Another train derailment, this time in Raymond, Minnesota, puts an additional spotlight on hazardous-materials transportation. In the early hours of March 30, a BNSF train went off track and 22 cars derailed. The cars were carrying ethanol and corn syrup. According to EPA officials, four ethanol cars ruptured and the flammable fuel additive caught fire in the derailment, burning for several hours after the incident.
A train derailment that occurred on the evening of Feb. 3, 2023, is still causing issues for the community in East Palestine, Ohio.
A recent CBS article notes that “train derailments are incredibly common in the U.S., with data from the Federal Railroad Administration showing that in 2022, there were 1,154 such derailments, an average of more than three per day.
The major freight railroads have said they plan to add about 1,000 more trackside detectors nationwide to help spot equipment problems, but federal regulators and members of Congress have proposed additional reforms they want the railroads to make to prevent future derailments, according to the CBS article.
On March 22, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) urged the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to pass the Railway Safety Act of 2023. Brown and Vance were among a bipartisan group that introduced the bill on March 1, Chemical Processing reported.
It doesn't appear likely that this BNSF train would have been covered by additional safety regulations for high-hazardous flammable trains because those rules only apply when a train has either a block of 20 flammable liquid cars or more than 35 total flammable liquid cars on the train. Those rules that require additional safety measures and notice to states were developed after a string of fiery crude oil and ethanol derailments a decade ago, the CBS article stated.
