Gov. Jay Inslee urged state and federal officials on Wednesday to take action to minimize risk from “outdated, inadequate and outright dangerous” oil trains that barrel through Washington everyday.
“We know that increasing shipments of crude oil through our state has raised serious and legitimate concerns about the safety of our cities, our waters and our people,” Inslee said.
Inslee called on the federal government to immediately lower the speed limit for trains carrying crude oil and to accelerate the pace of replacing outdated rail cars.
The governor’s remarks came after the state Department of Ecology unveiled a preliminary report on rail safety. The governor said the report would be used to craft policy for the upcoming legislative session.
The report calls for providing additional equipment for first responders, among other recommendations that come with an increase in costs.
“We think it’s obviously appropriate for an industry that is responsible for this risk to be associated with paying for this,” Inslee said. “And we’ll come up with creative and appropriate ways to do that.”
The report
There has been an “unprecedented increase in the transportation of crude oil by rail from virtually none in 2011 to 714 million gallons in 2013,” according to the ecology report. That amount could reach 2.87 billion gallons by the end of 2014 or in 2015. The report also states there are nearly 3 million Washington residents who live on or near crude rail routes.
Some of the report’s recommendations include:
o Consider funding options to boost the state’s spill prevention, preparedness and response program.
o Create a grant program to ensure local first responders have a continuous supply of oil-spill response equipment.
o Allow the Department of Ecology to hire three ecology planners to create geographic oil spill response plans for both inland and marine areas.
o Allow the Utilities and Transportation Commission to pay for additional inspector positions to examine tracks, operating practices and hazardous materials and allow them to enter a private shipper’s property.
o Provide money for the Utilities and Transportation Commission to conduct “diagnostic reviews of high-risk crossing.” The report also calls for allowing the Utilities and Transportation Commission to have jurisdiction over private road crossing to establish safety standards, including signs.
A more detailed report will be presented to the Legislature in December.
Federal regulation
When it comes to oil-by-rail transport, the state is limited in the actions it can take, Inslee said. The federal government is charged with regulating railroads; states no longer have a say in the rates or routes railroad companies use.
In a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, also released Wednesday, the governor requested that outdated tank cars not be used to transport Bakken crude after October 2016. Inslee urged lowering the speed limit so outdated rail cars cannot move faster than 30 miles per hour in populated areas.
“We know we have a dangerous situation on our hands,” Inslee said.
U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, has also pressed Secretary Foxx to update rail cars “as quickly as practicable,” her Spokesman Casey Bowman wrote in an email.
Gus Melonas, a spokesman for BNSF Railway, said crude trains traveling through Vancouver travel an average of 20 miles per hour and said 70 percent of the rail cars have been updated to enhance safety.
Port of Vancouver
Inslee has the final say over whether a proposed oil-by-rail terminal at the Port of Vancouver can be built. On Wednesday, he said he was limited about what he could legally say about the project, which has been proposed by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies.
“What I can tell you in any permitting decision of which I’m involved, we will pay exquisite, acute and comprehensive attention to safety risks associated with any permitting decisions, and I don’t think anyone would argue with the fact that there are significant safety concerns associated with oil trains. That is not lost on me,” Inslee said.
