Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Responding To Train Derailments Of Crude Oil Cargos And The Use Of Nims/Ice, Laura Hartline Weems

Theses and Dissertations from 2016

Derailments of freight trains carrying bulk cargo are not a new phenomenon in the United States; they have occurred since the 19th century when the first shipment made its way across the nation. However, despite sweeping changes in the past decade to the structure of emergency management in the United States, how the railroads have responded to derailments has not changed. The railroad culture is to operate lean, meaning few people are needed to transport large quantities of cargos and commodities. When a derailment occurs, the culture does not change, and railroads respond with typically few of their own personnel …