HazmatDetails of oil shipments by rail are not security sensitive and should be released: DOT
The boom in U.S. oil shipments by rail is largely due to the growing production of shale oil from the Bakken fields in North Dakota and Montana, but also due to the slow construction of new oil pipelines. U.S. freight railroads are estimated to have carried 434,000 carloads of crude oil in 2013, compared to 9,500 carloads in 2008. In 2014, 650,000 carloads of crude oil are expected to be carried. So far U.S. crude oil shipments by rail have reached a record 110,000 carloads in the first quarter of 2014. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx issued an order in May for railroads to provide states with details on routing and oil-train volumes. Last week, U.S. Department of Transportationofficials affirmed that details about volatile oil train shipments are not sensitive security information, thereby allowing states to release such information to the public.
DOT: No need to advise localities of oil shipments // Source: dot.gov
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx issued an order in May for railroads to provide states with details on routing and oil-train volumes. The order applies to trains carrying a million gallons or more of oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota, Montana, and parts of Canada. Following the announcement, railroads sought to keep details of shipments classified for business and security reasons, but with the backdrop of a series of oil train accidents, including a July 2013 train derailment and explosion in Quebec which killed forty-seven people, state legislators moved to inform counties and emergency responders about incoming oil train shipments.
Last week, U.S. Department of Transportation officials affirmed that details about volatile oil train shipments are not sensitive security information, thereby allowing states to release such information to the public to allay safety concerns.
The Federal Railroad Administration notes that even though releasing shipment information is not a danger to public safety, it may interfere with business; therefore railroads may work directly with states to restrict specific information on oil shipments.
The Muscatine Journal reports that BNSF Railway, CSX, and Union Pacific have convinced California, New Jersey, Virginia, Minnesota, and Colorado to restrict releasing shipment details to the public, but Montana will release information on behalf of the state’s open records law. “Part of the whole reason the federal government ordered that this information be given to states is to protect the communities through which these trains roll,” Andrew Huff, chief legal counsel for Governor Steve Bullock saids. “If there’s not some federal pre-emption or specific regulation or statute that prevents release of this information, then under our records laws we have to release it.” Washington State will release oil train details but has given railroads time to seek a court injunction challenging the release of information.
The boom in oil shipments by rail is largely due to the growing production of shale oil from the Bakken fields in North Dakota and Montana, but also due to the slow construction of new oil pipelines. According to the Congressional Research Service, U.S. freight railroads are estimated to have carried 434,000 carloads of crude oil in 2013 compared to 9,500 carloads in 2008. In 2014, 650,000 carloads of crude oil are expected to be carried. So far U.S. crude oil shipments by rail have reached a record 110,000 carloads in the first quarter of 2014.
