Scary stuff in the Post today. Dangerous train cargo passing though the District still poses a great threat to the city as D.C. lawmakers and environmentalists accuse “the Bush administration of waiting until after the Nov. 2 election to decide whether to require railroads to route hazardous materials around Washington.” The fear? Trains carrying chorine gas and other caustic and lethal substances derailing just blocks from the Capitol sending Bhopal-style plumes of gas across the city.

Now this is comforting … from the Post:

A chief U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientist testified to D.C. Council members last winter that a catastrophic release near a gathering such as the Independence Day celebration on the Mall could kill 100 people per second and 100,000 in 30 minutes.

There are partisan divisions here. Greenpeace and others on one side, and the Bush administration, with the chemical and railroad industry — fearful of unnecessarily “fanning terrorism fears before the election” — on the other.

For those who don’t know, the McMillan Commission rebuilt the Mall and consolidated the city’s two major rail terminals at what would become Union Station. Ninety-some years ago, a rail tunnel was dug beneath First Street across Capitol Hill to connect rail lines heading to the north of the city with those heading across the Potomac River to Virginia.

While the Post says that the rail tunnel passes within “four blocks of the Capitol,” the tunnel sits just a few hundred yards from the Captiol’s East Front, as well as the Supreme Court and Library of Congress. While the tunnel is well guarded and there are already some restrictions on what can go through the city, the threat is still very real as anyone is Baltimore can attest.

(Photo of Baltimore’s Howard Street tunnel fire from AP)