I
SUBSTITUTE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is the busiest rail hub in the United States, boasting the largest intermodal system in the country and the third largest in the world; and
WHEREAS, Chicago handles one-fourth of the nation's freight rail traffic, with an estimated 500 freight trains with 37,500 cars passing through Chicago each day; and
WHEREAS, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), approximately seven percent of all rail traffic involves the movement of hazardous materials; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, railroads in Illinois handled approximately 33.712 million tons of hazardous materials; and
WHEREAS, in July 2013, a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 people and destroying more than 100 homes and businesses; and
WHEREAS, in December 2013, a mile-long train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded after colliding with another train in North Dakota, triggering a giant fireball and huge clouds of black smoke and forcing the evacuation of most of the residents in nearby Casselton, North Dakota; and
WHEREAS, last April, an oil train traveling through Virginia from Chicago derailed in Lynchburg, Virginia, sparking a fire and spilling oil into a river, which forced a partial evacuation of the city's downtown; and
WHEREAS, these and other recent derailments and fires prompted a warning from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which stated that the type of crude oil currently being transported from North Dakota may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil; and
WHEREAS, the structural integrity of one particular type of tank car, known as the DOT-111 tank car, has come under scrutiny following these accidents; and
WHEREAS, the National Transportation Safety Board has conducted several investigations and safety studies establishing that DOT-111 cars have a high incidence of failure during crashes, a highe...
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