MRL responds to county
A representative from Montana Rail Link was in Superior on Friday July 11 to answer Mineral County Commissioner’s questions about why it took them nearly three hours to notify county officials about a train derailment.
The train carrying airplane fuselages derailed at approximately 4 p.m. on July 3 sending three of the aircraft down an embankment and into the Clark Fork River. MRL Public Information Officer, Lynda Frost, said at the time it was unknown which emergency services had been notified and when.
MRL Chief Security and Safety Officer Pete Lawrenson said their dispatch services did have a protocol for notifying local officials and emergency responders in the event of an incident. However, he did say the process of notifying those at the county level went through another agency instead of directly from MRL.
According to Lawrenson, the responsibility for contacting local entities lies with the Montana Department of Disaster and Emergency Services. He did admit the response in the case of the July derailment did not come in a timely manner.
“We have talked in length with Montana Rail Link that this is not acceptable.” Lawrenson said “Counties need to know a lot faster. I don’t have an excuse as to why you weren’t notified sooner.”
Lawrenson said in the event of a derailment there is series of things that happen at the scene. Barring injury or other inability to do so, train engineers have a protocol they follow when an incident occurs.
“When there is derailment, the brakes lock up and the train comes to a stop,” Lawrenson said. “With this one it was only a few minutes before they knew they had a problem. They reported it to dispatch and dispatch started its center. I don’t have any excuse as to why Mineral County couldn’t have been notified within 20 minutes.”
Mineral County Commissioner Laurie Johnston said what concerned her about the response time with the latest derailment was MRL has said in the past things would get faster and they haven’t. Johnston said it was critical that county officials be notified in a timely manner.
“If it happens in the county, we should be the first ones notified,” Johnston said. “Had it been something hazardous, after three hours it’s too late. The important parties need to be notified immediately. They have promised us in the past it’s going to be better next time and it hasn’t. They need to implement polices that will make it happen.”
Commissioner Roman Zylawy said he thought MRL needed to include county officials as a standard part of the emergency response procedures. Zylawy said MRL dispatchers needed to do a better job of notifying local entities.
“It doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult for the chief dispatcher at MRL to call the affected county dispatch right away rather than two hours and 40 minutes later,” Zylawy said. “Notifying us as soon as possible is what is needed. Even if it is only a small derailment that’s blocking a public crossing it would be nice to know so the public is aware of what is going on. The sheriff’s office needs to know and the county needs to know so we can answer the public’s questions.”
Lawrenson said he would be working with MRL to come up with a better system to notify counties when an incident such as the July 3 derailment occurs. A timeline for the enhanced communication protocol was not immediately available.