Last week, the Washington legislature adjourned having failed to require even basic disclosure about the movements of hazardous oil-bearing trains. The measure, which included a a “Right-to-Know” provision to help communities know more about the oil moving through, passed the House, but oil company opposition stopped the bill cold in the Senate.
Oil companies and railroads don’t want us to know what they’re up to, but we may be able to find out anyway. Citizens can use their own video camera equipped smart phones to start tracking oil trains. Think of it as crowdsourcing our Right to Know about oil trains.
There’s nothing nefarious about this. In fact, it already happens every day.
“Railfanning,” as it’s called by enthusiasts, is the hobby of watching and filming trains. You can find numerous videos online posted by dedicated railfans, including some of oil trains in the Northwest. Here’s one of oil tank cars rolling through Burlington, Washington. And another of a BNSF oil train in Vancouver, WA. Here’s one rolling through Mukilteo.
As US Senator Cantwell pointed out in a recent congressional hearing on rail safety, oil trains are traveling through every major population area in Washington (three of which are bigger than the entire state of North Dakota where they originate) as they move “from Spokane down to Pasco through the Columbia Gorge then through Vancouver, then up to Tacoma, and perhaps on through Seattle, through Everett, up to Skagit Country for processing.”
