© 2024 KGOU
News and Music for Oklahoma
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Oklahoma Agrees To Keep Oil Train Shipments Secret

Waterkeeper Alliance Inc.
/
Flickr Creative Commons
Flames and smoke are seen in an May 2014 oil-train derailment along Virginia's James River.

Surging oil production in states like North Dakota has outpaced pipeline capacity, and the energy industry has turned to railroads to transport oil from fields to refineries.

But several high-profile oil-train accidents — including Canada’s explosive Lac-Mégantic 2013 derailment that killed 47, and other accidents in AlbertaAlabama and Virginia — have raised questions about the safety of shipping crude oil on trains.

The federal government has ordered railroads to share more information about some crude oil shipments with state authorities, but Oklahoma officials won’t share that information with regular citizens, The Oklahoman‘s Paul Monies reports:

After an inquiry about the Bakken rail shipment reports, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality said the commission entered into confidentiality agreements with railroads under guidance from the federal Department of Transportation.

Oklahoma is a major oil hub, and train shipments of crude oil traverse the state en route from North-central U.S. oilfields to refineries along Texas’ Gulf Coast. In May, the federal government ordered railroads to share more information with state authorities about crude shipments from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale, which might be more flammable than other types of crude.

Oklahoma’s DEQ said “information relating to terrorism” exempts the information from Oklahoma’s Open Records Act, Monies reports, but other states, including Washington, have made the information public.

In its letter to Washington officials, BNSF Railroad Co. said the information should be shared only on a “need-to-know” basis. The data the railroad provided showed weekly summary information on Bakken oil shipments by county, not detailed train schedules or cargo manifests. Several other states, including California, New Jersey, Minnesota and Colorado, have chosen to keep the information confidential in accordance with the requests of some railroad companies.

----------------------------------------

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.
More News
Support nonprofit, public service journalism you trust. Give now.