Number of crude oil trains through county increases

Between 12 and 16 trains traveled through Lincoln County, each carrying more than 100 cars of Bakken crude oil, during a one-week span in early June, according to a weekly train-tracking document from BNSF Railway.

However, some local government officials believe that number is a conservative.

The document also shows that Lincoln County is one of the top three counties in Montana for crude oil trains travel, behind Roosevelt and Valley counties.

Montana Governor Steve Bullock released the information earlier this month, making Montana the latest state after Washington to deny requests from railroads to keep the route information confidential.

Derf Johnson, staff attorney with Montana Environmental Information Center, said the increase in crude oil trains coming out the Bakken, combined with rail disasters in the last year – including last summer’s oil train explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed nearly 50 people – meant that it was now crucial for counties to be informed and prepared for the possibility of a train derailment or accident while carrying the highly explosive oil.

 “This is a major safety threat,” Johnson said. The threat of derailment was combined with the increasing volume of trains carrying crude oil through the northwest to Washington, where it would likely be exported to Asia, Johnson said.

One major concern was that the cars used to transport the oil were outdated and were unable to prevent an ignition of the oil occurring.

“These are some of the richest companies in the world, and they are not upgrading their cars,” Johnson said. 

Data released by BNSF for June 5 to June 11, showed that 12 trains loaded with oil came through Lincoln County, though the average high and low is between 13 and 16 trains. The highest number in that time frame – 17 – went through Roosevelt County.

City of Whitefish city planner Chuck Stearns said that at a recent meeting on the increase in crude oil train travel in Montana, he understood the number for the Flathead Valley, and presumably Lincoln County, could be as many as six trains a day.

BNSF regional director of public affairs Matt Jones said that number could be correct, but only about half of those trains would be carrying crude oil. The other half would be empty trains returning to the Bakken.

When asked about the standards of the rail cars, Jones said the tank cars carrying the oil were owned by the oil companies and not the railroad. However BNSF was looking at purchasing 5,000 cars – referred to as “next generation” cars – that would meet higher standards for transporting crude oil. BNSF would then lease these cars out to oil companies, Jones said. 

Lincoln County emergency management agency director Vic White said even if the eastbound cars were not fully loaded with crude oil, they would still have residual oil.

“Those cars may not have the full amount of oil, but they could still cause damage,” White said. “BNSF is not as forthcoming as quickly as we would like…we are not getting accurate, updated information.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Emergency Order issued in May, which led to the release of crude oil rail travel routes, BNSF is only required to update its information if there was 25 percent more, or less, train travel.

However, BNSF had been providing training to county emergency services since late last year and White believed that the county was prepared if there was a crude oil disaster.

“We are learning as we go…but we are as ready as we will ever be for a small county,” White said.

While Flathead had more resources, they would be willing to share if there was an emergency, White said.

His team was working on updating the Lincoln County Montana Emergency Operations Plan according to the new information railroads were providing.

“We’re on top of this and pursuing every avenue to get information,” White said. “We’re not just sitting back and saying ‘let’s see what happens.’”