In Our View: Oil Train Safety is Job 1

As lawmakers in Olympia consider a bill that would enhance the safety of oil trains traveling through the state, an incident in November should provide some impetus for the protection of residents.

On Nov. 5, an oil train arrived at the BP Cherry Point Refinery near Ferndale. There, inspectors discovered that one of the tank cars had oil stains on its sides and wheels. Further examination revealed an open valve and a missing plug — along with the fact that 1,611 gallons of oil had leaked out. The question is where the oil leaked; the answer is that nobody knows. Somewhere along the train’s 1,200-mile journey from Dore, N.D., to Ferndale, the tank car had unleashed its payload.

This is disconcerting enough, as communities such as Vancouver contemplate the growing number of oil trains traveling through the area. But the issue becomes even more bothersome when considering the reaction from the companies involved. According to McClatchy News Service, which first reported on the spill, appropriate regulators were not alerted to the spill until nearly a month later. The state Utilities and Transportation Commission learned of it on Dec. 3, when the agency received a copy of a report submitted by BNSF Railway to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Other state agencies were notified by the media.

This becomes pertinent as the Legislature considers a bill (HB 1449, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver) that would strengthen oil transport safety in the state. At a committee hearing last week, Port of Vancouver Longshoreman Cager Clabaugh told lawmakers, “What I’ve seen, working on the waterfront for the last 20 years, is safety takes a back seat to production — always.” Clabaugh urged legislators to “keep an eye on (those transporting oil) and don’t let them cut corners.”

Locally, where the Port of Vancouver is pushing to build an oil terminal in conjunction with Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies, the recent incident and the proposed bill add to the discussion about what would be the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal. But whether or not the terminal is eventually approved by Gov. Jay Inslee, oil trains will continue to travel through Clark County, meaning the issue of rail safety will continue to be paramount for local residents.

“I hope and I think legislators have heard from the public about how high the public’s concern is about this and they should, if they are listening, understand we need action this year,” Inslee told The Columbian. “I’m reasonably optimistic we’ll get a bill through, but it does need to be a strong bill. It can’t just be a paper statement of intent.”

The intent of any bill must be made obvious to the oil and the rail companies. Transporting oil is an inherently dangerous endeavor, a fact driven home by a 2013 derailment and explosion that killed 47 people in Lac Mégantic, Quebec. Despite that and other explosions over the past two years, the response to the recent leak demonstrates that the companies have been slow to understand the concerns of the public.

House Bill 1449 would require railroads to create an oil-spill response plan and provide advance notice to the Department of Ecology about transportation routes and the type of oil being hauled. These are perfectly reasonable expectations that should be embraced by the companies. Instead, corporate interests all too often have been placed in opposition to the needs of the public.

When it comes to oil trains and safety, the concerns of the populace — as represented by HB 1449 — must take priority.