Justice for Lac Megantic

July 11, Citizens for a Clean Harbor held a benefit for the Harding Labrie Defense Fund, and raised $135. Thank you to everyone involved!

Donate now to help ensure a vigorous 

and fair legal defense

For background on the case, listen to this radio interview from Your Rights at Work! via Pacifica Radio

Herbert Harris Jr (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers &
Trainmen) reports on a local fundraiser to support Canadian rail workers being blamed for management’s mistakes in the 2013 Lac Megantic disaster.

Interview begins at 14.40

Our own Donna Albert sang this song for us.

Special thanks go to Fritz Edler of Railroad Workers United, for all his help and insightful discussion via Skype.

The Evidence is in: The Train Crew did not Cause the Lac-Mégantic Tragedy

Music Benefit for Lac-Mégantic Rail Worker Defense a great success!

Over $1700 raised kicking off fund drive for defense of the scapegoated rail workers and fighting for safe rails everywhere.

via The Harding Defense Fund

How many more have to die?

July 6th this year marks four years since a runaway train carrying volatile Bakken crude crashed and burned in the small town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 and destroying half the town. It’s time to recommit to making sure tragedies like this don’t happen again. It’s also the right time to speak up against the criminal trial beginning September 11th this year, that unfairly and inaccurately hangs the Lac-Mégantic crash on two railroad workers, Tom Harding and Richard Labrie.

Railroad managers push hard to squeeze every dollar they can out of every train run. The Lac-Mégantic train had a dangerous cargo, overlong train, defective equipment, a single crew-member and work rules that cut the margin of safety down to just about zero. The result was a disaster that still impacts the Lac-Mégantic community.

Multiple government safety investigations and independent journalists looked at what happened in Lac-Mégantic and came to the same conclusion. Railroad management policies made this kind of runaway train crash likely to happen sooner or later. Lax government oversight looked the other way until it did.

You would think that four years later there would be stronger safety regulations on every railroad, with extra layers of protection for dangerous cargo. Sadly, this is not the case. Railroad policymakers are still cutting corners and government regulators are still looking the other way. They want people to believe that the big safety problem is a few careless railroad workers.  But in Lac-Mégantic, SINCE the wreck, the supposedly safely restored wreck curve has now deteriorated and keeps that community at risk.  Everyone there tightens up when a train passes now.

Even after all the reports and exposes, the Canadian and Quebec governments are still not going after the railroad policy makers and their unsafe policies. The managers who made the critical policies will not even get a slap on the wrist. That’s just wrong, and it guarantees that the danger continues. Every year since the crash, the number of reported runaway trains in Canada has increased. That’s a sign of a reckless culture, not the actions of two rail-road workers one night in Quebec.

Whether your main issue is the environment, community safety, rail safety, or worker’s rights, it comes down to stronger government regulations and stronger railroad safety policies, with real community and labor enforcement. The two railroad workers were not the cause of the Lac-Mégantic crash or any of the runaway trains since then. They are not the ones still running trains right through the town of Lac-Mégantic, ignoring the demands of the survivors for a simple rail bypass. The people in Lac-Mégantic know that sending Harding and Labrie to prison won’t address any of their problems with the railroad. But if that happens, you can bet the government will close the book as the official verdict on Lac-Mégantic and railroad management will be standing there with them.

When you hold public commemorations this year, we ask you to make this point your way. Blaming Harding and Labrie for the Lac-Mégantic tragedy weakens all of us and all our causes. So all of us have to speak up.

Donate now to help ensure a vigorous 

and fair legal defense

Justice for Lac-Mégantic requires Dropping the Charges Against Harding & Labrie

see page 2 for more from Lac Megantic

Supreme Court finds in favor of ORMA- Major Win!

Quinault Indian Nation via QIN Environmental Defense

WA Supreme Court Decision Blocks Remaining Grays Harbor Crude-by-Rail Terminal:
State high court justices rule protections in vital coastal resources law applies

Olympia, WA—Today, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled a state law that protects coastal resources applies to crude oil export projects proposed in Grays Harbor. The decision will block the last proposed crude-by-rail terminal in Hoquiam, a project that planned to move millions of gallons of crude oil out of Grays Harbor and through Washington’s open ocean every year.

