City Council Passes Resolution Condemning CSX Tranportation for Defiance of Council

RESOLUTION

Condemning the defiance of Council by CSX Transportation, Inc. for its failure to appear and offer testimony before a hearing of the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities, memorializing the vote of the Committee to issue a subpoena to compel the attendance of CSX Transportation, Inc. witnesses at the next hearing before the Committee and reaffirming this Council's unwavering commitment to do everything in its power to protect vital city interests and public assets.

WHEREAS, On October 18, 2005 a hearing was held by this Committee on

Transportation and Public Utilities pursuant to Resolution No. 050148 to investigate the

operations of CSX Transportation; and

WHEREAS, The Committee had extended an invitation to CSX Transportation, Inc., to

appear and present testimony at this hearing; and

WHEREAS, At approximately 4 PM on Monday, October 17, 2005, on the eve of the

hearing, CSX Transportation, Inc. sent an email to counsel for the committee declining our invitation to testify, this being the first indication that CSX Transportation would not accept the Committee's invitation to appear and present testimony; and

WHEREAS, At the outset of the public hearing on October 18, 2005, the Committee on

Transportation and Public Utilities deliberated on CSX Transportation, Inc.'s refusal to testify and voted unanimously to issue a subpoena to the corporation to compel it to testify before the Committee; and

WHEREAS, this Council remains unwavering in its commitment to one of the City's

treasures, the Schuylkill River Park and its trails; now, therefore,

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, THAT this

Council condemns the defiance of Council by CSX Transportation, Inc. for its failure to appear and offer testify before a hearing of the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities and reaffirms this Council's unwavering commitment to undertake every legislative and legal means at its disposal to protect the vital city interests and public assets, including the Schuylkill River Park and its trails.

October 20, 2005

Council President Anna C. Vema

Councilman Darrell L. Clarke

Councilman Jack Kelly

Councilman Michael A. Nutter

City Council Passes Resolution Requiring Report on Transporting Hazardous Materials by Rail through Philadelphia

RESOLUTION

Directing the Philadelphia Local Emergency Planning Committee and the Emergency

Management Services Director to prepare a report for Council on the Transportation of

Hazardous Materials Throughout Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, This Council, by Resolution No. 050148 (adopted on February 17, 2005),

has noted its strong concern about the transport of extremely toxic chemicals by freight trains through the City of Philadelphia, placing the residents of Philadelphia at grave peril of catastrophic loss of life; and

WHEREAS, This Council lacks the most basic information necessary to develop an

effective response to a hazardous materials emergency, such as the nature of the hazardous materials currently transported through the city, the proximity of these hazardous materials to residential neighborhoods and the length of time these materials are stored or parked on railroad cars within the city limits; and

WHEREAS, Earlier this year, a train derailment ruptured a Norfolk Southern tank car

and unleashed a choking cloud of caustic chlorine gas near the small town of Graniteville, S.C., killing nine people and injuring 250; and

WHEREAS, CSX Transportation, Inc. transports chlorine gas and many other hazardous

materials on its tracks throughout the City of Philadelphia. At times, CSX Transportation allows these cars carrying hazardous materials to be parked in Center City Philadelphia for hours at a time, providing terrorists with an easy target for unspeakable destruction. Experts believe that the causalities from a rupture of a hazardous materials train car in Center City Philadelphia could

exceed 100,000 Philadelphia residents dead within a half an hour; and

WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon the government of the City of Philadelphia to protect

the safety and welfare of the citizens of Philadelphia by examining the nature of hazardous materials transported by rail through our city and to develop appropriate responses to a hazardous materials emergency; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, THAT the

Philadelphia Local Emergency Planning Committee and the Emergency Management Services Director prepare a report for Council on the Transportation of Hazardous Materials Throughout Philadelphia.

October 20, 2005

Council President Anna C. Vema

Councilman Darrell L. Clarke

Councilman Jack Kelly

Councilman Michael A. Nutter

City Council Passes Resolution to hold Investigative Hearings into  CSX Railroad's Operations in Philadelphia

RESOLUTION

 

Authorizing City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to hold public hearings to investigate the operations of CSX Transportation [CSXT] in and around the City of Philadelphia and their impact on the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of Philadelphia, and authorizing the issuance of subpoenas by the chair of the committee to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

 

WHEREAS, This Council, by Resolution No. 041090 (adopted on December 16, 2004), has publicly deplored the efforts by CSXT to deprive Philadelphians of public access to one of the City’s treasures, the Schuylkill River Park and its trails through a misguided lawsuit and also deplored CSXT’s contempt for the City as demonstrated by its refusal to promptly and appropriately repair its structural supports and bridge over 25^th Street and by its practice of parking trains filled with noxious garbage along side the Fitler Square neighborhood; and

 

WHEREAS, CSXT transports extremely toxic chemicals throughout its rail network in the Northeast, including on tracks through the City of Philadelphia, placing the residents of Philadelphia at grave peril. Just last month, a train derailment ruptured a Norfolk Southern tank car and unleashed a choking cloud of caustic chlorine gas near the small town of Graniteville, S.C., killing nine people and injuring 250; and

