Crude oil rail cars, like the ones shown here, are becoming more prevalent on the nation’s rail lines. As a result, New York State is calling on the federal government to improve safety regulations regarding the transportation of crude oil via rail.
WASHINGTON – With the recent concerns over trains carrying crude oil derailing and exploding, the U.S. Transportation Secretary has ordered rail companies to warn state officials whenever they are hauling crude oil or other hazardous materials through local communities. Under the order by transportation secretary Anthony Foxx, states then must pass that information on to local first responders.
Foxx made the announcement on Wednesday. In addition, he issued a safety alert warning rail companies that a certain type of tank car – identified as DOT-111 – are not designed for carrying flammable liquids and should not be used to ship oil unless they are reinforced.
Foxx’s actions come a week after a train carrying oil derailed in Lynchburg, Va. It was just the latest in a series of such accidents, including one in Cheektowaga last December.
According to a report in the Buffalo News, railroads are increasingly using older DOT-111 tanker cars to transport crude oil from the fast-growing Bakken Shale oil fields in North Dakota to points east.
Two or three such trains roll through the New York State every day – including Chautauqua County near the Lake Erie Shoreline. Last week, Sen. Charles E. Schumer asked Foxx to force rail companies to report when they are making such shipments.
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