Rally

7-January-2016

    On Sunday 24-January  The New Jersey Chapter of 350.org and the Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains will hold a rally in Bogota. This will be held from 2:00p to 3:00p and will take place on the Albert Graf Bridge on Main. St Bogota, NJ. There will State,  Local, Community, and Environmental  leading speaking about the the number of oil carrying train that pass through many Northern New Jersey  Communities, including Bogota. They will be offering everyone information about the train traffic through Bogota.  Some of these trains have been transporting North Dakota crude which is shipped to Albany, NY then travels on rail, through  New Jersey, to refineries near Philadelphia.  Question have arisen about the safety of the rail lines and the equipment carrying the crude oil.  There have also been issues discussed about the environmental and financial effect to any area that may be the sight of a derailment , or other accident.  
   The following is a press release  from 35oNJ about this event. Information about these group is available at the website located at the end of the press release.

  (it is asked that while attending this event you  inform them that you saw it on Bogota Blog NJ)     

   

Bogota, NJ - On Sunday, January 24, 2016 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the non-profit Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains, 350NJ.org and allied environmental, faith and labor groups will hold a rally to educate and inform the community about the risks associated with freight trains carrying Bakken crude oil through our communities.  To be held on the bridge on E. Main Street, Bogota (between Elm and Palisades Avenues), the rally will outline the special hazards of  trains passing over aging infrastructure and across our drinking water supplies, and will highlight solutions we can all take to reduce our reliance on Bakken crude oil and other fossil fuels.

Rally speakers will include local and state elected officials,  Bergen county environmental leaders, members of the Bogota community impacted by oil train traffic and emissions. The program will include an “oil train singalong” to popular tunes. The rally is open to the public; people are encouraged to bring signs.

Up to 30 times per week, freight trains carrying Bakken crude oil from the shale fields of North Dakota pass through New Jersey’s densely populated cities and towns on their way to Linden, New Jersey and Philadelphia refineries. “For the most part, the people living and working in the blast zone (one half mile from the tracks) are not informed that this dangerous material is coming by several times a day, sometimes just feet away. We think people need to know and once they do, they can take action to make their communities safer,” says Rosemary Carey, of 350NJ, a co-organizer of the rally.

Paula Rogovin, Founder of the Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains, praised efforts in Bergen County to prevent disasters and health and safety impacts from oil trains, but maintains the efforts fall woefully short.  “It will take a combination of work for building public awareness, enacting strong legislation, signing petitions, taking legal action, and getting people out to vote for leaders who will stand up for our communities. Until all that happens, these trains pose an unacceptable risk and should be stopped. ” 

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The Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains is a grassroots movement that originated in Bergen County, New Jersey which calls for the immediate ban of unsafe transportation of crude oil in its communities. Trains carrying toxic and highly-volatile Bakken crude oil pass through the Bergen County towns of Northvale, Norwood, Harrington Park, Closter, Haworth, Dumont, Bergenfield, Teaneck, Bogota, Ridgefield Park, and Ridgefield, NJ – and other towns and cities in the region - every week.  These trains--sometimes more than 120 cars long--also pass over the Oradell Reservoir, source of drinking water for 800,000 people. For more information, go to http://www.banunsafeoiltrains.org/.

350NJ is the New Jersey chapter of 350.org, the global climate solutions organization with an active network in over 188 countries. The number 350 means climate safety: to preserve a livable planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm. 350NJ implements the vision and campaigns of350.org in New Jersey. For more information, go to 350.org and https://www.facebook.com/350NJ.

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