RUNNING AGAIN AFTER A 25 CAR FREIGHT TRAIN CARRYING VARIOUS SUBSTANCES DERAILED, FORCING NEARLY 300 RESIDENTS FROM THEIR HOMES IN MADISON, ILLINOIS.

LAST WEEK.

NO ONE WAS REPORTEDLY HARMED IN THE ACCIDENT.

AND CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY SAYS THERE IS NO THREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY DESPITE THE EVACUATION LEAKS AND EVENTUAL CONTROLLED BURN OF LIQUID PETROLEUM GAS OFF 11 TRAIN CARS.

NOW INVESTIGATORS ARE TRYING TO PIECE TOGETHER THE CAUSE OF THE DERAILMENT AND REMEDIATION OF THE ACCIDENT SITE IS GOING TO TAKE WEEKS.

JOINING US WITH MORE ARE MAYOR OF MADISON THAT SHEILA CHALMERS CURRAN AND JOSEPH SCHWIETERMAN, A PROFESSOR OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY.

AND WHEN TO BEGIN WITH YOU, MAYOR, CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE SCENE THAT UNFOLDED ON THURSDAY?

WELL, THE SCENE WAS THEN FOLLOWED IT WITHIN 10.

34 WE RECEIVED A CALL INDICATING A DERAILMENT AND BITE 10.

37 MY POLICE AND FIRE WERE BOTH ON THE SCENE TOOK ACTION.

SO THAT WAS GREAT.

THEY'VE HAD TRAINING IN ORDER TO DO THAT.

AND SO AND THAT TRAINING WENT INTO EFFECT AND THEY DID WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO.

WE DID EVERYTHING WE HAVE TO DO.

THAT IS WHAT?

AS A PRECAUTION.

WHAT WE DID IS WE MADE SURE THAT INDIVIDUALS WERE EVACUATED FROM THE AREA, NOT KNOWING AT THE TIME.

WHAT WAS THERE AND THAT IF IT WAS SOMETHING TOXIC, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE OUR RESIDENTS WERE SAFE.

SO WE EVACUATED AS A PRECAUTION.

SO THAT WAS DONE RIGHT NOW WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW IS THAT THEY'VE DONE WHAT IS CALLED A FLARING OF THE RESIDUE THAT WAS LEFT THERE.

AND THAT HAS BEEN DONE AND CLEARED AWAY.

SO WE STILL HAVE SOME OF THOSE CARS THERE THAT ARE AVAILABLE RIGHT THERE.

BUT THEY'RE TO BE REMOVED SOON.

AND WE'RE HOPING THAT WE CAN GET BACK TO NORMAL.

SO, YEAH, HOPING TO GET BACK TO NORMAL.

BUT MISTER CHAIRMAN, WHAT IS CAUSE OF THE DERAILMENT?

SO WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT, YOU KNOW, CREDIT FOR THE CITY FOR REALLY TAKING ACTION QUICKLY TO SOLVE THIS BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN A VACUUM OF INFORMATION WHEN HEARD IT WAS AT THIS CROSSING AND MATS AND IT WAS LIKE, OH, BOY, THIS IS A HIGH INTENSITY.

FREIGHT JUNCTION, ALMOST A WHOLE CLOVERLEAF AND WHICH TRAINS MOVE FROM ONE LINE TO ANOTHER VETERAN AND CURRENT COME THROUGH THERE.

SO YOU PROTECT TREMENDOUS RISKS.

AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE DODGED A BULLET HERE WITH 10 CARS DERAILING, BUT THANKFULLY THEY FULLY LOADED.

OF COURSE, THE CITY IN THE REAR WHERE TOOK ACTION.

BUT THIS WAS A SCARY ONE.

WHAT'S GOING THAT WHEN YOU SAY DODGED A BULLET, IS THIS JUST HAPPENED STANCE NO MATTER WHAT TO AND THIS IS, OF COURSE, AND NOT A DISCREDIT TO EMERGENCY SERVICES FOR HEADING TO REACT WITH WHATEVER PASSES.

IS THERE TRACKING, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THERE ARE TOXIC SUBSTANCES, SO COMMUNITIES KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DEALING WITH.

THIS, BUT THERE IS LIMIT.

