Residents Reach Out To Maricopa County Supervisor Debbie Lesko As Proposed BNSF Rail Hub Threatens Public Safety And Quality Of Life In Western Maricopa County
(Wittmann, Ariz.) As Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) pursues its controversial and overwhelmingly opposed 4,200-acre rail hub in the western Maricopa County community of Wittmann, it has so far failed to release a comprehensive public safety plan should there be hazardous materials spill or a major fire.
That’s why residents of Wittmann and the surrounding communities are urging District Four Maricopa County Supervisor Debbie Lesko to reject the proposal. An email was submitted by Wittmann residents Kirby Anderson and Laura Deaver, and Surprise resident Lisa Everett. Wittmann is within District Four. The September 3rd email was also sent to the County Manager.
The rail hub would be the largest of its kind in the United States and will create increased crime and traffic (an additional 22 thousand vehicles a day) as well as noise and air pollution. It would also create 18 million square feet of ugly warehousing space and destroy the quality of life in Wittmann and surrounding communities such as Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, and Wickenburg.
BNSF has yet to provide any details related to public safety, which is very troubling because rail traffic often includes hazardous materials, toxic chemicals, and flammable liquids. And the area does not have any major fire departments with the substantial resources needed to immediately respond to a catastrophe.
A vote by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors could happen November 5th after BNSF asked for a delay.
The letter states in part:
“Let’s be real. Accidents happen. Trains derail. Substances can leak. What happens to our friends and neighbors when the inevitable happens? We don’t want to be the next East Palestine, Ohio where a 2023 derailment dumped 100,000 gallons of hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, benzene residue, and butyl acrylate. We have not seen any comprehensive plan from BNSF if the worst happens. Have they shared any plans with you? With anyone? It’s unconscionable if not.”
The entire message is copied at the end of this news release.
Recently, a worker was crushed to death by a 1,000 pound metal plate at a BNSF facility in El Mirage. BNSF’s heartless statement to the media about the tragedy, “We’re aware of the unfortunate incident, however, it didn’t involve a BNSF employee or BNSF equipment,” does nothing to instill confidence and seems intended to deflect blame rather than accept some measure of accountability.
This controversial project has inspired a real-life documentary. The first two episodes of “The Lost Cowboys” have generated more than 160,000 views and a third episode will be released shortly. Follow this link to see episodes one and two.
Media seeking interviews or additional details are asked to contact Mike Scerbo at [email protected] or call 602 615 6523.
Below is the entire message sent to Supervisor Lesko:
Dear Supervisor Lesko,
We are very, very worried about potential hazardous materials spills in Wittmann resulting from the giant BNSF rail hub proposed for our community. Toxic substances, flammable liquids, explosive gases, all would be moving through Wittmann if BNSF gets its way. They would be doing so on a level that’s hard to fathom.
Thanks for all you do for the people of Maricopa County. And thanks for stating your current opposition to the rail hub. As residents who live in or near Wittmann, we have a long list of concerns about this 4,200-acre project which would engulf our community. There is a reason there are no homes within five miles of APS’ Palo Verde nuclear power plant. That should be the case here with this enormously sized and enormously dangerous project.
While BNSF could not be bothered to respond to questions from the Phoenix Business Journal for a recent article, a BNSF spokeswoman recently told the Surprise Independent, “We can’t prohibit car load hazardous materials shipments on our network.” Wonderful. Yet they have articulated no plan for hazardous waste spills or catastrophes, and the local firefighting system has no ability to handle such.
Wittmann is served by the Arizona Fire & Medical Authority (AFMA). While there are no real complaints about the current service they provide in Wittmann, they have limits. While AFMA has some training, they do not have a team dedicated to hazardous materials spills.
Let’s be real. Accidents happen. Trains derail. Substances can leak. What happens to our friends and neighbors when the inevitable happens?
We don’t want to be the next East Palestine, Ohio where a 2023 derailment dumped 100,000 gallons of hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, benzene residue, and butyl acrylate.
We have not seen any comprehensive plan from BNSF if the worst happens. Have they shared any plans with you? With anyone? It’s unconscionable if not.
Again, there is a reason APS built the Palo Verde Nuclear power plant miles away from any homes. Shouldn’t that same logic apply to a rail hub that moves massive amounts of hazardous materials?
Please share our concerns with your fellow Maricopa County supervisors. Please demand answers from BNSF. This is literally a matter of life and death.
Please keep this project from not only destroying our quality of life but also from endangering the lives of all who call Wittmann home.
Sincerely,
Laura Deaver
Lisa Everett
Kirby Anderson