October 9, 2014

 

WASHINGTON— In the face of a dramatic spike in the amount of oil transported by rail and a series of fiery derailments, the U.S. Department of Transportation revealed today that most emergency response organizations won’t have enough resources or trained personnel to contain a large oil spill or fire likely to result from the more than 1 billion of gallons of crude oil now shipped by rail every year.

 

A guide for emergency response to oil train derailments released by DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration states that “In the event of an incident that may involve the release of thousands of gallons of product and ignition of tank cars of crude oil in a unit train, most emergency response organizations will not have the available resources, capabilities or trained personnel to safely and effectively extinguish a fire or contain a spill of this magnitude.”