SO IF YOU'RE CARRYING CLASS 3 AND FLAMMABLE AS YOU HAVE TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF TANK CARS, YOU'VE GOT LOWER THE SPEED, BUT THERE'S A BIT OF A LAG EFFECT.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS RULED THAT THEY KNEW OR TANK CARS HAVE TO BE REPLACED.

THE OLD ONE SAFER ONES.

BUT THAT'S NOT COMING UNTIL NEXT YEAR.

SO LOT OF THESE OLDER CARS OUT THERE THAT AREN'T QUITE AS SAFE AS YOU KNOW, THE NEWER ONES HITTING THE RAIL.

SO WE'VE SEEN ENOUGH BAD ACCIDENTS IN THE EAST PALESTINE, OHIO, AS ONE.

WELL, A MAN TAKEN IN QUEBEC, JUST TERRIBLE OUTCOMES AND THE EAST.

THIS TRAIN IS MOVING AT FAIRLY SLOW SPEEDS ARE NOT SAYING IT WAS IMMINENT, BUT IT'S SCARY WHEN TANKERS COME OFF THE RAILS.

YOU TALKED THE EAST PALESTINE SITUATION.

IT IS WHAT?

ITS SIMILARITIES COULD WE SEE BETWEEN WHAT POSSIBLE IN COMMUNITIES SUCH AS MAPS AND WHERE YOU HAVE THESE CLOVERLEAF CROSSINGS AND BUNCH OF CARS CARRYING PASSENGERS AND FREIGHT WHAT HAPPENED THERE.

I THINK, YOU KNOW, ONE THING WE SEE DIFFERENT HERE IS JUST IMMEDIATE COMMUNICATION OF THE RESIDENTS.

PEOPLE ARE SCARED THAT CARS COME OFF AND ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S A A TANK CAR, NOTIFYING PEOPLE GETTING HIM OUT OF THERE WHEN THE FLARING HAPPEN.

PEOPLE KNEW THAT WAS COMING.

BUT I CAN SAY IS WE'RE GRAPPLING WITH THIS IS A COUNTRY.

I MEAN, THE PIPELINE PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT IS SLOW DOWN WITH A LOT OF NEWBIES FOR PIPELINES.

A LOT OF CRUDE AND THEN TOXIC CHEMICALS MOVE BY THE RAIL.

SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, WORST KIND OF COME TO GRIPS WITH THAT.

THE LAST THING WANT TO JUST PUSH THAT CAR GO OFTEN TO THE ROADS.

SO IT'S IT'S A TOUGH, A TOUGH SITUATION.

WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM RESIDENTS IS THIS SPARKING NEW FEARS THAT THEY THOUGHT PERHAPS WELL, THIS WHAT THIS WHAT HAPPENED TO IT ON AREA?

WELL, FIRST OF WHEN WE HAVE THE MIGHT.

POLICE CHIEF MENTIONED THAT THAT WE'VE BEEN IN TRAINING FOR THIS IF IT EVER HAPPENS AND THEY HAVE DONE THIS EVERY YEAR, BOTH FIRE AND POLICE HAVE DONE TRAINING FOR THIS.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED.

SO WHAT HAS HAPPENED NOW IS BY GIVING THEM INFORMATION INDICATING THAT WE'RE SAFE HAS BEEN VERY GOOD, TOO, WITH HELPING THEM FEEL SAFE ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING RIGHT NOW.

RESIDENTS ARE, OF COURSE, PLENTY TO BE CONCERNED AND WE HAVE KEPT THEM ABREAST OF EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN DOING AND WE'VE BEEN COME COMMUNICATING WITH NOT ONLY WITH CNN, BUT ALSO COMMUNICATING WITH OUR STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

WE'VE HAD CALLS FROM THE SENATOR DURBIN, SENATOR DUCK WORD, CONGRESSWOMAN KELLY, THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE ALL ARE WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION OUT AND MAKE SURE THAT INDIVIDUALS KNOW THAT THIS HERE, THIS PARTICULAR WHAT WE HAD THERE WITH THE LIQUID PATROLLING IN GAS IS NOT TOXIC TO OR A RISK TO THE PUBLIC.