“The Quinault Indian Nation joins all of Grays Harbor in celebrating today’s monumental victory to keep crude oil out of our shared waters and ancestral territory,” said Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation. “Like so many of our neighbors across the county, we envision a healthy and pristine natural environment and a thriving, clean, and sustainable economy. After four very long years of fighting for those basic ideals, today’s decision is a significant step toward achieving our collective vision.”

The state high court justices overturned a lower court ruling that the Ocean Resources Management Act (ORMA) did not apply to oil shipping terminals. The Court held:

“ORMA is designed to address environmental threats to our coastal waters and specifically addresses the threats posed by increased expansion of the fossil fuel industry along the Pacific Coast. … The language of the statute indicates that the legislature intended it to combat current environmental dangers and to preemptively protect the coastline from future environmental risks.”

“The Court honored a law enacted to protect our natural ocean resources from oil shipping,” said Kristen Boyles, the Earthjustice attorney who argued the case for the Tribe and conservation groups. “Today’s decision not only revives state ocean protections, but effectively blocks proposed oil shipping terminals from being built in Grays Harbor.”

“We know what we have here in Grays Harbor with our active commercial, recreational, and tribal fishing fleets, our beautiful beaches that draw families to explore, play, and relax, and our coastal waters that support thousands of migrating seabirds every year,” said R.D. Grunbaum, Friends of Grays Harbor. “These natural resources and values are simply incompatible with industrial oil shipping.”

“This is a strong decision protecting and preserving coastal communities now and into the future,” said Dale Beasley, President of the Coalition of Coastal Fisheries, a group that includes Washington commercial fishermen, oyster growers, and charter boat operators. “Today’s decision gives commercial fishermen another handle to protect our livelihoods.”

In late 2013, the Quinault Indian Nation, Friends of Grays Harbor, Sierra Club, Grays Harbor Audubon, and Citizens for a Clean Harbor (co-counseled by Earthjustice attorneys Kristen Boyles and Matt Baca and Knoll Lowney of Smith and Lowney) successfully challenged the initial permits issued for oil shipping terminal projects in Grays Harbor, forcing further public safety and environmental review. Two of the three initial proposals dropped out, leaving the Westway (recently renamed Contanda) Terminal project as the only active proposal. The Final Environmental Impact Statement for Westway, issued in September 2016, found that there were significant harms and risks from the oil shipping terminal that could not be mitigated, even though it did not take into account the tighter standards demanded of projects under ORMA. The City of Hoquiam is currently making a decision on Westway’s permit application.

With today’s Supreme Court decision, ORMA’s protective standards must now be applied, and Westway simply will not be able to meet those higher requirements.

FACTS ABOUT THE RISKS OF CRUDE OIL TO THE MARITIME ECONOMY OF GRAYS HARBOR:
• The Washington Department of Ecology found that these projects create serious and harmful risks of oil spills, collisions, derailments, fires, and explosions that would cause significant and unavoidable environmental damage.
• An economic study commissioned by the Quinault Indian Nation found that a major oil spill could put more than 150 tribal commercial fishermen out of a job, resulting in a direct loss of as much as $20 million in wages and up to $70 million in revenue for affected businesses.
• Marine resource jobs support more than 30% of Grays Harbor’s workforce according to a 2013 study by the University of Washington.
• In 2014 Washington residents took an estimated 4.1 million trips to the Washington Coast spending $481 million according to a recent study. More than one-third of those visits were to Grays Harbor County to enjoy its spectacular and productive coastal and ocean waters.
• The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife stated “Grays Harbor is an area particularly sensitive to the adverse effects of oil spills.”

DeSmogBlog on Crude Oil Volatility

Oil-By-Rail Regulators Consider Crude Oil Volatility Limits That Would Require Oil Stabilization

In July 2015, a train carrying Bakken crude oil derailed in Culbertson, Montana resulting in an oil spill of 35,000 gallons - more than the contents of a full rail tank car. But unlike all of the other Bakken train accidents where large amounts of oil were spilled something odd happened. There was no explosion or…

Washington Supreme Courts Hears Ocean Resources arguments

Today Washington State Supreme Court heard Ocean Resources Management Act (ORMA) arguments from the Quinault, and our, lawyer, Kristen Boyles. We are so privileged  to have them both!

