Schwartz, Orgen and Pagan Call on CSX to Stop Their Trains From Idling in Teaneck, Reveal Their Cargo to OEM

Teaneck, N.J. – The Moving Teaneck Forward team which consists of Deputy Mayor Mark J. Schwartz and Planning Board Members Karen Lew Orgen and Michael Pagan are calling on CSX to stop their trains from idling in Teaneck and to reveal what they are transporting on our railways to the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) before they travel through Teaneck.

“I have learned a lot over the years by watching inspiring leaders like Teaneck’s own Paula Rogovin of the Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains,” said Pagan who is also a member of the Teaneck Senior Citizens Advisory Board. “We don’t want these trains travelling through Teaneck and we absolutely do not want them parking next to our homes or the Richard Rodda Community Center which serves thousands of children and seniors every day. We deserve to know exactly what is inside those tankers and CSX should be forbidden from parking their trains in our backyards. One single accident involving CSX crude oil would be devastating.  If elected to Council, I will do everything in my power to protect our community and our families from the dangerous situation CSX is placing us in.”

The media has reported that at least 7 million gallons per day of highly combustible Bakken crude oil comes through 11 Bergen County towns — Teaneck, Bogota, Bergenfield, Ridgefield Park, Ridgefield, Dumont, Northvale, Norwood, Harrington Park, Closter and Haworth – on the CSX River Line.

The Teaneck Council has already passed a resolution demanding that federal regulators prevent the use of substandard tanker rail cars on local railways.  But Schwartz, Orgen and Pagan have vowed to fight for even more public safety measures to better to protect residents from the danger these tankers are creating.

Deputy Mayor Schwartz, who is also a volunteer firefighter and an 18-year member of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, has been working around the clock and is focused on keeping residents informed of all township-related developments through numerous telephone town halls and through social media.

Orgen, who was the first female president of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, has been working overtime in her capacity as a pharmacist to help keep her customers, patients and neighbors healthy and well.

Pagan is working overtime at his job on behalf of Bergen County to keep our neighbors and all Bergen County residents informed through his position as Public Information Officer for the County.