That's the perspective of some people who live along the town's railroad tracks, and this week's accident didn't help.
In 2006, MRL trains wrecked four times in Missoula County, according to the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety. One of those times, an inattentive truck driver - not MRL - was at fault for driving in front of an engine “at the last second.”
In June, a five-car derailment at the Missoula switchyard spilled about 12,000 gallons of ethanol. Nearby residents had to be evacuated.
Last month, an MRL representative told a City Council committee the company had identified and fixed the cause of the June accident - and had beefed up inspections.
Early Thursday morning, barely 15 days later, a train derailed along the same curve.
“It's pretty disturbing,” said Nicole Newman, a neighborhood council leader.
Ward 2's Don Nicholson said Friday he doesn't blame neighborhood residents who are feeling uneasy.
“They should be nervous about it,” Nicholson said.
Neighbors have been on alert about the railroad at least since the spill last summer. In November, a group talked about the matter, said Newman, who lives three blocks off the tracks.
“We just want to be informed,” she said.
She has been trying to set up a meeting with MRL, but has not met with much success so far.
Newman learned about Thursday's accident because she came across it herself during a morning jog. She called MRL to find out what had happened.
“The only thing he would tell me was that it was nonhazardous,” Newman said of an MRL employee.
Another neighborhood leader said he learned about the summer spill “through the grapevine.”
Josh Decker said it's only fair to point out that he wasn't involved in neighborhood leadership at the time. Still, he lived near the tracks.
In that incident, the ethanol spill caused people to worry about an explosion. When people gripe about the trains, most mention the noise or air quality, he said. But some wonder what the trains carry.
Those details are hard to come by. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government says such information should only be released on a need-to-know basis, said MRL's Lynda Frost.
Frost said fewer than
5 percent of material carried is considered hazardous. She said asphalt falls into that category because it is carried in a heated car.
A report from the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety shows these statistics for last May, which wasn't a good month for accidents. The report notes four MRL-related wrecks in Montana involving 252 cars. (MRL was not necessarily at fault in all instances.) Of those cars, 44 were carrying hazardous material.
Frost, though, said the railroad is considered the safest mode of transport, and MRL goes above and beyond federal inspection requirements.
The track now in question has been inspected three times since June - and with state-of-the-art technology, she said.
“This is the best equipment available to railroads,” she said, and inspections gave no indication that anything was wrong.
The most recent accident was due to a rail break, and MRL has fixed that break. It plans to replace a full stretch of track in that location when the weather warms, Frost said.
That doesn't mean the track is unsafe, she said. Rather, replacing it is part of a plan to be more “aggressive” about safety.
Current track will be used until the weather warms.
Safety isn't the only concern in the neighborhood, though. Some residents also are hoping for better communication from MRL.
The company has a procedure to alert employees and emergency responders when accidents happen. It doesn't have a formal way to inform the public.
“However, this is something that will be done in the future,” Frost said. The company could implement a plan within the month.
Two Ward 1 council members said Friday they have confidence that MRL will act in the public's best interest.
“I'm comfortable they're treating this very seriously,” Heidi Kendall said.
Dave Strohmaier said he has been pleased with MRL's response to the second accident in that area and feels confident the company plans to take a more aggressive approach to safety in the future.
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