Medford Reps Concerned Over Hazmat Trucks
State Senator Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville, Medford) and State Representatives Paul Donato (D-Medford, Malden), Carl Sciortino (D-Medford, Somerville) and Sean Garballey (D-Arlington, Medford) have submitted a letter to the state transportation department expressing concern over a proposed re-routing of trucks carrying hazardous materials out of Boston and onto Route 93. The following was submitted for publication by Sen. Jehlen’s office:
Boston released a proposal recently to ban trucks carrying hazardous materials from going through the Boston city streets. This proposal would re-route trucks carrying hazardous materials through communities along Route 93 / Route 95.
The proposal places a number of our communities – many with neighborhoods within twenty-five yards of the highway – at risk and raises a number of issues.
This proposal would move an estimated 400 HAZMAT vehicles from Boston city streets to those of surrounding communities. This, in turn, shifts the risk and the responsibility of managing a HAZMAT incident away from those most able to address them.
In addition to the extensive Boston fire capabilities available to the city of Boston, the city has what is considered one of the best Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the nation. Every one of Boston’s nearly 2,000 fire and EMS personnel has HAZMAT training, which is vitally important in responding to a HAZMAT situation. The city of Boston also has a vast array of specialized equipment at their disposal. MassPort Fire, a department that has the largest foam capability in the state, which is vital in a HAZMAT response, is located within the borders of Boston and can be mobilized quickly in case of an incident. The surrounding communities have a fraction of the personnel and resources of Boston to respond to an event.
Boston is uniquely qualified to respond rapidly and effectively to a large scale HAZMAT incident. Boston and Cambridge maintain their own HAZMAT response teams. All other communities are dependent on the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Regional Hazardous Materials Team of which there are six across the state. According to the Battelle Memorial Institute’s study, Boston’s dedicated HAZMAT team is able to respond to an incident within fifteen minutes. It would take a regional HAZMAT team at least sixty minutes to respond to an incident on those sections of Routes 95 and 93 being proposed by Boston as HAZMAT routes. This does not account for the traffic on Routes 93 and 95 which currently operate at 130% capacity with cars utilizing the breakdown lanes during rush hours. At those times it would be virtually impossible for response teams to get to an incident in a timely manner.
During non-peak hours, traffic travels on Routes 95 and 93 at speeds often greater than fifty-five miles per hour. In addition, the Department of Transportation has acknowledged in their own studies that the Route 95 and 93 interchange has significant safety issues and is among the top five worst crash sites in the state. The addition of hundreds of trucks a day carrying hazardous materials poses a real and significant threat to the communities along these roadways.
We understand the need to protect the Boston tunnels from hazardous material accidents, as it is common sense to restrict these types of materials from being contained in tunnels. However; we feel that it is untenable for the Commonwealth to provide protection to the neighborhoods of Boston while at the same time increasing the risk to neighborhoods and travelers along the 93/95 corridor.
We have communicated with MassDOT to express our concerns and have asked that no action be taken before the ramifications of such a change on the surrounding communities are thoroughly studied and well understood. Our residents deserve the Commonwealth’s protection as well.
You can weigh in too. You can learn more about the proposal by visiting http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/ProposedHazmatRoute.aspx. Comments can be emailed to: bostonhazmat@state.ma.us, or sent by mail to: Mr. Thomas Broderick, P.E., Acting Chief Engineer; MassDOT; 10 Park Plaza, Suite 4160; Boston, Massachusetts 02116; ATTN: Boston HAZMAT Route.
The deadline for comments is September 23rd. Letters will be accepted until October 7th as long as they are postmarked by September 23rd.