WA Fire Chiefs Demand Transparency On Oil Trains: "Your Industry Has Sought, Gained Exemptions"
Earlier this month, the head of a membership group representing firefighting agencies across the state wrote to the CEO of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway company, demanding that the company turn over information it has previously avoided sharing on crude oil shipments through the Pacific Northwest within 30 days. It's one of the strongest statements firefighters in this state have made on oil train safety issues—and speaks to the urgency of the risks at hand.
The Stranger obtained the letter from Oil Check NW, a watchdog group on oil safety in the region. In the letter, Wayne Senter, executive director of Washington Fire Chiefs, cited four tanker derailments in the last few years—including one last year under Seattle's Magnolia Bridge—as reason for concern. "The WFC is well aware that even if an infinite amount of foam was available, we can only provide defensive firefighting," Senter wrote in the letter.
Senter went on to slam the oil transportation industry's lack of transparency as a clear public safety issue. "Normally we would be able to assess the hazard through right-to-know and other public documents; however, your industry has sought and gained exemptions to these sunshine laws," the letter reads. "This exemption does not mean that your industry is exempt from taking reasonable steps to ensure catastrophic incidents do not occur."
EDIT
Specifically, we request the following information:
1. Your railroad's own calculated Worst Case Scenarios for a potential crude oil train emergency in urban and sensitive environmental locales. What is the potential impact of a crude oil disaster in Washington communities?
EDIT
Ed. and so on down the list . . . No response yet.
http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/03/25/21950613/washington-fire-chiefs-demand-transparency-on-crude-oil-trains
