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Coast Guard and EPA agreed to analyze the risks to endangered species of oil spill response on the Hudson River and in the Pacific Northwest, in light of the recent dramatic rise in crude oil transportation by rail and barge. We've already seen several victories against the extreme dangers of oil trains.
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We're part of a coalition of groups fighting the expansion of oil transportation along the Hudson. Our focus on oil trains began in the Northeast in January 2014 we called on Congress for a moratorium on rail transport of crude oil in that region, at least until safety and environmental concerns are effectively addressed, and we filed a notice of intent to sue the federal government over its inadequate oil-spill response plan for the Hudson River and New York Bay. Photo courtesy Wikimedia/Surete du Quebec. Following this derailment, similarly explosive oil train crashes occurred in Alabama, North Dakota and New Brunswick. The crash of this 72-tanker train, among the worst train accidents in North American history, killed 47 people and spilled roughly 1.6 million gallons of crude oil, some of which reached a lake serving as a focal point of tourism. Also in 2014 the Center for Biological Diversity and Riverkeeper filed a national petition to the feds to significantly reducing the risk of oil train derailments by limiting the length and weight of trains hauling oil and other hazardous liquids, as well as a petition to require oil shippers to have comprehensive oil spill response plans.Īerial photo depicting the crash and explosion of an oil train in the town of Lac-Mégantic in Quebec, Canada, in July 2013.
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In fall 2014 we and allies submitted formal comments calling for an immediate ban on puncture-prone tank cars involved in several explosive accidents. The standards fail to protect people and communities in no fewer than seven key ways. The Center's work against oil trains includes an early May 2015 lawsuit against the Obama administration, filed with allies, over weak tank-car standards set by the U.S Department of Transportation in its final tank car safety rule. The Center recognizes the dangers of these “bomb trains” and we're fighting to stop them - whether it's opposing expansion of oil traffic in California or pushing the Obama administration for sweeping reforms that - in the absence of an outright ban - will at least begin to make them safer. Only public outcry is beginning to compel greater governmental attention to the threat of oil trains and vastly greater amounts of crude oil being moved around our country.
#Fracked oil train car series#
Despite a recent series of catastrophic derailments, oil trains continue to roll out of the northern plains and western Canada, laden with cargoes dangerous to our personal, community and environmental health. Oil trains are a threat to public safety, clean water and sensitive species - and they're as sure a path to climate disaster as oil pipelines, fracking and offshore drilling. Current trends point to even more oil-by-rail transport throughout the United States and Canada in the coming years. In fact, the volume of crude oil shipped by rail in the United States grew more than 50-fold between 20. Odds are, that's an oil train and there are way more on America's rail lines than there used to be. If you've been around railroads lately, you may have noticed the long trains pulling ominous-looking black tanker cars.