2016 Union Pacific oil train fire

Last updated
Mosier Oregon oil car derailment
Mosier Oregon 2016 oil tank car burning 01.jpg
Rail cars burning
Details
DateJune 3, 2016
12:00 PST (19:00 GMT)
Location Mosier, Oregon
Coordinates 45°41′05″N121°24′12″W / 45.6847006°N 121.4034557°W / 45.6847006; -121.4034557
Country United States
Incident type Derailment
Statistics
Trains1
Damage15 tank cars derailed, several caught fire

On June 3, 2016, a Union Pacific train with 96 tank cars carrying Bakken oil from New Town, North Dakota to U.S. Oil and Refining in Tacoma, Washington derailed in the Columbia River Gorge near Mosier, Oregon. Sixteen of the 96 cars derailed after the train's emergency brake system about 18 cars back from the engines engaged - several cars then caught fire. By 5pm large explosions were coming from the tankers. All of the tank cars were modern CPC-1232 design. [1] [2] [3] [4] Interstate 84 in Oregon was closed, with Washington State Route 14 being recommended as a detour.

Contents

Washington Department of Ecology, US Coast Guard, Federal Railroad Administration, and Portland Airport's specialty airport fire tender carrying 1,300 U.S. gallons (4,900 L) of firefighting foam were among the 20 agencies that responded. As of 4:30pm firefighters were allowing the fire to burn the oil, simply monitoring it.

Mosier residents were evacuated and the sewage treatment plant was shut down. An oil sheen was seen on the Columbia River by the following morning. Two days after the crash residents were allowed to return to their homes, and freight trains were running on the tracks, to the strong objection of the community. The community then passed an emergency motion asking Union Pacific to remove all oil from the damaged cars before resuming the use of the tracks. Union Pacific pushed the damaged cars out of the way and limited the train speed to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) in the section. [5]

42,000 US gallons (160,000 L) of oil were spilled. Much of it was consumed by fire, some went into the Columbia River, [4] and 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L) were recovered from the city's sewage treatment plant. [6] [7]

Non-investigation controversy

The National Transportation Safety Board declined to investigate due to the lack of injuries or fatalities and early information gathered after the incident occurred indicated there was not a significant safety issue. [8]

In response to the derailment and lack of investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden introduced the Mandate Oil Spill Inspections and Emergency Rules (Mosier) Act which calls for a moratorium on oil train traffic after major wrecks and require the Department of Transportation to reduce the amount of volatile gases in the crude oil those trains have been hauling. The bill would die in committee. [9] [10]

Derailed and burning oil cars Mosier Oregon 2016 oil tank car burning 03.jpg
Derailed and burning oil cars
Coast Guard aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter conducts an overflight near the scene of a train derailment

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mosier, Oregon</span> City in Oregon, United States

Mosier is a city along the Columbia River in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 433 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Pacific Railroad</span> Class I freight railroad in the United States

The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over 32,200 miles (51,800 km) routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, with which it shares a duopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western, Midwestern and West South Central United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia River Gorge</span> Canyon along the border of Oregon and Washington in the United States

The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) deep, the canyon stretches for over eighty miles (130 km) as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south. Extending roughly from the confluence of the Columbia with the Deschutes River in the east down to the eastern reaches of the Portland metropolitan area, the water gap furnishes the only navigable route through the Cascades and the only water connection between the Columbia Plateau and the Pacific Ocean. It is thus that the routes of Interstate 84, U.S. Route 30, Washington State Route 14, and railroad tracks on both sides run through the gorge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Columbia River Highway</span> Highway in Oregon, USA

The Historic Columbia River Highway is an approximately 75-mile-long (121 km) scenic highway in the U.S. state of Oregon between Troutdale and The Dalles, built through the Columbia River Gorge between 1913 and 1922. As the first planned scenic roadway in the United States, it has been recognized in numerous ways, including being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, being designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, being designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and being considered a "destination unto itself" as an All-American Road by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. The historic roadway was bypassed by the present Columbia River Highway No. 2 from the 1930s to the 1950s, leaving behind the old two-lane road. The road is now mostly owned and maintained by the state through the Oregon Department of Transportation as the Historic Columbia River Highway No. 100 or the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department as the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Oregon</span> Geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Oregon

Eastern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost counties in the state; in other contexts, it includes the entire area east of the Cascade Range. Cities in the basic eight-county definition include Baker City, Burns, Hermiston, Pendleton, Boardman, John Day, La Grande, and Ontario. Umatilla County is home to the largest population base in Eastern Oregon, accounting for 42% of the region's residents — more than twice that of the region’s second most populous, Malheur County. Hermiston, located in Umatilla County, is the largest city in the region, accounting for 10% of the population. Major industries include transportation/warehousing, timber, agriculture and tourism. The main transportation corridors are I-84, U.S. Route 395, U.S. Route 97, U.S. Route 26, U.S. Route 30, and U.S. Route 20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montana Rail Link</span> Freight railroad in Idaho, Montana, and Washington

