Prop 2 for safety

I received a colorful brochure in the mail titled “5 Reasons to Vote “NO” on Proposition 2 (paid for by BNSF Railway, Union Pacific, Better Spokane, Inc., Lighthouse Resources Inc. and Tesoro Savage). It implies that Proposition 2 seeks to ban shipments of coal and oil through Spokane. This is not true.

Proposition 2 seeks to reduce the risk of train derailments and to reduce the risk of explosions if an oil tanker comes off the tracks. It requires that coal cars be covered to keep the coal dust from blowing out over the railroad tracks and surrounding area. Coal dust destabilizes the rail bed when it rains, which leads to many washouts (any of which can derail a train).

Further, Proposition 2 requires that the owners reduce the vapor pressure in each oil tanker below 8 PSI before it is allowed to travel within 2000 feet of our schools, hospitals and the Spokane River. Our fire department is not equipped to deal with fires caused by an exploding oil tanker.

Please join me in insisting that the owners of the rail cars apply existing technology to make their cargos safer before they send them across our city.

Karen Wilson-Bell

Spokane