The Investigators: Potentially explosive trains rolling through New York, New Jersey neighborhoods

NEW YORK (WABC) -- They are mile-long trains filled with explosive crude oil that the government says are unsafe, yet more and more of them are rolling through neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey.

In an exclusive investigation in which the Eyewitness News Investigators tracked the movements of these trains, we've determined that several times a day, they pass right by dozens of schools filled with students.

In some towns, they are called bomb trains: tanker cars filled with millions of gallons of crude oil.

"If you live in community near rail lines, I guarantee you, you know about bomb trains," said Paul Gallay, president of the environmental group RiverKeeper.

Ten months ago in North Dakota, a fireball from a crude oil train derailment forced the town of 1,400 to evacuate. Then, last April, there were more evacuations in Lynchburg, Virginia, after a CSX oil train derailed there.

Last year, a derailment in a small Canadian town killed 47 people, the devastation made worse because the old rail cars are prone to rupture in a crash.

Just months ago, the federal government told rail shippers they have two years to phase out these older tankers. RiverKeeper thinks the ban should be immediate.

"You have to have better rail cars, and soon," Gallay said. "And until you do, you shouldn't be putting communities at risk."

In the last two years, there's been a 400 percent increase in crude oil trains rolling down along the Hudson River and into New Jersey. Our investigation has found that along a 60-mile stretch of the rail line from Newburgh to Newark, there are at least 55 schools located within 1,500 feet of the tracks.

Every day, three to four trains filled with millions of gallons of crude from the mid-west roll by these schools.

"It's totally unacceptable," mom Sarah McTasney said.

McTasney, of West Nyack, worries that for at least the next two years, these tanker cars that the government says are defective will continue rolling by near her daughter's school.

"It's putting our communities at risk," she said. "And when talking about schools, you're talking about high concentrations of children."

A spokesman for CSX Railroad says they've put in place numerous safety measures, including increased track inspections, lowering the speeds of some of their trains and installing monitors to detect track defects. The spokesman adds that CSX does not own the railcars but are responsible for moving them safely. And as for safety, our investigation found one school along the CSX rail line that stood out more than the rest.

At West Point Military Academy, long lines of tanker cars filled with highly flammable crude go right under the campus through a tunnel below one of the academy's main buildings.

"We have evidence from al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups specifically looking at rail targets," rail security expert Fred Millar said.

CSX says it has worked closely with first-responders in both New York and New Jersey and has advocated for higher design standards for cars.

Here is the list of all the schools located within 1,500 feet of CSX rail line from Newburgh to Newark.

NEW JERSEY

Hawkins Street Elementary- Newark, NJ - 1300 ft

Ethical Community Charter School- Jersey City- 600 ft

Elementary School 2 - Jersey City - 1500 ft

St. Anne's School - Jersey City - 1500 ft

North Bergen Vocational School - North Bergen, NJ - 500 ft

McKinley School - North Bergen, NJ - 800 ft

St. Brigid's School - North Bergen, NJ - 1100 ft

Franklin Elementary School - North Bergen, NJ -1100 ft

Robert Fulton School - North Bergen, NJ - 1100 ft

Franklin Elementary School #3 - North Bergen, NJ - 1500 ft

High Tech High School - North Bergen, NJ - 1000 ft

Grant Elementary - Ridgefield Park,NJ - 1400 ft

Han Al High School - Ridgefield Park, NJ - 1400 ft

Lincoln Elementary - Ridgefield Park, NJ - 1300 ft

E Roy Rixby Elementary - Bogota, NJ - 1400 ft

Trinity Lutheran School - Bogota, NJ - 1000 ft

St. Joseph School - Bogota, NJ - 1300 ft

Bogart Memorial School - Bogota, NJ - 400 ft

Bogota Jr. Sr. High - Bogota, NJ - 1200 ft

Teaneck Community Charter School - Teaneck, NJ - 130 ft

Teaneck High School - Teaneck, NJ - 1200 ft

Benjamin Franklin M.S. - Teaneck, NJ - 1200 ft

Yeshiva Gedolah - Teaneck, NJ - 100 ft

Torah Academy - Teaneck, NJ - 250 ft

Ma'ayanot Yeshiva H.S. - Teaneck, NJ - 150 ft

Roy W. Brown M.S. - Bergenfield, NJ - 300 ft

Yeshivat He'Atid - Bergenfield, NJ - 600 ft

Franklin Elementary School - Bergenfield, NJ - 1300 ft

Transfiguration Academy - Bergenfield, NJ - 800 ft

Dumont High School - Dumont, NJ - 500 ft

Newbury Academy - Dumont, NJ - 900 ft

Bergen Center for Child Development - Haworth, NJ - 900 ft

Haworth Public School - Haworth, NJ - 900 ft

Harrington Park Public School - Harrington Park, NJ- 1400 ft

The Goddard School - Norwood, NJ - 100 ft

Thomas Jefferson Elementary - Northvale, NJ - 300 ft

NEW YORK

Dominican College - Orangeburg, NY - 200 ft

Tappan high School - Orangeburg, NY - 1100 ft

St. Dominic's School - Blauvelt, NY - 1100 ft

St. Catherine's School - Orangeburg, NY - 1000 ft

Cottage Lane Elementary - Blauvelt, NY - 1300 ft

St. Paul's School - Valley Cottage, NY - 200 ft

Congers Elementary School - Congers, NY - 200 ft

Haverstraw M.S. - Haverstraw, NY - 1300 ft

Gerald F. Neary Elementary - Haverstraw, NY - 1000 ft

North Rockland Control School District - West Haverstraw, NY - 1300 ft

West Haverstraw Elementary - West Haverstraw, NY - 800 ft

West Point Military Academy - Highland Falls, NY - 0 ft

Cornwall on Hudson Elementary - Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY - 1300 ft

Cornwall Central School District - Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY - 1200 ft

Liberty Street School - Newburgh, NY - 1200 ft

St. Patrick's - Newburgh, NY - 900 ft

Grand Street Public School - Newburgh, NY - 1000 ft

Newburgh Jabemacle Elementary School - Newburgh, NY - 1200 ft

Mount St. Mary College - Newburgh, NY - 1500 ft.