Final Environmental Impact Statement has released

Ecology News: Environmental review completed for Grays Harbor crude oil project

JOINT NEWS RELEASE: City of Hoquiam, Washington Department of Ecology

Sept. 30, 2016

Contacts:

David Bennett, Ecology communications, 360-407-6239, @ecysw

Brian Shay, City of Hoquiam, 360-581-3815

Environmental review completed for Grays Harbor crude oil project

HOQUIAM – The environmental review for the proposed Westway Terminal crude oil expansion project in Grays Harbor is complete. The review identifies impacts stemming from the project proposal, as well as possible mitigation measures.

The city of Hoquiam and Washington Department of Ecology are issuing the final report, officially referred to as the Environmental Impact Statement, after analyzing and responding to 100,000 comments received during public review of the draft version in 2015.

“We have been committed to a transparent, thorough and impartial process since our work on this proposal began,” says Paula Ehlers, section manager for Ecology. “The conclusions of the final study are similar to the draft, but include responses to all comments received, additional information in some sections, and new proposed mitigation.”

The study found that the proposed project would cause significant and unavoidable environmental impacts to health and safety if a crude oil spill, fire or explosion occurs. There are also impacts to tribal resources.

The report proposes 69 mitigation measures to offset or reduce environmental impacts from the project, including using newer rail cars, escort tugs in Grays Harbor, adding response equipment caches in key locations, and coordinating spill response training for local responders and tribes.

The study is not a permit – it is a comprehensive and factual data resource for those who will make decisions during the permitting process. Ten local and state permits, and 11 federal and state plan approvals will be required for the proposed project. The first permit to be considered will be Hoquiam’s shoreline substantial development permit.

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Our Press Release

For Immediate Release

September 30, 2016

FINAL STUDY ON GRAYS HARBOR OIL TERMINAL RELEASED TODAY

Diverse voices call on City of Hoquiam to deny permit for Westway proposal

Contacts:

Larry Thevik, 360-581-3910, Vice-President, Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association

Arnie Martin, 360-580-1961, President, Grays Harbor Audubon

Rebecca Ponzio, 206-240-0493, Director, Stand Up to Oil Campaign

Mark Glyde, 206-227-4346, Resource Media and to contact Quinault Indian Nation

Hoquiam, WA – The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Westway Terminal Company’s proposed crude-by-rail facility at the Port of Grays Harbor was released today amidst widespread opposition and calls for the City of Hoquiam to deny a permit. After a successful challenge to the original permit, this FEIS has gone through public review with overwhelming opposition. This is the final review stop before the City of Hoquiam can make a permit decision.

The Quinault Indian Nation, commercial fishing interests, local residents and conservation groups are still reviewing the FEIS and will be looking for it to more fully acknowledge the severity of the potential impacts that cannot be mitigated. The draft study underestimated impacts, which include increased risk of derailment, collision, fire and explosion from oil trains, oil spills from rail transport, storage and marine transport by barge and tanker in Grays Harbor, and impacts on tribal resources, including fisheries and fishing access.

“If the study provides a true account of risks to the safety, economy and way of life of tribal members and our Grays Harbor neighbors, the City of Hoquiam will have a clear and defensible choice to deny a permit.” said Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation (QIN). “The city has a responsibility to keep our communities and shared waters safe and productive, not put them at risk from oil train derailments and oil spills.”

“Our members agree with the judgement of the Washington Attorney General who opposed a proposed oil terminal along the Columbia River after weighing the benefits against the risks of an oil spill. We believe the same is true in Grays Harbor,” said Larry Thevik, Vice-President of the WA Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association. “We all know these terminals carry grave risks. A better path than crude oil is to protect and build on our strengths like commercial and recreational fisheries, shellfish aquaculture and tourism.”

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife stated “Grays Harbor is an area particularly sensitive to the adverse effects of oil spills.” Grays Harbor and surrounding waters support nearly 700 tribal and more than 3,000 non-tribal commercial fishing jobs. A recentstudy by the Greater Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce found nearly 6,000 tourism-related jobs in the County.

