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Mapped: Which Oklahoma Counties Are Crossed By Trainloads Of Bakken Crude Oil

Source: Oklahoma Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Commission

Trains carrying 1 million more gallons of crude oil from the Bakken formation are expected to cross 20 Oklahoma counties each week, data from the Oklahoma Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Commission show.

Explosive, deadly derailments and fiery accidents have raised safety concerns about rail transport of North Dakota Bakken crude oil, which tests suggest might be more explosive than other types of crude oil.

Oklahoma is a major oil hub, and trainloads of Bakken crude traverse the state en route to refineries along Texas’ Gulf Coast.

Federal regulators have issued warnings about train shipments of Bakken crude, and are beefing up safety requirements for oil tank cars. In May, the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered railroads and oil transportation companies to share more information about Bakken oil shipments with state and local emergency officials. Railroad companies, federal agencies and state officials — including those in Oklahoma — wanted to keep that information secret.

Citing terrorism concerns, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental signed confidentiality agreements with railroad companies and, initially, declined to make public data on the oil shipments. But state officials on Aug. 4 published aggregate county-level data after officials with the U.S. DOT said the reports didn’t contain “security-sensitive information,” The Oklahoman‘s Paul Monies reports. Officials in some states, including Washington, didn’t sign confidentiality agreements.

Click around and explore the map to see how Bakken crude moves by rail across Oklahoma. The shipments are concentrated in northeastern Oklahoma, data show. Craig County ranks the highest: Up to seven shipments of 1 million or more gallons of Bakken crude are expected to cross the county each week, the data show.

Rail companies expect as many as five shipments to cross Mayes, Muskogee, Sequoyah and Wagoner counties each week, and four such shipments are expected to cross Ottawa, Creek and Tulsa counties each week.

Other counties — most in a north-south Kansas-to-Texas corridor — are only likely to see one shipment each week.

Three rail companies — BNSF, Stillwater Central and Union Pacific — are currently shipping Bakken crude across Oklahoma, says DEQ spokeswoman Erin Hatfield.

“The information is updated if there is a change in the number of trains,” she says.

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StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership among Oklahoma’s public radio stations and relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

Joe was a founding reporter for StateImpact Oklahoma (2011-2019) covering the intersection of economic policy, energy and environment, and the residents of the state. He previously served as Managing Editor of Urban Tulsa Weekly, as the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Oklahoma Gazette and worked as a Staff Writer for The Oklahoman. Joe was a weekly arts and entertainment correspondent for KGOU from 2007-2010. He grew up in Bartlesville, Okla. and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.
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