 

            WHEREAS, Terrorists targeting train cars carrying hazardous cargos could turn CSXT trains into weapons of mass destruction, leading to the death of 100,000 Philadelphia residents within a half an hour; and

 

WHEREAS, Washington DC has recently passed legislation prohibiting CSXT from transporting hazardous materials through the downtown areas of the District of Columbia in an effort to protect the nation’s capital from terrorism; now therefore be it

 

            resolved, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities is hereby authorized to hold public hearings to investigate the operations of CSXT Transportation in and around the City of Philadelphia and their impact on the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of Philadelphia, and authorizes the issuance of subpoenas by the chair of the committee to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

 

 

 

Council President Anna C. Verna

Councilman Darrel L. Clarke

Councilman Jack Kelly

Councilman Michael A. Nutter

City Council Passes Resolution Supporting Free Schuylkill River Park and Condemning CSX Railroad

RESOLUTION

Deploring the efforts by CSX Transportation to deprive Philadelphians of public access to one of the City’s treasures, the Schuylkill River Park and its trails, through a misguided lawsuit and also deploring CSX’s contempt for the City as demonstrated by its refusal to promptly and appropriately repair its structural supports and bridge over 25^th Street and by its practice of parking trains filled with noxious garbage alongside the Fitler Square neighborhood, and further expressing this Council’s strong support for the aggressive defense against this lawsuit by the City Solicitor and for the efforts by community organizations and concerned individuals, including members of this Council, led by the organization Free Schuylkill River Park, to intervene in the litigation.

WHEREAS, The Schuylkill River Park, along with its newly developed river edge trail, is a cherished City asset, utilized by roughly five thousand residents each week for walking, bicycling, jogging, birding, fishing, and other active and passive recreation, including visual enjoyment of the river, and scenery and the observation of nature, wildlife, and habitat; and

WHEREAS, A recent survey of park and river users entering Schuylkill River Park found that the vast majority access the river trail by traveling over Race (21%) and Locust Streets (64%), while less than six percent of park and river users gain access via the Walnut Street stairway or the Market/Chestnut ramp; and

WHEREAS, Race and Locust Streets are both original “Charter Streets”, having been designated as such in the grant from William Penn to the City of Philadelphia in 1701, with both streets running between the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River; and

WHEREAS, From the inception of the grant to the City of Philadelphia by William Penn to the present day, this Council has never vacated, abandoned, or stricken from the City Plan any portion of Locust or Race Streets which runs between 25^th Street and the Schuylkill River, nor does it have any intention to do so in the future; and

WHEREAS, The public’s ongoing use and enjoyment of the Schuylkill River Park and its trails is now threatened by CSX Transportation (CSX), a giant railroad conglomerate based in Florida, which owns railroad tracks and operates trains on a sliver of land which bisects the Schuylkill River Park Trail by virtue of a July 3, 1885 City ordinance granting its predecessors limited rights of way over property in the City; and

WHEREAS, CSX has brought suit seeking an injunction against the City of Philadelphia in a dangerously misguided effort to compel the City to permanently cut off access to the park via Locust and Race Streets through the erection of a permanent wall or barricade; and

WHEREAS, A permanent barricade or wall across Race and Locust Streets would greatly impair access to the Schuylkill River Park and its trails for no particular demonstrated safety purpose or benefit, diminish the use of the Schuylkill River Park and its trails for thousands of river and park users, deprive the City’s residents and visitors of the significant capital improvements made in constructing the bicycle and pedestrian pathway, and impair and impede the quality of the experience of using the Park for its thousands of users; and

WHEREAS, This lawsuit by CSX is but the latest chapter in a long pattern of contempt that CSX has shown to the people of Philadelphia. In recent years, CSX has been twice cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for creating a public nuisance by parking trains filled with noxious garbage, during hot summer days, alongside the Schuylkill River Park and the surrounding Fitler Square neighborhood, in violation of local ordinances and state law; and

WHEREAS, CSX has steadfastly refused to adequately repair dangerous conditions on its 25^th Street bridge, where chunks of concrete have dropped off many of the support columns and sections of the bridge itself. CSX pledged to repair damaged viaducts one section at a time, a rate that would stretch out repairs over 266 years. When these rare repairs have been made, there has been no attention paid to aesthetics, contributing to blight in the surrounding South Philadelphia neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, Several members of this Council have taken a personal interest in this litigation and have petitioned the court, along with the organization Free Schuylkill River Park, to become intervenors; now, therefore,

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, THAT this Council deplores the efforts by CSX to deprive Philadelphians of public access to one of the City’s treasures, the Schuylkill River Park and its trails through a misguided lawsuit and also deplores CSX’s contempt for the City as demonstrated by its refusal to promptly and appropriately repair its structural supports and bridge over 25^th Street and by its practice of parking trains filled with noxious garbage along side the Fitler Square neighborhood.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Council expresses its strong support for the aggressive defense against this lawsuit by the City Solicitor and for the efforts by community organizations and concerned individuals, including members of this Council, led by the organization Free Schuylkill River Park, to intervene in the litigation.

December 16, 2004
Council President Anna C. Verna