Fiery crash heats up U. S. push for oil-by- rail rules

Video images of a fireball boiling from the wreckage of a derailed train hauling Bakken crude are adding to pressure on U. S. federal regulators to act on new safety standards for oil shipments.

While there were no fatalities in the CSX accident in rural West Virginia on Monday, the footage of flames and smoke rekindles public alarm over the prospect of tank cars rumbling through urban areas, according to a former U. S. Transportation Department official and a railroad consultant.

“It weakens the railroad’s and the industry’s ability to argue on the merits” to shape the government’s decision, Brigham McCown, a former chief of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said Tuesday.

“In Washington, D. C., perception is reality. Railroads have to get a handle on what’s causing these derailments and they have to fix it.”

The transportation department missed a target to produce comprehensive rules for crude safety by the end of 2014 amid lobbying from railroads, oil producers and tank- car owners and makers. Now, the final regulations will be crafted amid fresh visual reminders about the flammability of Bakken crude, which often moves by rail because of a lack pipeline connections.

“It looks terrible. From a mo-

It looks terrible. From a momentum issue, it’s not good news. It brings that debate back to the front page.

mentum issue, it’s not good news,” said Anthony Hatch, a transportation industry analyst. “It brings that debate back to the front page.”

Monday’s derailment was the second in North America in less than 48 hours. Seven crude cars on a Canadian National Railway train caught fire late Saturday near Gogama, Ont., and the company’s main line remained blocked Tuesday, according to the Via Rail Canada passenger service.