AMWA CEO: ‘Major public health crisis’ averted as rail strike agreement reached

The water utility sector is applauding a tentative agreement between railroad operators and their union representatives, which averted a work stoppage that would have halted chlorine shipments to water systems and put public health at risk.

“This agreement has averted a major public health crisis,” Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies CEO Tom Dobbins said in a statement last week. “If freight rail service had halted, water systems from coast to coast would have been at risk of running out of essential disinfectant chemicals, potentially leading to boil water notices for millions of Americans.”