Union Pacific accused of dangerous safety violations

LOS ANGELES – City Councilman Kevin de León announced that he would take legal action against a train company because a train operator had committed environmental and safety violations in two predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

During a press conference Thursday, de León, who represents the 14th District, which includes downtown Los Angeles and northeastern neighborhoods, said Union Pacific is “exploiting our communities and treating the people of El Sereno and Lincoln Heights like disposable goods.” He says the company's trains are stalled for hours, blocking traffic and releasing toxic fumes.

According to a copy of the motion that the City Council will submit Friday, Union Pacific has long violated state regulations by engaging in “illegal stops,” meaning trains sit idle on the tracks for hours, frequently blocking crossings and contributing to air pollution in the area.

“Despite decades of complaints, the voices of the people have been ignored. Union Pacific Railroad has built its empire by turning a blind eye to the communities it pollutes,” said de León. “For years they have been spewing poison into the air, poison that our children breathe every day, the lungs of our families who live here.”

De León presented about nine months of video footage of stopped trains. The cameras recorded more than 36,000 minutes of stopped trains, which corresponds to about 25 days of illegal train blockades that brought traffic and emergency vehicles to a standstill.

The City Council's motion, if passed, would direct the city attorney to take legal action to force Union Pacific to change its operations and mitigate the impact on those two neighborhoods.