The City of Newark will host a public information session on railroad safety and emergency response to railroad incidents in the City of Newark. The presentation will be held on Thursday, April 17th, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. at Aetna Fire Hall, located at 400 Ogletown Road, Newark.
The purpose of the session is to provide information to the public on railroad safety and emergency response to railroad incidents in the city. The program will include speakers from the Newark Police Department, Aetna Hose Hook & Ladder Company, New Castle County Office of Emergency Management, DelDOT, Norfolk Southern Railroad, and PBF Energy.
Topics will include emergency preparations and response and public notification procedures in the event of an emergency. The presentation is open to the public and will be followed by the opportunity to ask questions.
Norfolk Southern uses the railroad yard near the University Delaware STAR campus, (the former Chrysler plant) as part of its transfer of railroad tank cars carrying crude oil from North Dakota and Canada to the PBF refinery unloading area in Delaware City.
The rail cars have made their way into discussions of the proposed Data Centers project near the railyard, with opponents coming up with nightmarish scenerios.
The issue of safety of the rail cars has been in the news after derailments and other incidents. No significant incidents have been reported locally.
PBF has announced that it will not longer use the oldest generation of tank cars beginning this month and recently placed an order for thousands of the latest generation of tank cars.
