from the disruptions in sleep from all the noise and vibrations caused by the crews. Changing the use of the tracks in the residential neighborhood from simply a lightly used track to a construction zone was a surprise to the neighbors.

 

In Bradford, Massachusetts, a residential neighborhood sits right next to a train station where the railroad parks them overnight. Many of the locomotives are older designs, and the railroad needs to keep them running all night in the colder weather. Nearby houses say the noise is unbearable with multiple locomotives running all through the night for days on end. The noise is affecting the locals causing sleep disorders, nervous system disorders, and hearing loss. An idling locomotive runs at about 90db, the same as a lawn mower. In addition to the hazards caused by the noise, diesel fumes and smoke from the trains permeates the homes, bringing cancer-causing particulates from the diesel exhaust inside, from which there is little escape. 

 

Because there are no regulations on how long a train is allowed to be, there may be 200 or more cars attached to five or six engines on a freight train. Depending on the speed of the tracks and the area the train is traveling through, it could take ten or fifteen minutes for the train to rumble through your area while the noise and vibrations are affecting your body. While not continuous, the ten or fifteen minutes is more than enough to disrupt your nervous system, sending your body into a defensive state which may last an hour or longer. 

 

4. Hazardous Cargos and Accidents

 

The communities that freight trains pass through while carrying hazardous and dangerous cargo have no idea what is rolling through their towns. Tanker cars filled with chlorine gas, ammonia, propane, oil, and gas are but a few of the potentially hazardous materials rolling only several hundred feet from people’s houses and backyards. Some of the cargo regularly transported would be deadly if there was an accident or if a leak or rupture occurred. If there was an incident, emergency responders would also have to quickly determine what the hazardous materials are and what risk they present the public. In most cases, they would be unable to respond as quickly as they would like to a specific threat based on this delay.

 

Tankers and freight cars carrying chemicals and hazardous materials do carry placards indicating what material is inside. But, in a situation when a railroad car catches on fire, leaks, or derails, emergency personnel first need to get close enough to the area to be able to read the placard. In too many accident scenarios, this is not possible due to the contents being on fire or the car being on its side with the contents spilling and leaking out. Further complicating matters, there is currently an ongoing debate about removing some of the placards for some hazardous materials because of fears the signs could be a potential target for terrorist attacks.

 

To avoid a potential accident or leak in an undesirable area, one idea was to reroute trains carrying hazardous cargo around large metropolitan areas to keep them away from large population centers. Train companies have pushed back because of the high costs of rerouting and detouring: billions of extra dollars.

 

Trucks that carry hazardous materials and potentially deadly chemicals are required to use specific routes when passing through metropolitan areas. Many tunnels and bridges also have strict requirements for passage or outright bans on moving hazardous material. Trains, however, have no restrictions at all. Radioactive waste can move through a city on the tracks almost as easily as soybeans can.

 

The Federal Department of Transportation acknowledges accidents involving trains carrying hazardous cargo are becoming much more frequent. In addition, the department also added that they are increasingly concerned about the sharp increase in oil spills along railway tracks.

 

Near Dupo, Illinois, a train derailed, and a tanker car containing chemicals went up in flames. The car was carrying a flammable liquid solvent. The solvent flowed into a nearby creek, and flames were seen on the water’s surface.

 

In Graniteville, South Carolina, residents still talk about a train crash involving tanker cars filled with deadly chlorine gas back in January of 2005. One of three tankers containing chlorine gas leaked, killing eight people. Another 234 people needed to be treated at local hospitals, mostly with respiratory issues from chlorine inhalation. A mile wide area of the town was evacuated due to the toxic plume from the leaking tanker car.

 

In New Jersey, a train carrying highly toxic chemicals was traveling over a bridge when the structure failed, sending several of the chemical tank cars plunging off the tracks and derailing. The chemical vinyl chloride leaked from at least one of the cars into the nearby creek. Nearby towns were placed on lockdown, and 71 people reportedly went to the hospital with respiratory issues. It was estimated about 180,000 pounds of vinyl chloride had leaked into the surrounding areas. Two other train cars containing the toxic chemical were hanging from the bridge, and rescue workers were able to remove them without the chemicals leaking. 

 

5. Railroad Crossings

 

The majority of accidents occur at railroad crossings. Many of them occur when people decide to drive across the tracks to beat the oncoming train. Many others occur when people living in the area of the tracks use them as paths and shortcuts. Children especially use them to walk back and forth in the area in addition to playing near them. Every year hundreds of people are killed either at these railroad crossings or are hit by a train while walking on the tracks or bridges.

 

While the idea of living near a train track and hearing the whistle blow may sound romantic to some people, it quickly becomes old and very annoying when every train passing through town does the same thing. The constant noise and rumbling from the cars rolling by as they vibrate the foundation of your house and everything in it also gets to be extremely irritating after a while. If all that wasn’t enough, breathing cancer-causing train exhaust, getting sprayed with toxic herbicides, and living with the ever-constant threat of accidents are constant factors.  Living next to train tracks most likely is not a great location. 

 

There are several considerations to make to determine how far from a train track to be. It is important to be far enough away so the noise from the train itself is at a level where it does not cause negative reactions in the body each time a train comes through. That includes the train’s warning whistle. Hazardous cargos and the potential for an accident, even though low, would make leaving a distance of at least a mile a safe choice. I live two miles from a fairly active freight train line and hear the whistle, especially at night. It is not at all disturbing and actually at times I enjoy it wondering where the train is headed to.