Overview: Congresswoman Norma Torres has pushed back on the administration’s plans to shutter the Western Regional Hazardous Materials Office in Ontario, CA. The office is responsible for overseeing the safe and secure movement of daily shipments of hazardous materials across the Western Region of the United States. With more than one million shipments of toxic, hazardous materials moving across the country every day, the community is at risk if the office is shuttered. Congresswoman Torres has asked the Secretary of the Department of Transportation to keep the office open, and the community can also call the Secretary at 1-855-368-4200 to speak out against the plans.
S.E. Williams
Sometimes it is hard to determine noise from reality as Trump and his lackeys continue to flood the national echo chamber with action after threat after Musk center proclamation.
With so many devastating layoffs, cuts, and gutting of social, environmental and other programs coupled with the continuous unorthodox threats, it is sometimes hard to know where to fight back. In my estimation, we must not let anything that can threaten the physical and economic well being of the people across the country regardless of race, creed, color or political affiliation– go unnoticed.
This weekend, Democratic Congresswoman Norma Torres who represents the Inland Empire’s 35th Congressional District pushed back on the administration’s plans to shutter the Western Regional Hazardous Materials (WRHMO) Office in Ontario, CA. A branch of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, WRHMO is apart of the Federal Department of Transportation.
WRHMO is responsible for overseeing the safe and secure movement of daily shipments of hazardous materials by all modes of transportation across the Western Region of the United States.
“The U.S. population, a mere four or five percent of the world total, creates half the world’s toxic waste.”
Helen Caldicott
Government agencies report that more than one million shipments to toxic, hazardous materials move across the country every day. This includes corrosive gases, explosive materials and nuclear waste, among other cargo. According to the Center for Justice & Democracy, in 2023, trucks carried about 856 million tons of gasoline, more than 644 million tons of fuel oils, over 460 million tons of natural gas and other fossil fuel products; in addition to more than 19 million tons of crude petroleum–all of this moves across the nation’s rails and roads.
Our community knows all to well the dangers that lurk in the movement of such materials. In 2022, for example, a dangerous chemical described as “potentially explosive” leaked from train tanker in Perris, CA. This resulted in the forced evacuation of about 170 homes within a half mile radius of the site. It also led to the shutdown the 215 Freeway until the hazardous materials team was able to clean up the scene and remove the dangers. The operation took about three days.
The Perris incident was just one among many that occurred across the country that year. Rail operators reported a total 337 leaks or spills of hazardous materials nationally in 2022. But hazardous leaks on railways were not the only hazmat accidents to occur that year. Federal data show that in 2022, there were more than 3,240 hazmat cargo releases that resulted from crashes that involved large trucks with hazmat placards. Hazmat placards are mandated signage for explosives,radioactive materials and certain substances that are highly toxic.
What’s most interesting about this data is that the number of toxic accidents has continued to increase over the last decade by no less than 155%. With the obvious increase in toxic incidents, It makes one’s head explode to think the Trump administration would risk the potential for catastrophic danger by removing systems put in place to protect citizens. Just looking at the number of hazardous leaks on railways and cargo releases from truck crashes it gives us a sense of what’s at risk in the Western Region of this country if WRHMO is shuttered.
I commend Congresswoman Torres for carrying the torch on this issue. While she’s asking the tough questions in her memo on the issue to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, the community can always join the effort to keep the Western Regional Hazardous Materials office in Ontario open by calling the Secretary of the Department of Transportation at 1-855-368-4200. Let’s not be silent. If we don’t speak out, if we don’t push back, it is easy for the Trump administration to consider our silence as support.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.