The measures included phasing out older tank cars, adding electronic braking systems and imposing speed limits, all meant to reduce the frequency and severity of oil train crashes. “They’re willing to risk us blowing up again for their money to keep coming in”, said Loretta Scheler, who rents out a two-story building just a few hundred feet from the tracks.
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Officials with Union Pacific says its findings are preliminary.
OR leaders are calling for a temporary stop to oil train traffic in the Columbia Gorge.
On Monday, a Union Pacific spokeswoman said the lack of oil trains through Mosier was simply the result of railroad scheduling, not a railroad decision to halt shipments through the town.
At a news conference earlier in the day, Espinoza said a failure of the fastener between the railroad tie and the line was the likely cause of the problem, but more investigation will be required before railroad officials know for sure.
A damaged oil train auto can be seen on the afternoon of Saturday, June 4, 2016, at the site of the oil train derailment that occurred on Friday in Moseir, Ore.
Dozens of residents of the Columbia River town of Mosier, Ore., have been given the all clear to return home, after crews made progress in repairing damage caused by the derailment of an oil train that sparked a fire. Crews have already removed about 10,000 gallons of oil and water from the treatment facility.
Sixty-five truck loads of Bakken crude oil has been moved to The Dalles.
Situated on a sweeping, typically windy, turn of the Columbia River in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Mosier got lucky, reported Rob Davis of The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Protesters gathered after Mosier oil-train explosion.
Authorities report that Federal, state, tribal and local agencies will remain at a command center near the scene to coordinate response until the cleanup is complete.
The accident, which forced the evacuation of a school and the closure of a highway, renewed calls for stronger regulation to guard communities against crude-by-rail accidents. Union Pacific should not resume oil train traffic before meeting with the community of Mosier and giving a thorough explanation for the cause of this accident and an assurance that the company is taking the necessary steps to prevent another one.
Hood River passed a resolution in 2014 opposing the transportation of crude oil through the Columbia River Gorge either by rail or by barge.
A Washington state official says an unknown amount of oil has been discovered in a vault that feeds into a wastewater treatment plant for the town of Mosier, Oregon.
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“What happens next?” Wyden said.
