Stop oil by rail in our state, Oregon asks federal regulator
Source: Reuters
World | Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:07pm EDT
Stop oil by rail in our state, Oregon asks federal regulator
Oregon has asked federal regulators to stop trains carrying oil traveling through the state, according to a letter seen by Reuters, just weeks after a train derailed in the state, the first major oil-by-rail accident in a year.
In a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration dated June 8, the Oregon Department of Transportation said preliminary findings of an investigation into the incident in Mosier suggested inspectors might not be able to detect the problem that likely caused the crash.
In the accident, a Union Pacific train carrying crude oil derailed, burst into flames and spilled crude along Oregon's scenic Columbia River gorge.
A preliminary investigation suggested a failure with a bolt that fastened the rail to the railroad ties.
"Until the underlying cause of the bolt failures is understood and, a means of detecting this defect is developed, we request a moratorium on running unit oil trains over sections of track that contain track fasteners of this material within the state of Oregon," said the administrator for the state transportation department in the letter first reported by The Oregonian.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oregon-oil-rail-idUSKCN0Z22TB
= new reply since forum marked as read
This is why it is so important to fight Great Lakes Basin Transportation's railroad which is designed to be a crude oil corridor and hazardous materials bypass. Once this rail line is built, the owners will assert that they have the right and duty to carry any commodity a shipper will pay for. I hope Oregon is able to fight this and make their request stick, but the FRA will not give in on this and the SCOTUS has always affirmed the carriers' position that they own the tracks and can do as they will regardless of what communities and states say.
This merits watching though.
A July issue of Great Lakes Basin Rail: News & Views is almost complete and there will be a PayPal to raise printing costs so that thousands of copies can be distributed along the proposed route. The comment period at STB has been extended, so please submit concerns if you are following this story. I posted links to each of the June issue pages at the thread:
Citizen Journalists Create 16-page Newspaper to Fight Hazardous Materials Rail Corridor
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027895203
