BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Dozens of mile-long trains loaded with crude are leaving western North Dakota each week, with most shipments going through the state’s most populous county while en route to refineries across the country.
The U.S. Department of Transportation ordered railroads last month to give state officials specifics on oil train routes and volumes so emergency responders can better prepare for accidents. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said a pattern of fiery accidents involving trains carrying crude from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana had created an “imminent hazard” to public safety.
Most notable of those was an oil train derailment last July in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people.
Railroads that fail to comply with the order are subject to a $175,000 fine per day and are prohibited from hauling oil from the Bakken region until they do so.
Officials in Montana, California and Florida also released information on oil trains Wednesday in response to requests from The Associated Press.