Oregon oil train crash highlights danger of smaller crew

Columbia Riverkeeper

Smoke billows from derailed train cars carrying volatile Bakken crude oil June 3 a half mile from the center of town in Mosier, 70 miles east of Portland, Oregon. Eleven cars from the 96-car Union Pacific train jumped the track and four caught fire, forcing the evacuation of some residents. The derailment occurred on relatively straight track while the train was traveling within the speed limit. Such oil trains are operated by a two-person crew.

Some 18 trains a day headed for Pacific seaports run along the Columbia River through the area where the derailment occurred. “You are talking about trains that are 98 per-cent hazardous material, operated with crews that are half the size they used to be,” said Herb Krohn, Washington state legislative director for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.

— MAGGIE TROWE