Editorial: Override Christie’s oil train veto

The Democratic-controlled Legislature has so far been unable to muster the votes needed for an override of any of Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s vetoes in his eight years in office. That could change, though, in coming days or weeks, as lawmakers weigh the merits of a safety and transparency bill regarding so-called “oil trains” — a measure championed by Senate Majority Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck.

Whether enough votes can be found this fall, lawmakers should continue to pursue the override. The issue is that important.

The threat posed by the oil trains represents a real and present danger to 11 Bergen County municipalities along one of the routes that over the last several years has transported millions upon millions of gallons of volatile Bakken crude from the North Dakota oil fields.

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As Staff Writer Curtis Tate reported, the number of those oil trains coming through North Jersey has diminished in the past few years, due in part to the declining price of oil. Still, the danger remains. Residents and first responders deserve greater transparency from their government and more information from rail operators about the hazardous transports.

“Each and every day is a possible emergency,” said Assemblyman Gary Schaer, D-Passaic, who joined in a rally in favor of the legislation earlier this week. “Each and every day we cross our fingers and hope everything will be all right.”

The measure Christie conditionally vetoed earlier this summer, claiming that more transparency about the trains would be “irresponsible and reckless,” has the backing of firefighters, labor groups and environmentalists. It would require railroads to submit disaster response and cleanup plans to state officials, make their bridge inspection reports available to the state Department of Transportation and disclose routing and volume information publicly to assist emergency response personnel.

Failing to give first responders in North Jersey full disclosure on emergency and cleanup plans makes no sense, and is a slap in the face to those whose job it is to protect the public in the event of a potentially devastating spill or explosion. Though several oil trains have derailed in the United States since 2013, nobody has been killed or seriously injured.

Still, as The Record reported, CSX oil trains derailed and caught fire in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 2014, and in Mount Carbon, West Virginia, in 2015. And a derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July 2013 left 47 people dead.

The Record previously reported that New Jersey’s three largest freight rail companies, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Conrail, lobbied senior Christie administration officials ahead of the governor’s veto in July. Lobbying is a well-known part of the high-stakes political game that is played in Trenton, but it should never come at the risk of any community’s safety.

Whether Weinberg and her allies in the Legislature will garner the votes this year to bring on the first override of the Christie tenure remains to be seen. But the effort is one worth making. North Jersey residents who live or work near the path of these dangerous trains shouldn’t have to wait until a new governor takes office to gain some piece of mind where it concerns oil trains rambling through their midst.