ALL ABOARD...

Senators Baldwin (WI) and Franken (MN) meeting with press
after roundtable courtesy of MPR news 

Wednesday a very special round table was held in Minneapolis with Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin and Minnesota Al Franken to listen to citizens, mayors and First Responders from both states regarding the rail transport of volatile Bakken oil and other hazardous materials along the Upper Mississippi Valley.  

The CARS (Citizens Acting for Rail Safety) presentation and discussion lasted about an hour and a half covering closing loopholes and addressing weakness and current legislation,  mandating transparency and community right to know, clearly establishing the liability of railroad and shippers and establishing adequate insurance requirements, improving emergency preparedness, substantial pre shipment reduction of the volatility of crude oil to a safe level, safer tracks, bridges, separations and crossings with funding provided by railroad fees, routing of all trains carrying hazardous materials away from populated areas and environmentally sensitives areas i.e. Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers, improving functioning of agencies such as National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration charged with protecting our safety. 

“They may be companies that are looking for the biggest return on their buck, their profits. But they should have a responsibility to the public, and I believe those bridge reports should be public,” Franken said. 'All Aboard' is what we say to that.

RE: Transparency Fox 6 News photo
of the bridge Old Rusty which turned 99 in Milwaukee 

Link: Baldwin and Franken