Riverkeeper: Lawmakers Must Prevent Crude Oil Train Disasters on the Hudson River

Riverkeeper is calling for immediate federal and state action in the wake of two recent disasters to protect communities and the environment from the imminent hazard presented by the unregulated shipment of crude oil by rail.

“What will it take for our leaders to act?” John Lipscomb, captain of Riverkeeper’s Hudson River Boat Patrol Program, asked in a written statement. “How many more derailments? How many more explosions? This is an unacceptable risk.”

A train carrying millions of gallons of crude oil derailed and exploded Monday in West Virginia, according to news reports. One home was destroyed, the nearby river caught on fire, about 1,000 people were temporarily evacuated, more than 100 were displaced—and everyone is under a boil-water warning.

Another derailed and caught fire in Ontario on Feb. 14. Seven train cars were still on fire Sunday afternoon, according to news reports.

“No community should be subject to the real, imminent dangers that crude oil trains present,” said Sean Dixon, Riverkeeper Staff Attorney. “But the oil burning on the Kanawha River in West Virginia could as easily be on the Hudson River....The very same crude oil rolls through our communities and along our rivers, from Buffalo to Albany, along the Mohawk, down the Champlain Valley, through Hudson Valley communities like Albany, Catskill, Kingston, Newburgh, and West Nyack.”

These incidents follow a string of other rail disasters across the continent, most tragically the derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July 2013, in which 47 people lost their lives, Riverkeeper said.

Ships that carry crude oil must have spill response plans—trains don’t have to. And while the amount of oil being carried by train has soared in recent years, federal safety rules have still not appeared

“Every year, billions of gallons of oil move through states like New York – over crumbling bridges, through pristine ecosystems, and alongside schools and businesses,” Riverkeeper said in its statement:

Enough studies. Enough waiting. Riverkeeper and communities around the nation once again call upon the State of New York and the Secretary of Transportation to take immediate action to address the all-too-evident dangers threatening our communities, economies and environment every day.

The State of New York should act on its emergency authority to suspend the permits granted to Port of Albany oil transloading facilities, which facilitate this ongoing endangerment. The state Department of Environmental Conservation must then require an environmental impact statement prior to any possible reactivation of those permits.

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation must, based on the imminent hazard posed by crude-by-rail, issue an Emergency Order applicable to all crude and ethanol transport by rail that immediately:

• Institutes a speed limit, taking into account rail conditions, environmental and public health risks, and community vulnerabilities, that protects the public.

• Limits the length of these trains, as Riverkeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity requested last year, in order to limit the devastation which could result from the next rail disaster.

• Prohibits the use of the 23,000 tank cars identified by the NTSB and PHMSA as being the most vulnerable and least resilient tank cars on the rails. These “worst” tank cars – which include both CPC-1232s and DOT-111s – should not be permitted for use in hauling any other hazardous liquids (such as tar sands crude oil).

• Requires that railroads immediately develop comprehensive spill response plans keyed geographically to each county through which these trains travel. Such plans are required for vessels carrying crude oil, but not for trains – an unacceptable loophole that needs to be closed.

PHOTO: screenshot from CBS news YouTube report