Oversight in the 29th

This morning's Democrat and Chronicle carries a story about the Federal Rail Administration's (FRA) inspection of CSX. In the aftermath of a catastrophic derailment in East Rochester in January, the FRA's investigation found 3,518 problems at CSX, of which almost 200 might lead to civil penalties. Randy Kuhl has been on top of his issue, requesting FRA inspection of track in the 29th.

Over the past week, the D&C has also carried stories about the water quality in the town of Victor. For 17 years, the town has been aware that toxic solvents may be contaminating homeowners' wells. The most recent story in the D&C quoted Randy Kuhl asking for an EPA inspection.

On the face of it, Kuhl has been reacting vigorously to two cases where more government involvement is needed. On a deeper level, these cases raise serious questions about Executive incompetence and Congressional oversight.

The CSX case is most clear-cut. Apparently it takes a train falling off of a railroad overpass onto a busy street to gain the attention of the FRA. Once the FRA awoke from its bureaucratic slumber, it found thousands of violations. If CSX is violating that many regulations, shouldn't the normal FRA oversight process find some of them? Do lives have to be endangered to get the attention of the FRA?

Randy Kuhl has said that he'll also be following up with increased Congressional oversight. That's good, because an agency that missed over 3,000 violations hasn't been under strict oversight for some time. As a member of the House Transportation Committee, Kuhl should be taking the lead in fixing the problem, and he should keep the 29th informed about how the committee will ensure that the FRA will be proactive in watching CSX.

In the case of the polluted Victor wells, it appears that New York State has primary jurisdiction, but it's still worth asking why it takes 17 years for the government to even acknowledge publicly that there's a problem. Shouldn't the EPA have had some previous oversight function here?

Both of these cases raise issues that cross the boundaries between Liberal and Conservative, or Republican and Democrat. Regardless of ideology or party affiliation, most voters believe that government has a legitimate role overseeing the safety of our transportation and drinking water. When watchdog agencies fail, Congressional oversight becomes an issue that can unite voters. It's not an abstract or "just politics" when trains start falling off overpasses.

Comments

It will be interesting to see if Kuhl will be seen locally as someone who is loyal to the party while taking care of his people back home. If that happens, he may be unbeatable in '08.

If the water problem in Victor is real -- it's common for PR-savy engineering firms and local governments to hype problems of this sort to get fun projects off the ground -- then it's the state's recent imitation of the Bush adiministation that could be at fault. I know that the DEC, has been losing a huge portion of their people by attrition. Local lore has it, by the way, that Randy threatened the DEC with funding cuts in order to block certain state projects on Keuka Lake and to advance others by private developers when he was in the state senate.

The image of waste, cronyism and incompetence now being attached to Republican domestic and foreign policy, will certainly have less impact once the Bush administration leaves the scene. At that point a loyal Republican who takes care of his constituents may see his currency rise.

Your first sentence raises the key question in this district for '08. It's Kuhl's plan from the get-go, and it was successful in '06.

I think Randy, like it or not, will be pretty much a shoo-in in '08. But boy I enjoy reading this site!

It is widely known (except by the FRA) that CSX does not maintain their tracks well. Just read any one of many comments (some by industry insiders) in the forums at railroad.net. CSX considers fines for safety violations to be simply a cost of doing business.

As far as Kuhl believing in oversight on these issues, I'll believe it when I see it.