Senator Charles Schumer says he's pleased the Department of Transportation has proposed new regulations regarding crude-carrying DOT-111 tank cars.
They would no longer ship volatile Bakken crude oil from North Dakota within two years, and within five years for all flammable materials.
Accident investigators say the old tank cars puncture or rupture easily and spill their contents in a derailment.
The DOT is also proposing new regulations regarding speed limits, new braking controls and standards for a safer tank car.
Here's Schumer's statement:
“For those of us long fighting to phase out the dangerous, crude-carrying DOT-111 tanker cars, our train has finally arrived in the form of much-needed new regulation from the federal Department of Transportation. These desperately needed safety regulations will phase out the aged and explosion-prone DOT-111 tanker cars that are hauling endless streams of highly flammable crude oil through communities across the country and in New York. Safety is job number one, and the DOT should be commended for heeding our call and including a package of commonsense safety measures - like speed limits, new braking controls, and standards for a safer tank car - that will further safeguard communities along freight lines. These safety rules should be finalized, implemented, and enforced as soon as possible.”
A firey crash in March killed 47 people in a town in Quebec, Canada, in March.
Recently, the state reported that as many as 44 trains, each loaded with at least a million gallons of volatile crude oil from North Dakota, move through upstate New York every week.