An enormous supply chain jam threatens access to clean drinking water, agriculture products, and more, if rail companies and unions can’t agree on a deal by Dec. 8 to prevent a possible Dec. 9 rail strike.
As the strike deadline has moved, coalitions and individual industries have sent numerous letters to President Joe Biden’s administration, urging it to continue working to prevent a strike. These letters describe how a rail strike would affect certain vital sectors such as the supply of clean drinking water.
“A stoppage of rail service in the United States would have a catastrophic effect on the ability of water utilities to treat drinking water and wastewater and to perform other water treatment services,” a joint letter from six water industry officials tells the Biden administration. “This would present a significant threat to human health and to the health of the environment as it would affect our members’ ability to provide safe drinking water and wastewater treatment to significant portions of the United States. The critical products used to disinfect and treat water are typically delivered to distributors by rail, who then ship it to utilities over roadways.”…