A train of oil tankers. Photo: Russ Allison Loar, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Apr 09, 2015 — Rail safety advocates are applauding an update from the National Transportation Safety Board. On Monday, the independent group urged the federal government to come up with strict, new rules for rail cars carrying highly flammable crude oil. That same day, the Town of Plattsburgh, N.Y., issued its own recommendations.

Plattsburgh town officials estimate 30 trains that carry 300,000 gallons of crude oil roll through the Champlain Valley each week. That has them worried that New York’s North Country could be the site of the next derailment disaster, like the one that caused an explosion and killed 47 people in Lac Megantic, Quebec, in 2013.

Ever since that incident, people like Meredith Johnston from Westport have been worried sick. Last summer, at a forum on oil tanker cars in Plattsburgh, Johnston recalled seeing close calls in years past. “I’ve witnessed two train derailments,” she said. “One, cars went down the banks of the Boquet River, and one where the engine kept going but the cars were all going all over the place for about three miles. So I love living here, but frankly it is scary.”

On Monday, the Plattsburgh Town Board passed three resolutions that it hopes will help prevent another disaster. The town urged rail companies like CSX and Canadian Pacific to go above and beyond, and adopt higher safety standards than federal rules require. The town also asked them to set up an online hub where people can get real-time information during emergencies.

The board called on state and federal government to slow down oil trains; make it easier to hire rail inspectors; and ban the outdated DOT-111 tanker cars, rather than gradually phasing them out.

All this comes at a time when rail oil safety has become a national issue. On the same day that Plattsburgh adopted its three resolutions, U. S. Senator Chuck Schumer spoke about oil tankers in Dutchess County. “If these cars derail, and these old cars are used, you can have huge explosions. We go through heavily populated areas throughout our state,” he said.

Schumer commended the National Transportation Safety Board, which released its own suggestions for the federal government. The NTSB also recommended replacing outdated oil tankers; enforcing speed restrictions, at least temporarily; and transparent reporting of these changes. “I’d go a little further but it gives impetus. If we can get these 111’s and 1232’s off the tracks, that’s the biggest step we can take,” Schumer said.

This is not the first time the NTSB has made recommendations like this. The group first warned about the dangers of DOT-111’s almost 25 years ago. New rules from the United States Department of Transportation are due in May.