BNSF: Crude Rail Service Could Resume Tuesday
BNSF Railway Co on Monday said it could resume service Tuesday on a stretch of northwestern Iowa track damaged when a train left the track and crude oil spilled from derailed cars. The crude oil train derailed near Doon, Iowa, on Friday sending 32 rail cars off the track and spilling an estimated 230,000 gallons of oil into flood waters and toward a nearby river. Crews are nearly finished removing oil from damaged cars and repairing tracks, BNSF said in a statement. Its crews are using booms to contain the oil and skimmers to remove it from the waters, said BNSF, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The railroad said booms also have been…
BNSF: Nearly Half of Iowa Crude Spill Contained
Workers have contained nearly half of the crude oil spilled near Rock River in northwest Iowa over the weekend following a freight train derailment on Friday, BNSF Railway Co said. About 100,000 gallons had been hemmed off using booms out of the estimated 230,000 gallons spilled, BNSF said in a statement on Saturday. The spill has raised concerns about drinking water downstream. The company did not respond to questions on Sunday about the progress of the cleanup. No one was hurt in the derailment, in which 32 cars came off the rails, 14 of which leaked at least some of their contents, BNSF said. The derailment happened south of Doon, a city of a few hundred people.
Winter Weather Delays Grain Movement to US Ports
Severe winter weather has slowed rail deliveries of crops to shippers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, sending freight rates soaring and prompting Asian buyers to seek fill-in loads as they wait for the backlog at ports to clear. Blizzards, avalanches and heavy rain in recent weeks have hit transport of corn, soy and wheat to ports where they head for the lucrative Asian market, adding to the struggles that have plagued U.S. exporters since harvest. The setbacks come at a critical time for U.S. exporters, who are trying to move as much grain as possible before buyers turn their attention to South America when corn and soybean harvests in Argentina and Brazil accelerate in the coming weeks.
Train Lobby Pushes to Weaken Safety Rule
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is set to be a chief beneficiary of a bid by Senate Republicans to weaken new regulations to improve train safety in the $2.8 billion crude-by-rail industry, a key cog in the development of the vast North American shale oil fields. A series of oil train accidents, including the July 2013 explosion of a train carrying crude in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people, led U.S. and Canadian regulators to announce sweeping safety rules in May. Among other things, U.S. oil trains are required to install new electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes. But in late June, the Republican-controlled Senate Commerce Committee approved a measure to drop that requirement, and order years of new research to confirm the safety benefits of ECP brakes.
Neighboring California Ports at Loggerheads
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners to support the city’s appeal against a proposed Port of Los Angeles rail yard project. The city’s appeal is of the Southern California International Gateway rail yard project approved recently by the Port of Los Angeles. The 153-acre facility proposed by BNSF Railway Co. sits just outside West Long Beach, alongside the Terminal Island Freeway on land owned by the Port of Los Angeles. Much of its impact would be felt by nearby Long Beach residents, businesses and schools.
