Re-routing Mexican Hazmat Rail

As I noted in a blog last month there is a large volume of hazmat rail traffic coming across the Mexican border at El Paso, TX. Apparently there is a similar problem in Laredo, TX. There is an effort to build a rail line around Nuevo Laredo-Laredo to keep much of that traffic out of the center of both cities. As part of that effort the US State Department yesterday published a notice in the Federal Register about a proposed Presidential Permit to construct a bridge across the border river to complete that rail line. Comments on the permit application can be filed with the State Department’s Office of Mexican Affairs by April 28th, 2009. They may be submitted by e-mail (WHA-BorderAffairs@state.gov) or by mail to: WHA/MEX--Room 3909 Department of State 2201 C St., NW. Washington, DC 20520 Additional information about Presidential Permits can be found on the web.