In
2014, several CSX tanker cars carrying crude oil derailed and caught
fire along the James River near downtown
Lynchburg, Va. (AP/Steve
Helber)
Some states are looking to prevent more derailments and spills, but the freight industry doesn’t want more regulation.
By Daniel C. Vock | August 26, 2015 Repost from GOVERNING The States and Localities
h/t Benecia Independent
When it comes to regulating railroads, states usually let the federal
government determine policy. But mounting concerns about the safety of
oil trains are making states bolder. In recent months, Oregon,
Pennsylvania and Washington state have taken steps to strengthen
oversight of the freight rail industry.
The three join several other states — mostly led by Democrats — in
policing oil shipments through inspection, regulation and even lawsuits.
Washington, for example, applied a 4-cent-per-barrel tax on oil moved
by trains to help pay for clean-ups of potential spills. The new law
also requires freight rail companies to notify local emergency personnel
when oil trains would pass through their communities.
“This means that at a time when the number of oil trains running
through Washington is skyrocketing, oil companies will be held
accountable for playing a part in preventing and responding to spills,”
said Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee when signing the measure this spring.
The flurry of state activity comes in response to a huge surge in the
amount of oil transported by rail in the last few years. Oil from the
Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and nearby states must travel by train
to refineries and ports because there are few pipelines or refineries
on the Great Plains. The type of oil found in North Dakota is more
volatile — that is, more likely to catch on fire — than most varieties
of crude.
Public concerns about the safety of trains carrying oil have
increased with the derailments in places like Galena, Ill.; Mt. Carbon,
W. Va.; Aliceville, Ala.; Lynchburg, Va.; Casselton, N.D.; and
especially Lac-Megantic, Quebec, where 47 people died in 2013.
Federal regulators
responded to these incidents
by requiring railroads to upgrade their oil train cars, to double check
safety equipment on unattended trains, and to tell states when and
where oil trains would be passing through their borders. This last
requirement was hard won. This summer, the Federal Railroad
Administration tried to encourage states to sign nondisclosure
agreements with railroads about the location of oil trains. After
several states balked, the agency relented.
California, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio and Oklahoma have all signed
nondisclosure agreements, while Idaho, Illinois, Montana, North Dakota,
Washington and Wisconsin have refused to do so, according to the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
A Maryland judge
earlier this month ruled against two rail carriers, Norfolk Southern and CSX, that
wanted
to block the state’s environmental agency from releasing details of
their oil shipments. The railroads have until early next month to decide
whether to appeal.
“The ruling isn’t the first time railroads have lost their bid to
keep the oil train reports secret,” wrote reporter Curtis Tate of
McClatchy, one of the news organizations that requested the records,
“but it is the first court decision recognizing the public’s right to
see them.”
Many states want this information so that fire departments and other
emergency personnel can prepare for a potential derailment. California
passed a law last year imposing clean-up fees on oil shipped by rail.
The railroad industry challenged the law in court, but a judge ruled
this summer that the lawsuit was premature. Minnesota passed a similar
law last year, and New York added rail inspectors to cope with the
increase in oil train traffic. A 1990 federal law lets states pass their
own rules to prepare for oil spills, as long as those rules are at
least as rigorous as federal regulations.
In Pennsylvania, which handles 60 to 70 oil trains a week, Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf asked a University of Delaware expert to help to improve
safety of oil trains traveling through the state. The professor, Allan
Zarembski, produced 27 recommendations for the state and the railroads.
He called on the state to improve its inspection processes of railroad
tracks, particularly for tracks leading into rail yards, side tracks and
refineries that often handle oil trains. The professor also encouraged
the state to coordinate emergency response work with the railroads and
local communities.
Zarembski’s suggestions for the railroads focused on how they should
test for faulty tracks, wheel bearings and axles. Most major derailments
in recent years were caused by faulty track or broken equipment, not
human error, he noted in his report.
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