Twice in the last few weeks we have now had train derailments in Howard County. The Howard County Public School System is apparently intent on putting a middle school at the Oxford Square site, which is adjacent to the CSX train tracks. At a minimum, then, the school system should have an independent safety study
done by a competent professional trained in assessing cargo manifests, frequency, speed, and schedule of railroad traffic, grade, curves, type and condition of track, need for sound or safety barriers, need for pedestrian and vehicle safeguards at railroad crossing, presence of high pressure gas lines near the tracks that could rupture in the event of a derailment, preparation of an evacuation plan. In addition to the analysis, possible and reasonable mitigation measures must be identified.

To do otherwise is to put the children of Elkridge in harm's way without even examining the best strategy to keep them safe.

Oh boy here we go again... What about making sure the building is grounded against lightning, has tornado proof construction and designated life boats for a hurricaine!??

I have never heard so much whining in my life.

Yes I am for safety.

Guess what, if it is a chemical leak the initial evacuation area will be for 1/2 a mile or more.... Lets relocate housing in Elkridge to alleviate that as well.

Peopl have been whining about the fact that we need new schools. The county has land here so why not use it. They re drew the layout of the site to account for the railroad and moved the school further away. If you think that NO SAFETY goes into planning a site survey for any public building you are wrong.

Whiners complained for the new school when an E/S was going to go there. Then they complained when it was placed on Ducketts La. Maybe we should build schools on the moon and shuttle the kids back and forth from earth?

Where do you think they should go when land is limited? Would you want your property condemed in order to build a school? I think not, so they do best with what is available.

And too the families of the two girls that passed at this accident my prayers go out to you and sorry to have aired this discussion in this thread!

Peace be with all of you...

To Dave: I totaly agree with Doug ! By NO MEANS is his concerns "whining". Do you have children ? Our children are the most valueable asset our country has and their safety is OUR RESPONSIBILITY ! You evidently have no experience with the decision making process of our county government. The almighty $$ almost always trumps safety issues with the county planning board. Voicing one's opinion & concerns are NOT WHINING Dave, it is our constitutional right & OUR RESPONSIBILITY !!! People whom complain about citizens exercising our God & government given rights are the whiners ! Doug, we need to take our concerns to the proper venue instead of dealing with uncaring & ignorant people like our friend here. I have actually SUCCESSFULLY worked with our congressmen, senators ( usually through their staffers ) on numerous times on various issues. I have been pleasantly & consistently surprised in how knowledgeable & dedicated they are & how quickly they cut through all the red tape & they don't consider it "whining" !

Now it is a shame to talk about this here after this tragedy however the BOE did not look at this issue in the best interest of our children. Free land and 4 million dollars made whores of the board. Look at house values along the CSX lines and they are far less than other neighborhoods. The 20 acres and school is the buffer for the housing developement. Absolutely pitiful. Now just so you know the reason there is no land is because the county and the hcpss failed the citizens in the east for yearsand it is people like Aquino who need to be held accountable for doing nothing about it.

The planned school site is well over a thousand feet from the tracks. I'm not at all worried about sending my kids there. I also commute on those same tracks everyday.

But that has absolutely nothing to to do with the tragedy in Ellicott City. Shame on you for even bringing it up.

Kevin,

Just like you I have the freedom to exercise my right to speak here as well. Bottom line is this: If you think your wonderful Federal Leaders can or will help you with this then go ahead and waste your time. They are as worthless as our state leadership.

Frank is right, there is more then enough distance between the school and the tracks.

Schools in the Elkridge area have been overcrowded since the opening of all the housing on Ducketts La, Hanover Crossing and the Rockburn area... And the funny thing is most of those who whined about the E/S live in those areas...

And Kevin, how would you like your land condemed for the building of a new school? I don't think you would so they are trying to do the best there is with what they have without taking someones property. As far as your comment you do not know me well enough to know how I deal with the county, and I do have experience in dealing with community issues and have for over 20 years, so please don't lower yourself to being a know it all.

Jack, I agree with you about Cousins, but his idiotic reign is over.
Getting something for free is not a sin. It was given to them. As for the homes along the line, while they may not have increased much, have lost no $$ value. They just are not as pliable for sale in the market, and BTW, nobody twisted arms for folks to buy them in the first place, so whining here is a moot point as well.

Some of the homes, are owned by some of the same people whining about the school are built less then 50 yards from the tracks in Hanover! The same ones that complained about the transfer station! That line has been in service as long as I am old! But they still bought and moved there. Now they cry.... Sorry no pity.

And like it has been mentioned before, this is the wrong place to debate this so I am done after this post.

Prayer to the Nass family and the Mayr family on the loss of their loved ones......

I heard Ken Ulman say Wens AM on WBAL Main Street would be open that day. He had no clue how long the NSTB investigation would take, even considering there were 2 unfortunate deaths involved. He had no clue that CSX would have to replace the bad tracks. He had no clue about what was involved in hauling away by truck the coal spilled by 21 overturned cars I am glad Main Street opened last night for all the shop owners. As a message to Ulman if you don't know what your talking about zip it till you get all the facts from the experts. I expect more than this from County Leadership.

When thos estatements are made they are made on information that was obtained at the erliest before the broadcast is made. CSX has a history of telling folks what it wants to hear, and not the truth until after an investigation, much like what happened in Baltimore several years ago when the trained derailed and burned for days in the Howard St. Tunnel.

The truth is CSX was stalling on cleanup so they could get their line back open because the only buisness they care about having restored is THEIR OWN! They don't care about the commuters or other buisness' that were affected.

I have nothing bad to say about the way the county handled this. The victims deaths needed to be investigated and documented by the police and medical examiner before anything else could be started and with their recovery that took a great deal of time.

Again thank you to the the county services and officials for dealing with this in a completely professional and thorough manner!