HazmatIowa to allow public release of information about trains carrying crude
Iowa officials have announced that they will alert the public about trains carrying one million gallons or more of “extra-flammable” crude oil throughout the state — despite the argument of railroad companies that the information could pose a security threat. Iowa’s decision places the state in the spotlight as a possible model for how the rulings will proceed in the rest of the country.
Iowa officials have announced that they will alert the public about trains carrying one million gallons or more of “extra-flammable” crude oil throughout the state — despite the argument of railroad companies that the information could pose a security threat.
As theGazette reports, the ruling applies mostly to train companies such as Canadian Pacific Railway and BNSF which are moving crude from the Bakken region of North Dakota, Montana and Canada. The area spans 200,000 square miles and has increased in pumping activity due to new hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” techniques. Union Pacific is also hauling Bakken oil, but less than the amounts which require public notice.
The decision on behalf of the state comes in the wake of a deadly year for oil train accidents. The list includes a July 2013 derailment in Lac Megantic, Quebec which resulted in the deaths of 47 people, and a 30 April derailment in Lynchburg, Virginia. Additionally, lawmakers such as Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) have urged federal regulators to monitor better the nearly 400,000 carloads of crude oil per year that are traveling within the country.
The U.S. Department of Transporation (DOT) released an emergency order on 7 May which required railroads to forward the information to state governments, so that emergency officials could be continually updated, but left the ultimate decision of whether to make the information available to the public up to the lawmakers for each state.
The ruling to make all of the information publicly available came down on 13 June from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. Iowa’s decision places the state in the spotlight as a possible model for how the rulings will proceed in the rest of the country.
Iowa Homeland Security plans to make the notifications public on a county-by-county basis starting today (7 July). The agency has said that it will allow time for railroads to file an injunction, should they want to.
BNSF spokesman Steven Forsberg told the paper that the company “Would not seek an injunction in Iowa,” though other corporations such as Canadian Pacific have yet to speak on the matter.
Forsberg urged emergency responders to “use discretion” when releasing specific details.
