Rail Safety Becomes North Dakota Hot Button Issue

Rail safety has become a hot issue for politicians since a series of oil train derailments across the country and in Canada.

This derailment and explosion near Casselton in 2013 prompted increased calls for safety in shipping oil by rail.

Last Friday, U.S. and Canadian officials released stricter safety standards for train cars hauling Bakken crude oil.

The oil from North Dakota’s oil patch is highly flammable and has been involved in spills and explosions in North Dakota, West Virginia, Illinois and Canada, where a derailment killed 47 people.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) North Dakota: One of the big challenges we have is preventing derailments to begin with.  We are going to do everything that we can here in Washington D.C. to make sure that this product moves safely on the rails throughout our country.”

The Secretary of Transportation says all tank cars hauling crude oil should have new safety features in place by 2020.

Tank cars hauling ethanol will all be updated a few years later.