(Source: Press release from the office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, June 22, 2016)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to news that Union Pacific is resuming oil train traffic through the Columbia River Gorge at the site of a fiery oil train derailment that occurred less than three weeks ago, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden expressed their strong objection to the resumption of oil train traffic. The senators called on the United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to halt crude oil traffic on this rail segment until the causes of the accident have been fully analyzed and necessary steps to prevent a similar derailment have been taken.
“We are writing to express our strong objections regarding Union Pacific’s intention to resume crude oil unit train traffic through the Columbia River Gorge less than a month after a fiery derailment on June 3, 2016 in Mosier, Oregon,” wrote the Senators in a letter to FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg. “We urge the FRA to use [its] emergency order authority… to put in place safeguards for unit trains transporting hazardous materials through the Columbia River Gorge. Specifically, we request that the FRA place a moratorium on unit trains transporting crude oil and other hazardous materials through the Gorge until the FRA has issued a final investigative report for the Mosier accident, and ensured all steps have been taken to prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future.”
Immediately after the derailment, Merkley and Wyden, along with Governor Kate Brown and Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, called for a moratorium on oil train traffic on the affected rail line until the accident had been investigated and the causes had been determined and fixed. Union Pacific agreed to a voluntary moratorium, but is now resuming oil train traffic.
The full text of the Senators’ letter to the FRA is at the link above.