AND SO THAT IN ITSELF MAKES THEM FEEL A LOT SAFER THAN WHAT YOU'VE BEEN COMMUNICATING.

WE'RE GOING WANT WRITE.

YES.

WHAT IS THE COST OF THE DAMAGE TO YOUR COMMUNITY?

WELL, THAT THAT'S TO BE DETERMINED.

WE, OF COURSE, HAD OVERTIME WITH OUR POLICE AND FIRE.

OUR PUBLIC WORKS WAS INVOLVED WITH THIS.

AND THAT IS STILL TO BE DETERMINED BECAUSE WE'RE STILL ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN KEEPING THAT AREA SAFE AND MAKING SURE THAT INDIVIDUALS THAT GO THROUGH THAT AREA CANNOT RIGHT NOW GO COMPLETELY THROUGH THAT WITHOUT HAVING A POLICE AND FIRE THERE TO PROTECT THEM SHOW.

HOW LONG WILL THIS CAUSE A DISRUPTION WILL GET BACK TO SOME OF THE MORE LONG-TERM RAMIFICATIONS.

BUT RIGHT NOW OUR COMMUTERS AND PERHAPS SOME SHIPPERS OUT OF LUCK.

WELL, YOU'RE LUCKY THAT IT'S A HIGH CAPACITY WHERE AS A BETTER USE A SEPARATE TRACKS, THOSE PRETTY MUCH WE'RE BACK TO NORMAL.

PRETTY QUICK THE UPPER LINE, THE FORMULA CENTRAL LINE WAS BACK PRETTY QUICK, TOO.

BUT BOY, THAT INTERCHANGE GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME TO GET THAT AND THAT'S GOING SET BACK SOME SOME FREIGHT LOGISTICS IN THIS REGION THAT SIR, IT'S A INTERCHANGE AND I WILL SAY YOU KNOW, OUR REGION GRAPPLING WITH THIS.

WE HAVE METRO LINES THAT SHARE LINES OF FREIGHT TRAINS.

WE WERE LUCKY THAT THIS LINE THEY HAVE SEPARATE TRACKS AND THINK THAT'S HELPED GET THINGS BACK TO NORMAL.

IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S GOING TO CHANGE?

I'VE TAKEN THE AMTRAK AND METRA A TIME OR 200 IN MY LIFE AND CERTAINLY BEEN HELD UP THE WIN.

AMTRAK TRAIN IS TRYING TO GET SOMEWHERE.

AND LO AND BEHOLD, THERE'S A FRONT THAT KEEPS IT BACK FOR AN HOUR.

YOU KNOW, RELEVANT TO THIS ACCIDENT BECAUSE WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS RAILROADS WITH THIS PRECISION, RIGHT?

A SCHEDULE CONCEPT REALLY MAKING THESE TRAINS LONGER AND LONGER.

AND I USED TO THINK 2 MILES WAS THE MAX.

WE'RE NOW PUSHING 2.2 OR SO.

SO THERE'S YOU CAN SAY A PHYSICAL PRESSURE ON THOSE COUPLE YEARS AND OTHERS.

SO YOU HAVE MORE DERAILMENTS.

BUT THE TRAINS ARE OFF AND MOVING A SLOWER SPEEDS.

ATTRACTION WILL MAINTAIN SO OUR COUNTRY ARE IS IN A IS A TOUGH SPOT HERE WITH ONE OF THE USE THOSE RAILS PER PASSENGER AS HE'S TRYING TO GET LONGER AND LONGER.

AND THIS, OF COURSE, AS YOU NOTED, CHICAGO'S REGION IS CENTRAL TO THIS JUST GIVEN HOW MUCH FREIGHT TRAFFIC THERE THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.

THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL IS LOTS OF FUNDING DEVELOPMENT, PASSING TRACK AND SO YOU KNOW, THIS IS LIKE MADISON.

THIS IS A THE BIG PART OF YOUR LIFE IS ART OF OUR RIGHT NOW.

WE'VE DONE EVERYTHING WE COULD TO TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR RESIDENTS SAY GREAT AND GLAD THAT IT'S CONTINUING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY.

WE'RE WE'RE VERY GLAD IS WELL, ESPECIALLY LATE FOR THAT THINKS.

ALSO GLAD FOR YOUR TIME WITH TO