Organizers pause for a photo prior to delivering more than
1,000 advocacy cards. Those pictured include (left to right)
Gail Miller, John Walkey, Anjie Preston, Jovanna Garcia-Soto,
Attorney Staci Rubin, and Kim Fultz.
Local Chelsea Creek activists continue to push for an amendment they have worked hard to achieve, even though they are pleased with the recent news that Global Petroleum has pulled its proposal to transport millions of gallons of ethanol by train through over 90 communities in the Commonwealth.
““Saturday night’s tragic catastrophe in Lac Mégantic, Quebec provides a horrifying glimpse of what is possible when millions of gallons of highly flammable products are railed through the middle of densely populated areas,”” explained Roseann Bongiovanni, Associate Director of the Chelsea Collaborative.
The derailment and explosion of several of the train’s 73 tanker cars, which contained pressurized crude oil, led to the destruction of 30 buildings in downtown Lac Mégantic. This incident is being called the worst rail accident in Canada in 50 years. The exact death toll is still unknown, as the bodies of over 40 missing individuals have not been found and may have been completely incinerated.
““Can you imagine if the proposed Ethanol cars derailed as they went through Porter Square or through Chelsea neighborhoods?”” inquired Kim Foltz, Director of Community Building and Environment at NOAH. ““Thanks to Senators Anthony Petruccelli, Sal DiDomenico and Patricia Jehlen there is an amendment in the State budget that would prevent something similar to this happening on the rail lines to the Chelsea Creek oil terminals.””
On Monday morning, members of the Chelsea Creek Action Group delivered more than 1,000 postcards signed by residents in the Metro Boston area to Gov. Deval Patrick. The postcards urged him to sign the legislation into law, ensuring the safety of Commonwealth residents from ethanol rail disasters, after more than two years of organizing efforts.
At this point, whether or not the new Chapter 91 regulations will go into effect depends entirely on Gov. Patrick. The amendments are part of the current Budget Proposal that the governor is considering. Many insiders believe he may remove the amendments, but he has not provided any clear indication of his stance.