Dear Neighbor,
Today marks the second anniversary of Lac-Megantic oil train disaster where 47 people lost their lives. As oil train traffic has increased due to extraction on Bakken crude the last decade, derailments and explosions have increased dramatically. Today, I joined with my fellow legislators, our brave first responders, and community leaders to hold a press conference calling for more transparency and reporting from rail companies
More than 100 trains go through Saint Paul every day. Six of those trains are oil trains, each carrying on average 3.3 million gallons of oil. Most of my district is in the potential impact zone if there was a derailment and explosion.
In 2014 the legislature passed an oil train safety package that mandated the four railroad companies operating in Minnesota file emergency management reports with the Pollution Control Agency. While this is a positive step, what we heard today from first responders was that the rail companies need to do more and the legislature needs to do more.
Rail safety will continue to be a pressing issue for me next legislative session. As always, please feel free to contact me at
(651) 296-4201.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Johnson