“Clean beaches, birds and wildlife, scenic beauty and recreation opportunities are not only some of our most important economic assets, they also the reasons many of us choose to live, work and play in Grays Harbor County,” said Arnie Martin, President of Grays Harbor Audubon. “We know from experiences like the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico that one major oil spill is one too many.”

The Grays Harbor Wildlife Refuge is visited by hundreds of thousands of shorebirds annually. In 1989, the Nestucca barge holed off Grays Harbor spilling 231,000 gallons of marine bunker oil, killing or injuring an estimated 68,000 seabirds. The oil sheen was seen from Oregon to the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

The fiery oil train derailment in Mosier, Oregon was a dramatic demonstration of the far reaching dangers of crude-by-rail proposals in the Northwest. Oil trains bound for Grays Harbor would travel through communities along the rail line from Hoquiam to Chehalis and through Vancouver, the Columbia River Gorge and Spokane.

“These proposals a huge step backwards – they risk irrevocable harm to our communities and waterways and take us in the in the wrong direction for our climate,” said Rebecca Ponzio, director of the Stand Up To Oil campaign. “People across the Pacific Northwest have spoken: don’t sacrifice our health, livelihoods, and resources for the benefit of the oil industry.”

In a September 7  letter to the Washington Dept. of Ecology and City of Hoquiam leaders, the Quinault Indian Nation summarized the strong legal grounds the city has for denying a permit under the State Environmental Policy Act, Public Trust Doctrine that protects access and resource use of publicly owned navigable waters and tidelands, and the Quinault’s federally-reserved treaty fishing and gathering rights.

Washington State faces a proliferation of proposals for fossil fuel infrastructure—notably coal export and oil transport, as well as an expansion of oil by rail to existing refineries. If these proposals move forward, the region’s rail system face extreme strain and a significant increase in the amount of oil tanker traffic through Washington waters is expected.

While several projects have recently been defeated or withdrawn, significant proposals remain in play. In addition to the Longview and Grays Harbor proposals, Tesoro-Savage – the largest proposed oil by rail facility in North America – and one other terminal, NuStar, are proposed in Vancouver, WA.  There is also a proposal to increase the oil-by-rail capacity of the Shell Oil Refinery in Anacortes.

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Shared Waters, Shared Values Photo Album

Several of our friends have set up Facebook Albums. These are open to view, even if you aren't signed up on FB.
Zoltan's album has the transcribed speeches

Here's the Album from Citizens for a Clean Harbor
Bev Basset finds a #GH Rocks! for Shared Waters.

Bob Ziegler sent in some of the photos- Thanks, Bob!

Randy Beerbower has some great shots from land.

Apryl Boling took many crowd shots.

John Duffy has posted a wonderful set of pictures over on Flickr

LEE CHOE EESE, President Fawn Sharp paddles the Quinault canoe.

Backbone Kayakivists along the banks of the Hoquiam River.

Videos! 

Alan Richrod's video is on FB. (Sorry, I couldn't get this to post)

Stand Up To Oil created this amazing video. 60 Must Watch Seconds!

I walked with the drummers for a bit. Turn it up while you watch!


The Daily World covered it in the next days paper
Protest Against Crude Oil on Grays Harbor draws hundreds.

By BOB KIRKPATRICK
The Daily World

Supporters from around the region showed up in full force to protest a proposal to ship crude oil through Grays Harbor and support the Quinault Indian Nation’s Shared Waters, Shared Values Rally in Hoquiam Friday afternoon.
Hundreds gathered at the 9th Street Dock to welcome the tribe’s flotilla of traditional canoes, kayaks and boats and to band together to protest the proposed expansion of fuel storage facilities at the Port of Grays Harbor.
“No crude oil” was the chant as they embarked on a four-block march to city hall to make their stand.
“We area at a critical place here in Grays Harbor, a decision is going to be made soon,” Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Nation said. “The future of the harbor is going to go in one direction or the other. We need to go in the direction of no crude oil in Grays Harbor … forever!”

