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VEGETATION MANAGEMENT / WEED CONTROL

The Alaska Railroad has tried to control vegetation along its track with non-chemical methods including mechanical brush-cutting, manual labor, steam and burning since 1983. Despite these efforts, the volume and location of vegetation along the track has resulted in stiff fines from the Federal Railroad Administration, the railroad's federal regulatory agency.

Adding chemical vegetation control to our non-chemical methods would greatly enhance the Railroad's ability to improve safety and comply with federal regulatory requirements.

There are several important things to consider regarding this effort:

-Safety to employees and safe movement of trains is the sole dominant factor with a comprehensive vegetation management program.

-Any weed killers used are regulated and approved by both the federal and state governments.

-Application of the weed killer would be conducted by a licensed, experienced contractor, and railroad employees and the public will be fully informed about chemicals used and locations worked.

-The weed killers have been used for many years, are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, and studies have shown they have no adverse effects to humans, fish, or wildlife.

The benefits of a comprehensive weed control program are:

-Reduce the risk of derailment.

-Help employees to avoid slip, trip and fall injuries.

-Eliminate plants and roots that destabilize the track sub surface.

-Remove brush that can fuel wild fires.

-Maintain safe visual site lines at road/rail crossings Assist efforts to control the spread of noxious, invasive weeds.

-Comply with federal regulatory requirements to control vegetation on the rail bed.