The president of a Washington state association of firefighters unions is urging Gov. Jay Inslee to halt oil transport through the state by rail until an investigation into last week’s fiery oil-train derailment in Mosier, Ore., is done.
In a letter to the governor, Dennis Lawson, president of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters, cited the looming fire season and what he describes as unsafe transportation methods as reasons for the U.S. Department of Transportation to suspend rail transport of “exceedingly difficult to extinguish” Bakken crude oil from North Dakota. “What happened in Mosier could have just as easily happened in a population center like Spokane or Seattle, resulting in even greater tragedy,” Lawson wrote.
Jaime Smith, communications director for Inslee’s office, said in an email to a reporter that the governor shares the concerns. With help from Robert Duff, a senior policy adviser, the governor urged passage of strict federal safety legislation in 2015 but it failed in the U.S. Senate. The legislation called for a lowered speed limit for trains, a faster transition to safer tank cars and protection against financial costs falling on communities affected by spills.