FRA places blame while DNR urges rejection of Tesoro

Union Pacific crews work Sunday, June 5, 2016, to get oil out of rail cars after Friday's derailment near Mosier. (Carli Brosseau/staff)

Feds blame railroad for fiery oil train derailment in gorge

via The Oregonian

Advanced electronic brakes proposed by regulators could have made the derailment less severe, Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg said. The brakes could have reduced the number of cars that went off the tracks and prevented the one that first burst into flames from being punctured, officials said.
"We're talking about upgrading a brake system that is from the Civil War era," Feinberg said. "It's not too much to ask these companies to improve their braking systems in the event of an accident so fewer cars are derailing."

"When they said those sheared lag bolts, that was the hint that said they really need to look in the direction of these other aspects," Ditmeyer told the AP. 

"These are heavy cars when they're fully loaded," and a treatment to reduce the volatility of the Bakken crude makes the oil heavier, he said.

The Oregon Department of Transportation last week asked federal rail authorities for a moratorium on oil trains in the Columbia River Gorge after also expressing concerns that the weight of the oil trains might be too much for the tracks.

The company defended its decision in a statement, reiterating the federal obligations it is under and highlighting the tiny fraction of its Oregon shipments — less than 1 percent — that come from oil trains.
In addition to state transportation officials, Multnomah County and several municipalities including Portland and Mosier have called on Congress and the White House for bans on oil being moved by rail, which is under the federal government's authority.

An oil train moves on the overpass next to a proposed waterfront redevelopment project in Vancouver, Washington. The Department of Natural Resources urged a state energy panel to advise against a proposed $210 million oil-by-rail terminal project, according to a brief filed ahead of hearings that begin Monday. The city of Vancouver also filed a brief stating its opposition to the project.. (Rob Davis/The Oregonian.OregonLive/2014) (Rob Davis/The Oregonian.OregonLive)

Washington agency wants Vancouver oil terminal plan shelved, citing fire risks

via The Oregonian

SEATTLE — A state agency in charge of protecting millions of acres of state land from wildfires is opposing a proposal to build an oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver, citing risks of blazes from increased train traffic and other concerns.
The Department of Natural Resources urged a state energy panel to recommend that the $210 million project be rejected, according to a brief filed ahead of hearings that begin Monday.

The Department of Natural Resources said that based on the evidence, the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council cannot meet its obligations to assure the public that there are adequate safeguards and that the project will have minimal environmental impacts.
The council, which oversees the siting and permitting of large energy projects, will make a recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee, who has the final say.

 Meanwhile, new Coal regulations are being drawn up. 

Rally Shows the Feds How Seattle Feels About Coal

Not too many coal supporters at this public hearing.

via The Seattle Weekly

Activists, tribespeople, fishermen, politicians, and even a representative from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin turned up to take the stage at Westlake Park Tuesday morning — all to give the decades-long federal coal leasing program the middle finger, more or less.
“I come from upstream,” Bob LeResche, chairman of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, in Sheridan, Wyoming, told the eager crowd, “And I want to welcome you to our 40-year fight.”
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) currently leases 570 million acres of public land to coal companies — often atbargain basement prices — and the process for how that’s done hasn’t been touched for over 30 years. Many people, from scrappy environmental groups to the U.S. Department of the Interior, have long criticized the program as shortchanging the American public by vastly underestimating the market value of the coal. Now, that’s shifting: In January, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewel launched a three-year process for revamping the system, starting with a moratorium on new coal leases until we get a new process figured out. Among her stipulations: Americans should get more bang for their buck on this, and so should the climate.
“We have an obligation to current and future generations to ensure the federal coal program delivers a fair return to American taxpayers,” she said in a January statement, “and takes into account its impacts on climate change.”
Perhaps, then, to throw a bone to the environmental movement (i.e. by making sure not every public hearing about the federal coal leasing program is held in coal country) the BLM held a six-hour-long public forum at the downtown Seattle Sheraton on Tuesday — one of just six hearings like it in the nation.

