Dear friends,
Railroad Oil Disaster Act
North Dakota’s oil boom has been an economic success, but a danger for many Minnesota communities along oil train lines. The threat of a public safety disaster grows as more and more oil from the Bakken makes its way through our backyard as it is shipped to the Eastern and Southern US.
Just last month, a train that had traveled through Minnesota spilled nearly three million gallons of oil in a train derailment in West Virginia, leading to major fires and the evacuation of hundreds of families. And last week, another train that had run through Minnesota derailed and exploded in Illinois, causing major fires. There have been five oil train explosions in the last five weeks in the US and Canada. According to the US Department of Transportation, these accidents are likely to become more frequent, as more oil is shipped by rail.
We need act now to reduce the risk of a major oil disaster, and to improve our ability to respond to oil train derailments. We cannot afford the risk of an oil train exploding in our backyard.
Legislators recently introduced the Railroad Oil Disaster Act to reduce the likelihood of an oil train disaster, improve public safety and fire preparedness along rail corridors, and provide property tax relief to communities confronting issues of rail safety. The proposal asks the rail companies to pay for rail safety upgrades in the communities the trains pass through. I am hopeful that this bill will have bipartisan support.
Ag Buffer Zones
Governor Dayton and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently unveiled a plan to protect our state’s lakes, streams, and rivers. The proposal would institute a 50 foot buffer zone around all Minnesota waterways. The goal of the buffer zone would be to protect our waterways from pollution and runoff that threaten our water quality and damage our environment. Beaches, homes, and roads would be exempt from the buffer zone. Lakeshore property with perennial vegetation meets the requirements of the bill. In some parts of the state, land that was traditionally wet throughout the spring has been laid with drain tile. The resulting increases in runoff—especially during storms—carries nitrates to our rivers, and then to the Gulf of Mexico. The same increased runoff erodes the banks of creeks and rivers. Buffer strips filter water and slow it down, helping to alleviate both problems. The plan is aimed at making sure agricultural runoff does not damage our pristine waterways, not at average homeowners. The Star Tribune recently published an editorial on the proposal
here if you’d like to learn more on the issue.
MPCA Water Pollution Issues
There are some bills moving through the Legislature that would interfere with the work of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in regulating water pollution. One would undermine the MPCA’s ability to set standards – requiring Legislative approval. This measure is being pursued by an alliance of mining and agricultural interests. The other would prevent the MPCA from enforcing the limit on sulfate concentration in discharges, meant to protect wild rice standards, until the MPCA has published the list of wild rice waters. This measure is being pushed by mining interests, as well as some municipalities. I understand some of their frustration, since the current standard is rather low (10mg/liter), and until the list is published it technically applies to all surface water. This issue has been long-simmering. There is disagreement about significance of the results of previous studies. However, we are still waiting for the conclusions of the most recent studies. The details of the way in which sulfate can cause harm to wild rice appear to depend heavily on the local conditions, so the issue is complex. The MPCA exists to keep our environment clean, and we should not be persuaded by big agriculture or local, short-term interests to short change water quality standards.
As always, please contact me anytime with your input. I can be reached by phone at (651) 296-0141, by email at
rep.barb.yarusso@house.mn, or in person at the State Office Building.
Sincerely,
Barb Yarusso
State Representative