Speaking out on oil trains | IN OUR OPINION

August 11, 2014

The Bainbridge Island City Council is poised to make its collective voice heard on one of the most important issues facing the Puget Sound region: The massive increase in oil-by-rail shipments and the potential damage that a train derailment could pose to public safety and the environment.

The Bainbridge council gave an initial nod to a resolution calling for increased regulations on the design of oil tank cars at this week’s meeting.

A final council vote on the resolution — which includes a call for the state to assess the impact of oil trains on public safety, the environment and the economy — is expected at next week’s meeting.

The resolution pulls no punches, and that’s good. It asks the governor and state agencies to hold off from permitting projects that would expand the capacity of out-of-state oil exporting projects that would increase the number of trains, vessels or pipelines carrying oil near Puget Sound until safety and environmental impacts can be studied and addressed.

City officials note that trains carrying fracked crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota have been running to ports and refineries in Washington state since 2012. The trains run the full length of Puget Sound, and officials report there are 10 crude oil-by-rail projects being planned, built or already in operation. In 2013, oil shipments totaling 17 million barrels were transported in Washington. That number is expected to triple this year.

Oil transport by train is not only an environmental menace, it’s deadly. There have been five major derailments since July 2013, and a derailment and explosion in Quebec killed 47 people.

Other cities — Edmonds, Bellingham, Mukilteo, Seattle, Spokane — have already passed resolutions voicing concerns on oil trains. The Bainbridge council is serving our island residents well by raising their voices on our behalf.