Disasters

"Wildfire warnings were posted across parts of three Western U.S. states on Sunday as a heat wave baked the region in record, triple-digit temperatures, stoking flames in California from the coastal foothills outside Santa Barbara to desert brush near the Mexican border."

"Oregon has asked the Federal Railroad Administration to place an open-ended moratorium on oil trains traveling through the state, because preliminary findings of an investigation into the June 3 derailment in Mosier suggest inspectors might not be able to detect the problem that likely caused the crash."

"Fueled by hot and dry weather, wildfires threatened homes in California and other Western states as crews struggled to corral flames that have scorched miles of brush and timber."

"A wildfire spurred by strong winds has mushroomed in size as it burned brush north of Santa Barbara, forcing the evacuations of hundreds of campers, some homes, and a refinery as it crept toward the ocean."

"The Senate on Monday unanimously passed a bill to reauthorize the federal pipeline safety oversight board, sending the measure to President Obama for his signature."

"Regulators are one step closer to adopting new standards for oil trains that Congress mandated last year."

"Firefighters are tackling larger and more aggressive wildfires as drought conditions continue for a fifth year in California, drying out swaths of forest land."

"The House on Wednesday passed a bill to reauthorize the federal pipeline safety oversight board."

"At DOT's headquarters in Washington, D.C., the agency's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) hosted an in-depth discussion of what went wrong during a March 2014 explosion at an LNG facility in Plymouth, Wash., that led to five injuries and $72 million in property damage."

"MOSIER, Ore. — Local politicians and residents reacted with shock and anger Monday as Union Pacific began running trains through this tiny Columbia River Gorge town just three days after a fiery derailment forced residents to evacuate and water and sewage systems to shut down."