Fire Fighters send letter to Gov. Inslee

	Affiliated with: AFL-CIO International  Association  of Fire Fighters Washington State Labor Council
June 8, 2016 The Honorable Jay Inslee Washington  State Governor P.O. Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504 Dear Governor  Inslee: Last Friday's oil train derailment and fire in Mosier, Oregon, is a stark reminder that first responders, rail workers, communities, waterways and pristine lands remain in harm's way from Bakken oil train traffic through  our  state. The account given by firefighters of the Mosier response and by others who have responded to similar incidents across North America make it clear these fires are exceedingly difficult to extinguish, even under unusually ideal circumstances.  What happened  in Mosier could have just as easily happened in a population  center like Spokane or Seattle, resulting in even greater  tragedy. You know our position on these matters. In June 2014, delegates at our statewide convention called for an immediate halt to the movement of Bakken crude by rail until there has been a determination that it is safe to transport. Clearly, given the Mosier incident, there has been no such determination. The upcoming summer fire season is shaping up to be another dry and dangerous one. Resources will be stretched thin, and evidence keeps growing that there is no safe way to transport Bakken crude. A derailment  and fire in dry wildfire  fuels with high winds could easily overwhelm  available personnel and equipment in many parts of our state and grow into a conflagration of immense proportions. We urge you to make a request similar to Oregon Governor Brown's by asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to use its authority to prohibit rail transport of Bakken crude through our state until there has been a full investigation into the cause of the Mosier oil train derailment. In addition, please consider the use of your executive authority to reject plans  for oil terminals    now under review and ask your legal staff to investigate the proclamation of a state of emergency under RCW 43.06.220(l)(i), allowing you to prohibit the continued rail transportation of this dangerous fuel. We appreciate the efforts you have made to date on this subject and stand ready to meet with you, as do other members of our Solidarity Roundtable on Oil, to work toward solutions to this on-going  environmental  and community crisis. Sincerely, Dennis  Lawson, President. Washington  State Council of Fire Fighters opeiu8/aflcio/dag
Dennis J. Lawson, President • Greg B. Markley, Secretary-Treasurer 1069 Adams Street Southeast, Olympia, WA 98501 • 1-800-572-5762 • (360) 943-3030 Fax (360) 943-2333 • E-mail: wscff@wscff.org • Website: www.wscff.org

Mosier really dodged a bullet & Mosier Fire Chief Calls Crude Oil By Rail "Insane"

The Route 30 Ice Cream / Coffee Shop had to close on Saturday due to the inability to run water after the nearby oil train derailment the day before. Owner Nelly Demosthenes said she's lost about $2000 in business Friday and Saturday combined. Dave Killen / The Oregonian

"Mosier really dodged a bullet": Gorge derailment highlights oil train dangers

via OregonLive by Rob Davis

Eight-hundred feet in either direction, and Friday's oil train derailment outside the small Columbia River Gorge city of Mosier might've sent flaming tank cars into a lake in a National Scenic Area.
A half-mile east, and the inferno would've burned a few feet beneath a block of modular homes. Another mile-and-a-half, and leaking tank cars would've landed on the bank of the Columbia River during peak spring chinook salmon migration.
Seven miles west, and flames would've licked the back of the Full Sail Brewing Co. in Hood River.

Eric de Place, policy director at the Sightline Institute, a progressive Seattle think tank, agreed the region was lucky with the Mosier derailment. But with oil train wrecks continuing to send up sky-high fireballs, there's no reason to expect such a stroke of luck the next time, he said.
"We're playing Russian roulette," de Place said. "I think the industry is perfectly willing to put a gun to our heads and risk our lives for the sake of making money. It is abundantly clear this enterprise is unsafe, unsustainable and they don't know how to manage it."
De Place spoke as he drove Saturday morning through Seattle with his 7-year-old son. He said he was in a "blind rage" about the fiery crash in Mosier. "It's appalling that we're allowing this to continue," he said.
His son interrupted him to point something out, and de Place paused.
They'd just driven past what looked like an oil train.

Mosier Fire Chief Calls Shipping Bakken Crude Oil By Rail "Insane"

by Amelia Templeton OPB

Jim Appleton, Mosier fire chief, speaks Saturday, June 4, 2016, following the derailment of an oil train in his town near Hood River Friday.

