Oil Train Safety Megathread. Updated July 30, 2023

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43. Crude by rail down, but officials still bracing for danger on tracks

Crude by rail down, but officials still bracing for danger on tracks

Posted: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 11:15 pm

Alex Rohr

Bakken crude oil shipments by rail have fallen with oil prices, but danger along Virginia’s rails has not gone away, members of the Railroad Safety and Security Task Force said.

The task force called by Governor Terry McAuliffe after the CSX Transportation Inc. train derailed in downtown Lynchburg almost two years ago considers terrorist attacks among many threats related to the hazardous materials running through the commonwealth.

“The threat environment’s changed. Everybody’s seen that overseas, you’ve seen it here at home. The rail environment is a threat vector. It’s something the railroads worry about,” Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Adam Thiel said.

Attacks on an office in San Bernardino, California, in December and in Paris in November highlighted potential domestic terrorist threats. The state already had considered rail a potential target as referenced in the task force’s May report. The report named rail safety inspection, trespassing reduction and infrastructure protection as the top three actions the state could take in preventing rail incidents.