On July 6, 2013, a train carrying highly flammable oil from the Bakken region derailed and burned in the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, resulting in explosions so violent that several city blocks were flattened and 47 victims were incinerated, 5 of whom were never found.
Two years later, explosive Bakken oil is still being transported through our communities in unsafe rail cars at excessive speeds. As shipments of oil by rail have dramatically increased since 2006 due to the oil boom in the Bakken oil fields, so have oil train accidents. In 2013, more than 1.15 million gallons of oil spilled, a 50-fold increase over the yearly average between 1975 and 2012. Earlier this year, four oil trains derailed in a three-week period and burst into flames, spilling hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil, contaminating rivers and causing the evacuation of hundreds of people.
The average blast radius of these explosive train derailments is one-half mile due to the enormous amount of energy contained in each railroad tank car, which holds around 28,800 gallons of oil. Often trains are made up of over 100 rail cars, called unit trains, all carrying oil.
The surge in rail transport of oil has outpaced regulatory oversight. New rules adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation would allow some unsafe tank cars to stay in operation until 2025. A fundamentally flawed regulatory system and cost-cutting corporate behavior jeopardizes public safety and the environment. This level of irresponsibility extends to the highest levels of corporate management and government policy making.
Here, as a nearly sea level route through the Cascade Mountain range, almost all oil trains headed West travel through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. An oil train explosion or spill here would be an unmitigated, enormous disaster.
Oil train fires are typically left to burn themselves out since they are so difficult to put out. With strong Gorge winds, this could cause an unstoppable wildland fire burning downwind on both sides of the Gorge. If the explosion happened in one of our Gorge towns, with railroad tracks in the center of town, an entire community could be vaporized.
In the case of an oil spill, our strong winds and fast Columbia River current would make containing and mitigating the spill impossible. For example, one nightmare oil spill scenario visualized by the Army Corp of Engineers would be a leak of Bakken crude oil near one of the Columbia River dams. The toxic high-end hydrocarbons in the oil would render all fish ladders unusable to the fish because of the hydrocarbon “smell” soaked into the concrete. This could end salmon runs as we know them, cost untold billions to tear out and replace the fish ladders and halt river traffic during reconstruction.
Given these huge risks, it is extremely irresponsible for the railroads, oil industry and federal government to permit these dangerous oil trains to travel through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Please join us and the cities of Hood River (Council Resolution 2014-22), Stevenson and the Columbia River Gorge Commission, which have each drafted resolutions opposing crude oil by rail transport through the Columbia River National Scenic Area. The risks are simply too great!
Find out how you can get engaged by contacting Stand Up To Oil or Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network. We can stop The Gorge from becoming the next Lac Megantic.
Commented