Hazardous Materials Transportation

The napalm rail car that no one in Chicago wanted is headed back to California. Not quite back to its origin at the Fallbrook military facility in northern San Diego County, however. Instead, the two 6,000-gallon drums at the center of this week's imbroglio are heading to another naval weapons station--this one in China Lake, about 120 miles north of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert.

A decade ago, it was a barge loaded with garbage that generated an international stink, floating homeless down the East Coast because no one would take its contents. Now it is a rail car filled with napalm, bound for the Chicago area from Southern California this week amid a runaway debate about how best to dispose of the deadly chemical remnants of the Vietnam War. The train left Fallbrook in northern San Diego County on Saturday carrying two 6,000-gallon drums of napalm in one car.

With thousands of police guarding the route, 60 tons of atomic waste from power plants in the towns of Gundremmingen and Neckarwestheim started a controversial rail journey north to a temporary storage site. Worried about violence, as well as danger to the hazardous cargo, energy officials started the trip ahead of schedule to foil anti-nuclear activists.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it will propose a $90,000 fine against Southwest Airlines for allegedly violating hazardous- materials rules. The FAA said Southwest accepted hazardous materials on a passenger flight from Los Angeles to Albuquerque in May. The FAA said the shipment was labeled as ammonium hydroxide but described on the invoice as machine parts. Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart said the Dallas-based airline is studying the charges and plans to answer the FAA in 30 days.

A train hauling oil exploded into flames Saturday after derailing and colliding with an oncoming train on the outskirts of this capital. Up to 100 people were killed in the blast. Many of the victims were cabdrivers and others who had rushed in with pails to scoop up oil gushing from the ruptured tanker cars and were engulfed in flames when they exploded, said Yaounde's coroner, Defoe Mambo.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration proposed $1.2 million in fines against 13 companies, including Dole Food Co., on charges of improperly shipping hazardous materials aboard aircraft. In all 13 cases, the agency alleged that improperly packed materials leaked while being handled by aircraft employees. An FAA spokeswoman said the companies will have an opportunity to meet with agency officials to appeal the fines.

The small spill of radioactive waste during an accident on the Santa Ana Freeway this week demonstrates that hazardous waste, unknown to everyone but the hauler, can be just a fender away. State officials said the firm trucking the barrels of biomedical waste was properly licensed, and the cargo was properly secured, according to the preliminary inspection. About one-tenth of a cup of radioactive waste was spilled from a drum that was thrown out when the truck was rear-ended by a car about 2 p.

AMR Corp. said federal agents raided its American Airlines office in Miami, seeking documents on shipments of hazardous material. About 60 agents from the Federal Aviation Administration, FBI and Transportation Department searched American's terminal and cargo facilities, removing computers and files, spokeswoman Martha Pantin said. The search warrant is sealed. The seizure is "essentially related to" an Oct.

They came when called. They honored their guarantees. The roach men promised no bug on Earth could skitter away alive from their stuff. They were sloppy, but always thorough. Even when their spray ran wild, leaving fetid yellow trails on coats, walls and carpets, the poison killed. It was the secret of their success.

Interstate 5 in the central San Joaquin Valley was closed for more than 13 hours Tuesday after a tanker flipped and spilled toxic gas. The state's major north-south freeway was shut down about 5:30 a.m. after the wreck seven miles south of Kettleman City in Kings County. Northbound and southbound lanes reopened at 6:50 p.m., the California Highway Patrol reported. CHP Sgt. Billy Mitchell said toxic gas leaked from one container but probably dissipated quickly.