Tank cars temporarily parked in Cornwall (File photo: Jim Lennon)
WASHINGTON – Trains carrying volatile crude oil continue to pass up and down the Hudson River. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer is calling on federal regulators to issue an emergency order requiring oil companies to stabilize the highly flammable Bakken crude before shipping it through New York.
Schumer said the wealthy oil and rail companies can afford a relatively
simple technology to make the oil safer.
“By heating it and forcing out some of the more volatile gases and lowering the vapor pressure in the oil, so before it goes into the rail cars, it would be more stable and less hazardous.”
The senator noted there is no rule requiring that.
“So today I’m announcing that I’m calling on the federal Department of Transportation to immediately issue an emergency order that would for the first time set a federal standard for volatility.”
Schumer said they have had success in getting older unsafe tank cars off the rails and this is a logical next step.
