Crude oil deliveries via U.S. railways increased 74 percent in 2013, and more oil was spilled in railway accidents last year than in the previous 37 years combined. With forecasts calling for crude shipments to keep rising this year, there are growing safety concerns in many small towns about crude-oil trains passing through. But there is little they can do about it, because "Federal interstate-commerce rules give them little say in the matter and
railroads are exempted from federal 'right to know' regulations on
hazardous material sites," notes Jad Mouawad of The New York Times.
"Under pressure to act, the Transportation Department said in February
that railroads had agreed to apply the same routing rules to oil trains
that they already apply to other hazardous materials, such as
explosives, radioactive materials and poisonous substances like
chlorine," Mouawad writes. "This
voluntary agreement, which takes effect in July, was among commitments
that also included lowering speed limits to 40 miles per hour when
traveling in large metropolitan areas, and providing $5 million to
develop training programs for emergency responders."
"Still,
the railroads remain particularly secretive about how they determine
the precise routing of their hazardous cargo. The rules that apply to
that cargo, which came into effect in 2008 during the Bush administration, give railroads a lot of leeway," Mouawad writes. "Railroads are required to look at 27 factors before they determine the “safest and most secure” route for hazardous shipments. But the system provides little transparency, and outsiders cannot find
out why a particular route is favored, for instance. Railroads do not
provide any information on their route selection, citing safety
concerns."
Railroad officials say they provide local emergency responders with a
list of the 25 most hazardous commodities transported through their
communities, Mouawad writes. "But the recipients must sign an agreement
to restrict the information to 'bona fide emergency planning and
response organizations for the expressed purpose of emergency and
contingency planning,' a constraint that precludes them from making the
information public." (Read more)
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