SEACLIFF : Veto of Rail Safety Bill Is Criticized

Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria) blasted Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday for vetoing a rail safety bill that would have required railroads to carry specific information on hazardous materials being transported.

“It is unconscionable that the governor has chosen business profits over public safety,” said O’Connell, who sponsored the bill.

The bill was introduced as a result of the July, 1991, derailment at Seacliff, which closed down the Ventura Freeway between Ventura and Carpinteria for five days and caused the evacuation of residents from nearby homes.

Cleanup efforts were slowed while emergency workers tried to identify the type of hazardous material spilled and how it should be handled. O’Connell said his bill would have required railroads to carry an emergency response packet listing the chemicals on board, itemizing their exact location and amount, and describing how they are packaged.

The packet also would have provided a hot line number so that the chemical manufacturer could be reached at all times as well as detailed information on how to clean up the chemical if it is spilled.

O’Connell said his measure incorporated recommendations made by the Public Utilities Commission in its report on the Seacliff accident.

“With these recommendations out there for the world to see, it was self-evident that this bill should have become law,” he said.

Wilson and his aides were not available for comment on O’Connell’s criticism late Friday. But in his veto message, the governor said that federal law specifically preempts state requirements for shipping documents.