Oil Leaks from Tesoro Anacortes/ Washougal Council Considers Resolution

Oil Tankers Leaking into Seattle’s Water

Daily Beast 10/13/14

A highly flammable byproduct flowed from oil tankers into an area stormwater system for at least a year before state regulators inspected the problem.

 

Seventy miles north of Seattle, the Tesoro Anacortes rail facility—which daily offloads some 50,000 barrels of Bakken crude from tanker cars—was releasing a highly flammable oil byproduct into a stormwater system that lacked “required controls” for at least a year before state regulators were made aware of the potential hazard.

A faulty pipe connection was the source of the problem, according to a Northwest Clean Air Agency enforcement report obtained via an open-records request. As a result of the flaw, hydrocarbon vapors were being produced in the rail facility’s stormwater system that could have ignited under the right conditions, experts say..... read more here

Washougal will review oil terminal opposition

City Council will see draft of resolution Monday

By Justin Runquist,  The Columbian  10/12/14

The Washougal City Council is preparing to take up a resolution opposing a plan to build the largest oil-by-rail terminal in the Northwest at the Port of Vancouver. 

City staff prepared a draft of the resolution for the council to review in a workshop at 4:30 p.m. Monday, but exactly where the councilors will go with it is unclear. That, City Administrator David Scott said, is because the councilors have given city staff no indication of what they wanted the resolution to say.

Scott said he doesn't have a good sense of whether the councilors will move forward with the resolution as is, propose amendments or start over with something else. The point is to kick off the discussion about what stance to take on the project, he said.

"Definitely, the council's got concerns about community safety, the safety of our citizens and the transportation system," Scott said. "And that's really our focus." .... read more here

CSX train crash offers reminder of rail dangers

More freight traffic carrying hazardous materials, including Bakken crude oil, is moving on CSX's River Line through the Hudson Valley.

 

Khurram Saeed    Poughkeepsie Journal   10/12/14

The CSX freight train that crashed into a car just north of Bear Mountain last week served as yet another reminder of the danger on the rails.

Sixteen cars on the 121-car train were carrying hazardous materials but none of them left the tracks or spilled any of their contents, which included commercial chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid, CSX said.

There was no Bakken crude oil on board in Wednesday's crash. The volatile liquid has been known to ignite and explode following train derailments or collisions. ...  read more here