Montana Rail Link was a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operated on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF Railway. MRL was a unit of The Washington Companies and was headquartered in Missoula, Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700</span> Preserved American 4-8-4 steam locomotive

Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the oldest and only surviving example of the class "E-1" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive and the only surviving "original" Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway steam locomotive. It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in May 1938. Nearly identical to the class "A-3" Northerns built for Northern Pacific Railway, it burns oil instead of coal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Paul Union Pacific Rail Bridge</span> Bridge in St. Paul, Minnesota

St. Paul Union Pacific Rail Bridge, also known as the Hoffman Swing Bridge, is a swing bridge that spans the Mississippi River between South Saint Paul, Minnesota and Saint Paul, Minnesota in the United States. It was built in 1910 by the St. Paul Bridge and Terminal Railway, and was rebuilt in 1925, after a flood in 1951, and again in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sullivan's Gulch, Portland, Oregon</span> Neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, United States

Sullivan's Gulch is a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Portland, Oregon. The name commemorates Timothy Sullivan, an early farmer in the area. Sullivan settled his donation land claim on January 27, 1851. He was born in Ireland in 1805, received citizenship in the United States in 1855, and most likely received title to the claim around 1863.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheakamus River derailment</span>

The Cheakamus River derailment occurred on August 5, 2005, when nine cars that were from a Canadian National Railway freight train derailed and crashed into the Cheakamus River in British Columbia. The cars contained approximately 40,000 litres of caustic soda, which entered the river, killing more than 500,000 fish from 10 different species, including chinook salmon, coho salmon, pink salmon, and rainbow trout, both freshwater and ocean-dwelling. Juvenile rainbow trout were the most affected at a mortality rate of 90% and it was also estimated that the adult chinook salmon mortality rate reached 50%.

Rail transportation is an important element of the transportation network in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rail transportation has existed in Oregon in some form since 1855, and the state was a pioneer in development of electric railway systems. While the automobile has displaced many uses of rail in the state, rail remains a key means of moving passengers and freight, both within the state and to points beyond its borders.

Willamette Chief

Willamette Chief was a sternwheel steamboat built in 1874 for the Willamette River Navigation Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DOT-111 tank car</span> North American tank car for rail transport

In rail transport, the U.S. DOT-111 tank car, also known as the TC-111 in Canada, is a type of unpressurized general service tank car in common use in North America. Tank cars built to this specification must be circular in cross section, with elliptical, formed heads set convex outward. They have a minimum plate thickness of 716 inch (11.1 mm) and a maximum capacity of 34,500 US gallons. Tanks may be constructed from carbon steel, aluminum alloy, high alloy steel, or nickel plate steel by fusion welding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Mount Carbon train derailment</span> 2015 West Virginia derailment

The 2015 Mount Carbon train derailment refers to a derailment in Mount Carbon, West Virginia, on February 16, 2015, which involved a CSX Transportation train hauling 107 tank cars of crude oil from North Dakota to Virginia. It resulted in a large oil spill that caught fire with several subsequent large, violent fireball eruptions. The spill, fire, and eruptions destroyed one home, forced the evacuation of hundreds of families and caused the temporary shut down of two nearby water treatment plants. Eventually, 19 railcars carrying crude oil caught fire with each car carrying up to 30,000 US gallons of crude oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eagle Creek Fire</span> Major 2017 wildfire in Columbia Gorge, Oregon

The Eagle Creek Fire was a destructive wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge, largely in the U.S. state of Oregon, with smaller spot-fires in Washington. The fire was started on September 2, 2017, by a 15-year-old boy igniting fireworks during a burn ban. The fire burned 50,000 acres, and burned for three months, before being declared completely contained. As late as May 29, 2018, it was still found smoldering in some areas.

References

  1. Staff, KOIN 6 News (3 June 2016). "Oregon train derailment spills oil, sparks fire". koin.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. "Oil train derails near Mosier in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge". oregonlive.com. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. "Oil Train Derails Near Hood River". opb.org. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 Weisberg, Brent (6 June 2016). "Trains roll through Mosier, school cancelled". KOIN . Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  5. Weisberg, Brent (5 June 2016). "Mosier evacuations lifted, Union Pacific resumes service". KOIN . Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  6. Giegerich, Andy. "In Mosier, angry residents, complicated tasks ahead". American City Business Journals . Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. Mesh, Aaron (6 June 2016). "Oil Train Spilled 42,000 Gallons of Crude in Columbia River Gorge Crash - Willamette Week". Willamette Week . Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  8. "Feds explain why they chose not to investigate oil train derailment in Columbia Gorge". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Tony Schick. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  9. "Mosier Act Demands Derailment Investigation". Hood River News. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  10. "Oil Train Legislation Mosier Act". Gorge Friends. Retrieved 21 July 2018.