Bergen Representatives' Train Safety Bill Goes To Gov.'s Desk

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — The state Senate passed a bill requiring train operators carrying Bakken crude oil to have cleanup plans in place.

The bill would require train operators to submit a clean up, response, and contingency plan to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Plans would need to be renewed five years. Operators would also have been required to file their plan with the state Office of Emergency Management.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there has been a 1,300 percent increase of train cars carrying crude oil into the northeast since September 2017.

The Senate passed the legislation 25-13. State Senators Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and Joseph Lagana (D-Paramus) sponsored the legislation. Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood) sponsored an identical bill in the Assembly.

“We need this legislation because look what just happened in Iowa. The recent train derailment that spilled 230,000 gallons of crude oil in Lyon County, Iowa could happen here but with far worse consequences," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, a environmental nonprofit. "If this happened near the Oradell Reservoir, Passaic, and Delaware River, and supply intakes in Trenton, it would have would have wiped out our water supply for months."

Then-Governor Chris Christie voted similar legislation in July 2017.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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