"Government Data Sharpens Focus on Crude-Oil Train Routes"

"A ProPublica analysis of federal government data adds new details to what’s known about the routes taken by trains carrying crude oil. Local governments are often unaware of the potential dangers they face."

"The oil boom underway in North Dakota has delivered jobs to local economies and helped bring the United States to the brink of being a net energy exporter for the first time in generations.

But moving that oil to the few refineries with the capacity to process it is presenting a new danger to towns and cities nationwide — a danger many appear only dimly aware of and are ill-equipped to handle.

Much of North Dakota's oil is being transported by rail, rather than through pipelines, which are the safest way to move crude. Tank carloads of crude are up 50 percent this year from last. Using rail networks has saved the oil and gas industry the time and capital it takes to build new pipelines, but the trade-off is greater risk: Researchers estimates that trains are three and a half times as likely as pipelines to suffer safety lapses."

Isaiah Thompson reports for ProPublica November 25, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

Interactive Map: "Crude Connections: Where Do Trains Carry Crude Oil?" (ProPublica)

"Danger Below? Oil Trains Use 105-Year-Old Tunnel Below Seattle" (KOMO News)

"Dozens of Hudson Valley Schools Along Oil Train Tracks" (Poughkeepsie Journal)

"Oil Trains Have Made Life Miserable In A North Dakota Town" (Reuters)

"Benicia Mayor’s Public Skepticism Puts Vote on Oil Trains in Jeopardy" (Sacramento Bee)

"Train Troubles: Oil Traveling the Tracks And Why More Could Soon Be Coming" (WPTZ)

"State and Railroads Developing Plans for Oil Train Safety" (KPAX 8 Missoula)

Opinion: "Oil Trains in San Jose: Phillips 66 Refinery Expansion Could Imperil Downtown" (San Jose Mercury News)