BY PETER W. BLAICH
On March 10, 2004, dispatchers for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) received a report that an out-of-control Long Island Railroad locomotive was roaring toward several crossings near the Queens-Brooklyn border of New York City. Within this residential/industrial section of the city, hundreds of new chemicals are developed and transported each year. Area citizens and officials are concerned about potential accidents and acts of terrorism.
This section of Brooklyn is not alone in its predicament. Of significance, 93 percent of more than 3,100 localities completing a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) questionnaire in 1985 identified one or more hazardous-materials risks as a significant threat to their community. According to one study conducted in 1987, nearly 300 identified evacuations were attributed to chemical releases alone in the United States during a five-year period.
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