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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016
Railroad in fiery
oil train derailment
agrees to changes
By MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. — The
nation’s largest freight railroad
has agreed to more thorough
inspections and maintenance
improvements after a fiery oil
train derailment in Oregon and
the discovery of more than
800 potential safety violations
across its sprawling network.
Details on the agreement
between the Federal Railroad
Administration and Union
Pacific were obtained by The
Associated Press.
Sixteen tank cars from a
Union Pacific train hauling
North Dakota crude through
the Columbia River Gorge
derailed in early June along a
curve in the tracks near Mosier,
Oregon. The accident sparked
a massive fire that burned for
14 hours and prompted the
evacuation of nearby areas.
No one was injured. But
federal officials said the rail-
road wasn’t following its own
inspection rules to ensure the
track was safe. A closer exam-
ination of the tracks would
have caught a series of broken
bolts that allowed the rails to
move too far apart where the
accident occurred, officials
said.
The investigation into the
accident is continuing.
Violations
The more than 800 poten-
tial violations against Union
Pacific were found as part of
a two-year examination of
tracks across the U.S. used
to haul crude. The violations
include some of the same lax
inspection problems blamed in
the Mosier derailment, federal
officials said. Enforcement
actions against the company
have not been finalized.
Spokeswoman Calli Hite
says Union Pacific is commit-
ted to making its lines safer
and has fixed the problems
identified by the government
as potential violations. She
characterized the agreement
disclosed Friday as the result
of a collaborative effort with
federal railroad officials.
“All of the issues, the 800
that were noted, have been
addressed,” she said. “We
did everything as soon as we
talked to them and knew we
needed to do it.”
Federal Railroad Adminis-
trator Sarah Feinberg said the
agreement raises the bar on
safety.
“This compliance agree-
ment requires Union Pacific to
go above and beyond existing
regulations,” she said.
Reliant on trains
The oil industry has become
heavily reliant on trains in
recent years because of limited
pipeline capacity in the boom-
ing oil patch of the Northern
Plains and the oil sands region
of western Canada.
Omaha, Nebraska-based
Union Pacific operates more
than 32,000 miles of track
across 23 states.
The safety measures
included in the agreement with
the FRA will apply to all track
used to haul oil and other haz-
ardous liquids, passengers,
explosives, radioactive materi-
als and poisonous gases.
They include an inventory
of all curves in the track that
are three degrees or greater
across that network and walk-
ing inspections every 120 days
on tracks that have the type of
bolts involved in the Mosier
accident. Those inspections
have to occur every 30 days
in that part of the network that
includes the Columbia River
Gorge.
Previously, Union Pacific
said it would voluntarily
take some of the same steps
within the gorge, a designated
national scenic area popular
with boaters and windsurfers
along the Oregon-Washington
border.
Th e n ew sro o m sta ff g a th ers a t th e Ga rd en o f Su rg in g W a ves
F rom left, reporter E dw a rd Stra tton , South Coun ty E ditor R.J. M a rx, P ublish er a n d E ditor D a vid P ero,
M a n a gin g E ditor L a ura Sellers, reporter E rick B en gel, reporter L yra F on ta in e a n d ph otogra ph er D a n n y
M iller. N ot pictured: D eputy M a n a gin g E ditor D errick D eP ledge, sports repoter G a ry H en ley, O ffice
Coordin a tor Rebecca H erren , Coa st W eeken d E ditor Rebecca Sedla k a n d E ditoria l Assista n t E lleda W ilso n .
T HE D AILY A STORIAN
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