Tracking railway safety

POST FALLS — Numerous elements are set into motion when a railway disaster strikes.

“There is a lot going on on a large-scale event,” Northern Lakes Fire Protection District Training Chief Mike Mather said. “We start at the local level. If we can’t mitigate and come up with a plan that works, then we’re going to move from the state level ... From the state, it moves to the feds.”

It all depends on the magnitude of the event, he said.

Whatever the scenario, local first responders strive to be prepared.

“We never stop training,” he said.

Mather was one of several panelists representing different agencies Thursday evening during the Train Safety and Preparedness in Kootenai County town hall, held at the Post Falls American Legion.

At least 40 community members attended the event, which was organized by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office in partnership with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, Northern Lakes Fire, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue and Timberlake Fire Protection District, as well as the Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management, the Idaho Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Environmental Quality, to speak on railway safety and what they do to prepare for worst-case scenarios.

“Tonight, we’re really here to talk about what’s on people’s minds — East Palestine, Ohio,” said Aaron Hunt, senior public affairs director for Union Pacific Railroad.

In February, a Norfolk Southern train with cars containing the hazardous material vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine, causing an environmental catastrophe.

He said everything done at Union Pacific, as well as Burlington Northern, is driven by an effort to safely operate.

“We want to operate without derailments, so we work really hard to prevent derailments,” Hunt said.

If a derailment can’t be prevented, he said, the railways want to effectively respond to the situation.

“Operating a safe railroad is the most important thing we do every day,” said Matt Jones, executive director of state government affairs for BNSF.

According to information provided by Jones and BNSF colleague Pat Brady, assistant hazmat director, BNSF’s accident rate is down 28% and hazardous materials accident rates are down 78% from the year 2000. Also, 99.99% of all BNSF hazmat shipments reach destinations without a derailment-caused release.

“The first thing that we do when we come to work in the morning is consider, ‘How are we going to achieve our goal of an accident and injury-free railroad?’” Jones said.

In the case of a derailment, mitigation for the incident takes cooperation and collaboration between agencies. It may call for evacuations or for people in the area to shelter in place. Multiple panelists spoke of the No. 1 priority — human life.

“In Kootenai County, we are who we are because of the partnerships and the relationships that we’ve made in this county,” said Tiffany Westbrook, director of the Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management. “We are really blessed to have amazing fire personnel, law enforcement, we have a great working relationship with the state, we have a great working relationship with private entities, as well.”

She said emergency management comes into play when situations reach magnitudes that require more resources than what local entities can contribute.

“Think of us as a Rolodex,” she said. “We have the contacts we can reach out to, we have mechanisms in place to start doing disaster declarations and leveraging things.”

If funding is available or additional resources are necessary, the local office leans on its partnership with the state office to help.

Those who want to be informed of incidents that may impact public safety can opt into the Alert! Kootenai County emergency notification system, which will send information before, during and after an incident occurs. Visit ​​kcsheriff.com/228/Alert-Kootenai, email ENSsupport@kcgov.us or call 208-446-1850 for details.