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DISPATCH INVESTIGATION

First responders often unprepared for derailments

Over the last 20 years, crude oil spills from trains have grown in both frequency and size. The size and number of spills per year began growing even more quickly in the last five years, as drillers have fracked oil fields around the country.

Wrong Track

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As domestic oil production has grown in the United States, longer, heavier trains that carry volatile crude from Bakken shale fields to coastal refineries are taking a toll on the nation’s rail network. When those trains derail, the fallout can be catastrophic.

Sunday: Dangerous cargo    

Monday: Inspection gaps    

Today: Emergency response

By Rick Rouan & Laura Arenschield The Columbus Dispatch • Tuesday December 22, 2015 5:26 AM
rrouan@dispatch.com
larenschield@dispatch.com

Trains carrying hazardous materials — from chlorine and hydrochloric acid to ethanol and crude oil — roll through neighborhoods and business districts nationwide every day. ... Most of them go unnoticed, and nearly all reach their final destination without incident. ... But when they crash, the consequences can be dire. About 1.4 million Ohioans live within a half-mile of rail lines where Bakken crude is transported.

State officials say they have no specific plans to handle derailments of trains carrying Bakken crude oil. First responders in small, remote towns sometimes aren’t equipped to handle toxic spills and explosions. And big-city fire departments aren’t always trained to handle the most-dangerous chemicals.

{>> Wrong Track: Dispatch series on trains carrying volatile crude oil}

The boom in domestic oil production and a too-small pipeline network have pushed most of the crude oil drilled in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana onto the nation’s rail network, where it’s shipped through small towns and big cities to coastal refineries.

A Dispatch analysis of Federal Railroad Administration data found that problems with worn-down tracks and mistakes made by train operators and others plague U.S. railroads.
....

Dispatch Library Director Julie Fulton contributed to this report.

rrouan@dispatch.com
@RickRouan
larenschield@dispatch.com
@larenschield