A survey of 250 oil train bridges found almost half showed obvious signs of deterioration, including missing or crumbling concrete, partially washed away footings, rotted pilings and badly corroded steel beams, according to the report.
The survey sheds light on oil trains, crumbling infrastructure and lack of federal oversight of oil train railroad bridges that threaten the lives of millions of Americans, our waterways, and the environment. The 30-page report details the 250 citizen inspections of rail bridges in 15 states.
The report includes details on the 114 bridges found to be in various stages of deterioration, including pictures of the deficiencies. The survey also found that in the case of repairs, they were make-shift and included concrete patches and the use of metal straps and brackets to reinforce failing and missing beams.
It is difficult to determine whether the deficiencies in the rail bridges found by the Waterkeeper groups pose a threat to the public’s safety because the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rarely if ever, inspects the country’s estimated 100,000 railroad bridges. The FRA leaves that job to the railroads, and they don’t make their inspection records public.
Federal rule to repair bridges in 2010
On July 15, 2010, the Department of Transportation, FRA, issued its “Bridge Safety Standards: Final Rule.” This final rule requires track owners to implement bridge management programs, which include annual inspections of railroad bridges.
But with growing public concern over the dangers posed by unrepaired rail bridges, in September this year, the FRA’s Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg was forced to write a letter to hundreds of local railroads and trade organizations, urging them to fix their bridges.
“When a local leader or elected official asks a railroad about the safety status of a railroad bridge, they deserve a timely and transparent response,” Feinberg said in the letter obtained by USA TODAY.
According to Feinberg, the FRA “observed” 4,000 rail bridges and conducted 800 field audits over the last two years. But she also said the railroads are responsible for “inspecting, maintaining and repairing their privately owned bridges.
drinking water supply for 18 million people, shows
extensive rusting and cracking.
No federal oversight on inspections
But few people know or realize that there are no minimum federal guidelines for bridge construction or maintenance. Federal guidelines require that “competent persons” inspect rail bridges, but have no minimum qualifications for competence. And worst of all, railroads are not required to notify the FRA or anyone else about a bridge inspection that shows a safety issue. In other words, the federal government, the FRA, and even state officials have little authority to compel the railroad to repair the bridges.
However, on Tuesday, Marc Yaggi, the executive director of the Waterkeeper Alliance, one of the groups that produced the report, had this to say: “Because the federal government has shirked its responsibility to regulate the safety of oil trains and the bridges they cross, we are shining a light on the need for immediate, independent inspections of all rail bridges that carry explosive oil trains.”
Yaggi cited Department of Transportation statistics showing bridge failures caused 58 train accidents from 1982 to 2008. In the past 10 years, the federal government estimates 24 train accidents were caused by misalignment or the failure of railroad bridges. “The magnitude of the threat of an oil train derailment caused by a failing bridge to the surrounding communities, waterways and drinking water means that, even if rare, an accident could be catastrophic,” the report says.
one river in the lower 48 where all wild-salmon species
still survive.
Danger to the environment from oil trains
The oil boom in the U.S. and Canada created a surge in the number of oil trains transporting crude oil. In the U.S., that traffic jumped from 9,500 tank cars in 2008, to 493,126 tank cars in 2014, an increase of 5,000 percent. The survey calculated the number of Americans living within the dangerous blast zone, a one-mile evacuation area in the event of a derailment or fire. Over 25 million people live within these danger zones.
As the oil trains cross over waterways, including reservoirs and rivers that are used by municipalities for drinking water, the danger is always present that an oil train bridge collapse would impact the drinking water, aquatic like and the environment for years to come.
But the really strange thing is that we don’t need these oil trains. Most of the crude oil being transported by rail is either extreme tar sands or shale-fracked oil. Both are more volatile and toxic than regular crude oil. And while it appears that there is an awful lot of it being transported by oil trains, it only makes up about five percent of our total oil supplies.
This oil is not necessary to meet the country’s oil demands, says the report, “yet it presents a greater threat to the public’s safety, health and the environment than the vast majority of the U.S.’ conventional oil supply.”
