Montana’s oversight of railroad safety falls short at a time when volatile crude oil train traffic from the Bakken region, already high, is only expected to increase, a new audit found.
Montana has no active rail safety plan and employs only two inspectors to cover the vast state, the Montana Legislative Audit Division report released Wednesday said. In addition, there is a lack of statewide emergency planning and hazardous-material response capability should an oil spill occur, the report found.
That’s a potentially precarious situation with a new crude oil transfer station in North Dakota coming online that should boost oil traffic crossing Montana from about 10 trains a week to up to 15 cars per week. One out of every five Montanans lives in an evacuation zone for an oil-train derailment, which is within a half-mile of a rail line, the report said.
Read more from ABC News.
Related News
- From Stuck in Traffic to Blazing the Trail: The Rise of AVP Markeisha Haynes
- LACMTA Operators Benefit from Year of Safety Wins
- President Ferguson Responds to Washington Post
- Driverless Vehicles Raise Serious Concerns
- Merger Delay Does NOT Impact Jobs for Life Agreement
- Sens Josh Hawley and Tammy Baldwin Prove Again Why SMART-TD Endorsed
- Persistence and Creativity Secure Train Crew Privacy Protections in Indiana
- Notches Change, The Reverser DOESN’T
- New Railroad Safety Enhancement Act Builds Momentum
- Real Consequences for Virtual Reality