Letter to Carl Ice, President of BNSF Railway - Call for Increased Communication Between Rail Carriers and State and Local Officials To Boost Rail Safety

Letter

Dear Mr. Ice,

Minnesota has been fortunate to avoid major oil train incidents so far this year. However, with the oil train explosion in Heimdal, North Dakota earlier this year and the derailments in Wisconsin this past weekend, we remain concerned about the safety impact of crude-by-rail on communities in Minnesota.

In particular, we are concerned that rail carriers, including BNSF Railway, are not adequately communicating critical safety information to state and local officials. This lack of communication was recently demonstrated when BNSF rerouted oil trains to a segment of track that runs between Minneapolis and Willmar, Minnesota. Going forward, we urge BNSF to directly notify state and local officials about changes to oil train routes so that officials can appropriately plan and prepare.

Over the past few months BNSF began routing trains carrying crude oil on a segment of track that runs between Minneapolis and Willmar, Minnesota. Until recently, this route was not a crude-by-rail corridor. As a result of the rerouting, there are now 11 to 23 oil trains per week going through rural, suburban, and urban communities along the route. This means that an additional 99,000 Minnesotans now live within a half-mile of a crude-by-rail corridor -- a 30-percent increase. It is our understanding that BNSF only provided notice after trains were rerouted after the fact through routine filings and initially did not provide a timeline for how long the rerouting would last.

Moving oil trains to a new route has major safety implications for communities along rail routes. That is why it is critical for state and local officials to be given sufficient notification of where and how frequently trains are running. Officials use this information to allocate limited resources. State rail inspectors prioritize inspection of known crude-by-rail corridors. In addition, officials target special safety training for first responders at communities near oil train routes. When rail carriers fail to provide timely notification of routing decisions, state and local officials cannot respond appropriately, which puts communities at unnecessary risk.

Rail safety is a shared responsibility among railroads and federal, state, and local officials. Fulfilling our obligation to protect communities along the tracks requires open communication and cooperation. In that spirit, we ask BNSF to respond with specific steps you will take to ensure that state and local officials are provided clear, timely notice of future routing changes for oil trains in Minnesota.

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