Public Comment on PHMSA-2025-0032 — Docket Section III.B.24 (submitted 8.4.25)
Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC) strongly opposes any attempt to reinstate the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail. Communities like ours in Southwestern Pennsylvania are already living with the long-term consequences of hazardous rail transport. This rulemaking under Section III.B.24 of PHMSA-2025-0032 is not about efficiency or energy security—it is about permitting a deadly and unnecessary risk in places that are already overburdened, under-resourced, and repeatedly sacrificed in the name of fossil fuel profits.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) exists to protect people and the environment. Its own mission is to manage and reduce risk—not increase it. The Trump Administration’s reckless decision to overturn the long-standing ban on LNG by rail was rightfully repealed after comprehensive analysis and a successful legal challenge. PHMSA officially repealed the “Trump LNG by Rail Rule” on June 23, 2025, aligning with the D.C. Circuit’s ruling and years of data showing that LNG rail transport cannot be done safely. That decision must stand. This new rulemaking should not be used to revive a dangerous proposal rooted in political posturing, not public safety.
The science is clear. LNG is an extremely hazardous material. It is highly flammable, explosive, and capable of creating vapor clouds hundreds of times larger than its storage volume. An LNG release can result in a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) or a fuel-air explosion—events that mirror thermobaric weapons in their destructive power. A “unit train” carrying LNG could involve up to 100 rail cars, each with the potential to ignite into a fireball that burns hotter and faster than gasoline or oil. Fires of this nature cannot be extinguished. First responders are advised to evacuate and let them burn—an impossible strategy in dense population centers.
In Beaver County and across Western Pennsylvania, we know what happens when hazardous trains derail. In 2023, the Norfolk Southern disaster in East Palestine released vinyl chloride into the air, water, and soil, exposing families across the region—including ours—to toxic chemicals. Many of our neighbors are still displaced. Many more are still sick. And despite the widespread damage, there are still no clear health pathways, treatment options, or accountability measures for those impacted. This is what happens when rail safety is treated as a formality instead of a frontline defense. If LNG had been involved, the outcome would have been even more catastrophic.
These risks are not hypothetical. Our communities live with crumbling rail bridges, limited evacuation routes, and underfunded emergency services. Our public infrastructure is not prepared to carry bombs through our neighborhoods—because that is exactly what LNG trains are. Through our Eyes on Transportation initiative, BCMAC documents and shares the lived experiences of residents impacted by fossil fuel-related transportation. We’ve collected testimonies, photos, and videos showing how trains, trucks, and barges carrying hazardous materials move through Beaver County daily—often just feet from schools, homes, and waterways. Our work has revealed how frequently these dangerous shipments occur and how little input or protection the public is given. We hear from families every week who are sick, scared, and struggling to breathe clean air, access clean water, and protect their children’s health. Adding LNG-by-rail to this burden would be cruel. This region is already treated as a sacrifice zone—and this proposal would only deepen the danger.
Let’s also be honest about who is most at risk. Rail lines disproportionately cut through low-income communities and communities of color—places that have historically borne the brunt of polluting industries. LNG-by-rail would deepen environmental injustice and heighten the danger for the very people who already live with fracking wells, petrochemical plants, and compressor stations just outside their front doors. Enough is enough.
There is no need for LNG rail transport. These trains are not supplying local homes with heat or energy. They are fueling an export market. Projects already in operation are meeting existing demand. LNG is liquefied methane—a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year timespan. Every step in its production and transportation process leaks methane into the atmosphere, worsening the climate crisis and making the world less safe for all of us. Transporting it by rail won’t meet any essential public need. It will only serve fossil fuel corporations looking to squeeze more profit from an industry in decline.
We cannot build a future rooted in safety, sustainability, or justice if we keep allowing our most dangerous materials to move through our most vulnerable communities. We urge PHMSA to uphold its mission and permanently reject any effort to allow LNG to be transported by rail. Protect people, not polluters.
Sincerely,
Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC)