November WA Oil Spill Unreported for a Month

BNSF train in Plains, Montana. (Photo: SNEHIT/Shutterstock)

November WA Oil Spill Unreported for a Month

By Curtis Tate      McClatchy DC    January 26, 2015

State and federal officials are investigating an oil spill from a railroad tank car at Washington state’s largest refinery last November, but key agencies were kept in the dark about it for at least a month.

The delayed notification of the spill highlights gaps in communication and enforcement as more crude oil shipments travel by rail.....

....Neither the railroad, nor the third-party company that unloaded the oil at the terminal, however, could determine where the missing oil had spilled, making it likely that it had leaked somewhere along the train’s 1,200-mile path between the loading terminal in Dore, N.D., and the refinery, near Ferndale, Wash.

The oil train route to Northwest refineries passes through national parks, along rivers and through the region’s population centers.....

.....State law requires railroads to report any hazardous materials release to the state emergency operations center within 30 minutes of learning of the incident. The center’s 24-hour duty officer shares spill information with all levels of government. Karina Shagren, a spokeswoman for the state Emergency Management Division, said the department has no record of anyone calling to report an oil spill from a rail car at the refinery in November.....   more here

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/01/26/254434/washington-state-officials-unaware.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/01/26/254434/washington-state-officials-unaware.html#storylink=cpy

Links:

New York may raise oil taxes-   New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing to raise taxes on both imported oil and crude passing through the state, a move that could have a major impact on crude-by-rail shipments... crude shipped through New York — irrespective of whether it stays in the state or is transferred to another — will be assessed the same fees as imports.

Derailment spills hazardous chemicals in SC   Two people have been sent to the hospital with

injuries after the train derailed in Martin, South Carolina in what's now being considered an active scene. Officials confirm there was a hazardous chemical spilled, but it is now contained. A hazmat team is on-site.