This just in from Paul Demitriades:
Did you know WSDOT is routing 6,000 truckloads of HAZMAT/flammable liquids yearly (from I-90 to SR-520) through our communities?
According to I-90 Two-Way Transit & HOV Project Manager for Sound Transit, the I-90 tunnels are currently closed to trucks carrying flammable cargo. Due to maintenance, approx. 14% (50 days/year), 120 trucks per day are re-routed to SR-520 –
6,000 truckloads per year!
Has WSDOT met its statutory obligations and commitments to public safety? U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49 – Transportation, part 397, establishes requirements for public notification re: flammable route designation. Are state and local HAZMAT accident emergency preparedness response plans ready for a SR-520 HAZMAT accident?
Citizens and local governments have identified major HAZMAT risk evaluations/response deficiencies in the recently completed I-90 project Final EIS and Record of Decision. These documents do not adequately cover SR-520 HAZMAT flammable liquid truck catastrophic accidents.
Residential communities/citizens, including schools/students/teachers, on both sides of Lake Washington, adjacent to SR-520, are at risk of life and property loss from a catastrophic tanker truck fire/explosion – as happened on I-5 in July 2003 – when a tanker truck carrying 11,300 gallons of gasoline exploded on an overpass, setting off a super-heated fire. Imagine the environmental impact on Lake Washington fish habitat and fragile eco-systems as the result of a tanker truck fire/spill on SR-520.
How many tanker trucks do you want in your neighborhood?
If you are concerned, email or write your state senator/representatives to force WSDOT to take immediate actions – emergency electric warning signage, preparation with local governments/neighborhood schools of Hazardous Material Emergency Preparedness Plans (notification/evacuation procedures; local public meetings as required by U.S. CFR to inform SR-520 adjacent neighborhoods.
WSDOT must take action on HAZMAT risks to protect neighborhood public safety on SR-520.
Seattle - (43rd District)
* Sen. Pat Thibaudeau (D)
email: thibaude_pa@leg.wa.gov
* Rep. Ed B. Murray (D)
email: murray_ed@leg.wa.gov
* Rep. Frank Chopp (D)
email: chopp_fr@leg.wa.gov
Bellevue / Kirkland / Clyde Hill / Medina / Hunts Point / Yarrow Point – (48th District)
* Sen. Luke Esser (R)
email: esser_lu@leg.wa.gov
* Rep. Ross Hunter (D)
email: hunter_ro@leg.wa.gov
* Rep. Rodney Tom (R)
email: tom_ro@leg.wa.gov
