Tell Congress - Protect Our Towns from Exploding Oil Trains

On February 16, a CSX train carrying crude oil derailed in West Virginia, causing fiery explosions throughout the night that shook the windows of nearby houses. The derailment also dumped toxic petroleum into the Kanawha River, an important source of drinking water for people in Kanawha and Fayette counties.

Fifty times more crude oil was transported by rail in 2013 than in 2009, and yet safety regulations and funds for investigations and enforcement of laws to keep our communities safe remain stuck in the past.

47 people died when an oil train explosion destroyed much of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. A train in Minnesota leaked for 70 miles before the spill was discovered. And there have been explosions and spills in Alabama, Illinois, Virginia, and across the country as oil and ethanol shipments skyrocket.

Shipping oil and ethanol away from communities, improving tanker cars, and other steps can all help reduce the risk to our communities, but our lawmakers need to act.

Help prevent the next oil disaster. Urge your Senators and US Representative to adopt common sense reforms that improve the safety of rail shipping of oil and ethanol.

As someone concerned about the safety of rail shipments of oil and ethanol, I strongly urge you to act on the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) recommendations and introduce legislation to improve rail safety. Specifically, Congress should:

* Require rail companies shipping flammable petroleum products to replace outmoded DOT-111 tanker cars with next-generation tanker cars with safety features exceeding the CPC 1232 tanker cars that exploded in West Virginia on Feb. 16, 2015.

* Increase civil penalties for mislabeling hazardous substances being shipped by rail.

* Require rail companies to route oil and ethanol shipments away from populated areas.

* Boost funding for NTSB's Railroad, Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials Safety program from the President's budget request of $9 million to $20 million.

Improvements in they way oil and ethanol is shipped by rail are long overdue. Fifty times more crude oil was transported by rail in 2013 than in 2009, and yet safety regulations and funds for investigations and enforcement of laws to keep our communities safe remain stuck in the past.

The human costs to communities are very real. 47 people died when an oil train explosion destroyed much of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. A train in Minnesota leaked for 70 miles before the spill was discovered. And there have been explosions and spills in Alabama, Illinois, Virginia, and across the country as oil and ethanol shipments skyrocket.

[Your comments here]

As oil shipments skyrocket, Congress can and should be doing more to ensure the safety of our communities from the threat of explosions and spill pollution.

I hope you will take a leading role in addressing this important issue.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]
Update #28 years ago
Your actions matter. People like you sent more than 110,000 messages demanding tougher safety regulations for shipping oil by train - and on May 1, the Obama Administration unveiled new regulations. Tragically, the move comes too late to prevent another train explosion - this week in North Dakota. We’ll keep fighting for safer trains and pipeline safety. Please help: http://bit.ly/1AzREz8.
Update #19 years ago
It's happened again! Thursday, a train carrying crude oil derailed in western Illinois near the city of Galena. Five train cars ignited, and the fire was still burning Friday afternoon. Thank you for being one of the more than 61,000 Care2 members who signed the petition to make oil trains safer -- can you share it with your friends today to increase the pressure on Congress to act?
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