Minnesota moves to protect thousands living near oil trains

ST. PAUL - A third of firefighters, law enforcement officers and others who protect 326,170 Minnesotans living near oil train routes have received initial training about how to deal with oil disasters.
“We are opening their eyes but we also are giving them a place to start,” said Kevin Reed of the state Homeland Security and Emergency Management department.
About 1,800 first responders have received the training, which lawmakers funded last year as a way to prepare for an increased number of oil trains.
His comments came Thursday, shortly after the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced that 326,170 people live within a half-mile of tracks that carry crude oil trains, mostly from western North Dakota’s Bakken oil field.
About 65 fire departments have received training in oil train and pipeline safety, Reed said, out of 340 that serve areas along oil train tracks.
First responders are urged to know about schools, nursing homes and other facilities in the “danger zone” and how to protect them.
“We talk through with all the players what will happen,” Reed said. “They really want to know what can we help them do and where are resources coming from.”
In releasing the 326,170 number, the transportation agency provided Minnesotans their first view of those who live in the danger zone.
“The numbers are not a surprise, but it does highlight the fact that there is a significant risk and that is important to use to pay attention to that risk,” MnDOT’s Kevin Gutknecht said.
State transportation officials delivered the 326,170 estimate Thursday after they could not answer a Forum News Service question about it last Friday. The state’s population is nearly 5.5 million.
People within a half-mile of tracks usually will be evacuated if an oil train could explode or catch fire after a derailment. The area often is called a “danger zone.”
The transportation department did not immediately release data showing how many in any specific geographic area live in the danger zone.
A state report issued this week shows an average of 6.3 trains a week carry western North Dakota crude oil through Minnesota. A train with 110 tank cars would carry 3.3 million gallons of oil.
Crude oil trains travel on 700 miles of Minnesota tracks, carrying oil that originates in western North Dakota and southern Canada oil fields. Bakken oil trains are destined for the East and Gulf coasts.
Most oil trains enter Minnesota in Moorhead and travel through the Twin Cities, although some head south through the Willmar area. Canadian oil enters the state near International Falls and goes through Duluth.
Minnesota officials say about 70 percent of Bakken oil travels by rail. A majority of that goes through Minnesota, and BNSF Railway hauls most of it.
State Senate Transportation Chairman Scott Dibble, D-Minneapolis, said that while the number of residents living near oil train tracks did not surprise him, it could result in “quickening the step of other legislators” to agree with him and find money to avoid potential disasters.
“I’m not comfortable that our public safety responders can respond adequately to some sort of catastrophe,” Dibble said, adding that firefighters and others say they do not have enough training and firefighting materials or equipment needed to deal with a major oil issue.
“It is sheer dumb luck” that no major oil train issues have occurred in Minnesota, Dibble said.
House Transportation Chairman Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, plans to release his overall transportation funding plan next week, but said he will work with Rep. Frank Hornstein, D-Minneapolis, on a separate rail safety plan.
More work is needed to figure out what needs to be done, Kelly said, focusing on whether money is best spent on preventing derailments, responding to accidents or fixing railroad crossings.
Democrats are pushing for more oil train safety training money and railroad crossing improvements, funded by increasing assessment on the state’s largest railroads, taxing more railroad property and borrowing money.
Most of Gov. Mark Dayton’s rail safety plan deals with improving railroad crossings, including adding overpasses and underpasses in Moorhead, Willmar, Prairie Island Indian Community and Coon Rapids. More than 70 other crossings also would be improved under the Dayton plan.
The governor also proposes borrowing money to add an oil disaster training facility at the National Guard’s Camp Ripley in central Minnesota.