Amelia Templeton/OPB

Jim Appleton, the fire chief in Mosier, Ore., said in the past, he’s tried to reassure his town that the Union Pacific Railroad has a great safety record and that rail accidents are rare.

He’s changed his mind.After a long night working with hazardous material teams and firefighters from across the Northwest to extinguish a fire that started when a train carrying Bakken crude derailed in his town, Appleton no longer believes shipping oil by rail is safe.“I hope that this becomes death knell for this mode of shipping this cargo. I think it’s insane,” he said. “I’ve been very hesitant to take a side up to now, but with this incident, and with all due respect to the wonderful people that I’ve met at Union Pacific, shareholder value doesn’t outweigh the lives and happiness of our community.”

Friends of the Columbia Gorge held a rally today in Mosier 

We had a successful rally today in Hood River despite the very, very short notice and high heat, about 100 F. Around 15 people came early to paint signs and about 100 people attended the rally.  Media was plentiful for once! Three Portland TV stations and Hood River News covered the event, there were numerous interviews. Those that gave presentations all had messages that were very consistent around stopping all oil by rail in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

Photos of the rally:

Emily Reed, Mosier City Council President, gave moving remarks. Her son was evacuated from Mosier School and her husband is a volunteer firefighter who worked the fire.

Gett’en it done, cleaning up after the rally

Dan Serres, Columbia Riverkeeper and Peter Cornelison, Friends of the Columbia Gorge

Derailments and Disasters

Rail Cars derail in Central Park
The Daily World, Doug Barker

A train carrying grain to the Port of Grays Harbor derailed Tuesday afternoon in the Central Park area. There were no injuries and the train wasn’t in the immediate area of homes.

Thursday afternoon, workers were hauling rock to the site so that equipment could be brought in to lift the cars, said Josh Connell, general manager of the Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad. Eight of the 100 cars in the train derailed, he said, with six on their sides and two still standing. The site, which is about a half mile south of Central Park Drive and two miles east of the Grays Harbor Country Club, is not accessible by road and rail officials would not allow the press to walk on the rail right of way to reach the scene, saying it was dangerous while crews were working.

Connell said they expect to have track open sometime Sunday.

The posted train speed on that stretch of tracks is 20 mph and the train was travelling 17 mph when it derailed, he said. “There was no human error, the crew was doing what it was supposed to be doing according to our procedures,” he said.

Connell said cars used to inspect the condition of the track had been through the area recently, and the ties were replaced in that area in 2014. Once the cars are lifted off the track, the company will inspect the track and that might help determine the cause, he said.

The last derailment on the line was in December, caused by two teenagers playing “chicken” at rail crossings in Montesano.

There were 10 loaded grain cars at the tail end of the train that were not affected by the derailment. The 80-some cars to west of the derailment were taken to the Port and unloaded, Connell said.

Connell said rail officials immediately notified state officials, who notified federal officials. There was no issue of hazardous materials being spilled, he said.

Oregon train derailment spills oil, sparks fire

KOIN 6 News Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — An oil train has derailed near the Columbia River Gorge town of Mosier.

Aaron Hunt with Union Pacific Railroad says 11 of the cars derailed. Oil spilled from at least one car and caught fire. It is still burning.

The 96-car train was carrying Bakken crude oil to Tacoma, from Eastport, Idaho. Bakken crude is known for being highly volatile.

An aerial view of the smoke and fire from an oil train derailment in Mosier in the Columbia River Gorge, June 3, 2016 (KOIN)

A train that size weighs 13,000 tons and is 6,200 feet long, according to sources. No one was injured.

Silas Bleakley was working at his restaurant in Mosier when the train derailed.

“You could feel it through the ground. It was more of a feeling than a noise,” he said as smoke continued to billow from the tankers.

Bleakley said he went outside, saw the smoke and got in his truck and drove about 2,000 feet to a bridge that crosses the railroad tracks. There, he said he saw tanker cars “accordioned” across the tracks.

More links:

Seattle Times: Tacoma bound Oil train derails

KOMO News: 

Oil train derailment, fire in Columbia Gorge evacuates Mosier schools; I-84 shut down

KGW News No one injured as oil train derails in the Gorge; I-84 shut down