Editor’s Note: Railroad public relations executives often have to deal with near-hysterical stories in all types of news media, most of them assuring readers “the sky is falling and the Earth is rushing up to meet it.” These stories are often a result of NIMBY angst; other times are a result of media ignorance of the culture of safety surrounding the railroad industry. Most stories ignore the federal safety oversight of railroads and the fact railroads are federally regulated, not state or locally regulated. The story below appears in the daily Miami Herald, but was written and first appeared in a non-traditional media outlet, a Fort Lauderdale-based “watchdog” organization The Florida Bulldog, which promotes itself as “nonprofit, independent, nonpartisan, experienced. No fake news here.” – Editor, CCrail.com
, Floridabulldog.org, Miami Herald; August 23, 2018
About the same time Florida East Coast Railway executives were convincing Florida’s East Coast cities and counties to back privately owned passenger trains traversing downtowns and densely populated neighborhoods, FEC quietly sought and won permission to haul extremely flammable liquified natural gas along the same tracks.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a hazardous material that had never been transported by railroad in the continental United States, according to the Federal Railroad Administration, which provides permits for LNG transportation.