Troubled Bridges Over Our Waterways - Rally on Sunday, Jan. 8

Troubled Bridges Over Water

We face an urgent situation along the CSX River Line in Bergen County and throughout New Jersey. The tank cars which carry volatile Bakken crude oil (fracked in North Dakota) through our communities and over our waterways are the substandard DOT111 cars we call "bomb trains." There was a tragic derailment of a bomb train in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec where 47 people were killed. Under current regulations, the rail companies have more than 10 years to replace these tank cars.

In addition, we face serious infrastructure issues – the trains cross waterways on bridges, some of which are in terrible condition. The Rail Bridge No.10.73 over Overpeck Creek, where the Creek and the Hackensack River meet in Ridgefield Park is one such bad bridge. Right next to it is another bridge. The two side-by-side bridges were supposed to be replaced and combined into one bridge. Gov. Christie stopped work on that bridge and other rail bridges in our area because the Trust Fund ran out of our money. (Record, 7/7/2016). We are at risk.

We want to invite residents to gather on Sunday, January 8, 2017, from 1-2:30pm to say: NO Bomb Trains on Bad Bridges - Fix them NOW! We’ll rally at the corner of Main Street and Bergen Boulevard in Ridgefield Park, site of Rail Bridge No. 10.73. We must protect our waterways.

The sponsoring organizations include the Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains, 350NJ, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Sierra Club, NJ, Food & Water Watch NJ, and more.