Derailment at Seacliff

The recent spate of “accidental” spills of hazardous materials in California make one thing perfectly clear: Hazardous material management and pollution control have never succeeded in protecting either the urban or the fragile natural environment and probably never will. It is high time for a thorough assessment of the way industry and agriculture operate, with the goal of reducing and eliminating, wherever possible, the use of toxic substances.

Environmentally benign alternatives already exist for many of the processes and practices that now involve hazardous materials and they should be phased in immediately. If alternatives do not exist for a given practice, they should be researched aggressively, with phase-out deadlines for the hazardous materials being used.

These spills are not truly accidents. They are statistically predictable events that are, tragically, entirely avoidable.

In light of these recent spills, it is clear that environmental and community groups must have a far greater voice in determining what risks are acceptable, and what steps must be taken to reduce the potential for disasters of this kind.

WOODY HASTINGS, Director, Los Angeles Office, Citizens for a Better Environment