Economy

Minnesota legislators want railroads to open books on emergency response

Local officials want to be better prepared for oil train derailments

By Maya Rao Star Tribune
maya.rao@startribune.com
612-673-4210

April 7, 2016 — 10:07pm



Glen Stubbe

Railroads like the Union Pacific, whose freight train was in the yard in Shakopee on Wednesday, are asked to disclose more records.

The emergency management director for St. Paul held up a sheet of paper covered with a large black square. It was a redacted record he had requested to learn how railroad companies would respond to a potential oil train derailment in his city. ... “The good news is that it’s double-sided,” Rick Larkin, the emergency official, joked during a legislative hearing at the State Capitol this week as he turned over the paper to reveal another black square.

Larkin and emergency responders around Minnesota are intensifying pressure on railroad companies to release the information that towns and counties say they need to prepare for a crash involving Bakken crude oil and other hazardous liquids that travel over the state’s nearly 4,500 miles of track.

Oil train safety has emerged as a major issue in Minnesota, particularly as so many trains make their way through or near heavily populated areas. An oil train derailment in West Virginia last year created a massive and deadly fireball that at times soared 20 stories into the air, renewing emergency response concerns around the country. Also last year, a train hauling 109 tanker cars derailed outside the town of Heimdal, N.D. Ten of the cars caught fire, scorching the surrounding land and sending flames shooting into the sky.

Minnesota emergency responders are asking legislators to force railroad companies to turn over disaster planning records, saying they need to coordinate a more detailed response plan in the event of a hazardous explosion.