OLYMPIA – The House of Representatives passed House Bill 1449 last night with a 60-38 bipartisan vote. The Oil Transportation Safety Act requires advance notice of oil shipments to better equip local emergency responders in case of a derailment, spill or fire. The bill also provides funding for planning and safety measures through an increase in the barrel tax and extension of the tax to oil transported by rail and through pipelines.
“We need to take action on oil transportation safety now,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Seattle. “We can protect the health and safety of our families, first responders, waterways, and natural landscapes by giving our communities the information and resources needed to manage the oil being hauled through our state.”
“In the course of two years, oil train traffic in Washington has gone from shipping zero gallons of crude oil to well over 700 million gallons. And that number will just go up,” said Governor Inslee, who requested this legislation. “We need the oil industry to step up with more robust safety and preparedness measures, and we need the oil industry to step up to make sure we have resources to respond in the event of an oil spill or explosion. The barrel tax is a modest increase – just one-tenth of one percent of the current barrel prices – but ensures an exponentially larger degree of certainty that in the event of a spill or, God forbid, an explosion, we are ready to respond.”
The sharp increase in the amount of crude oil coming in to Washington by rail creates significant risks to the region’s people, economy, and environment. A study by the U.S. Department of Transportation released in February predicts that oil train derailments will occur 10 times a year over the next two decades, cause more than $4 billion in damages, and put densely populated areas at risk.
Today an oil train derailed in Illinois. This follows an incident last month where a train derailed in West Virginia, caught fire, leaked oil in to a tributary, and forced the evacuation of nearby residents. Seattle had its own oil train derailment last summer, highlighting the risks to Washington.
“Given the huge rise in train traffic, it is only a matter of time before a major oil spill occurs in our state,” said Bellingham City Council Member Michael Lilliquist. “We need to be prepared, and we should not have to guess about what is being shipped through the heart of our communities. Our fire crews and emergency responders need to know, to be ready if there is a derailment.”
The rail lines carrying crude oil across Washington move through densely populated areas in Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, and Spokane, and pass by sensitive environmental areas such as shorelines and estuaries. The Washington Department of Ecology estimates that the amount of crude oil that comes through our state could triple within the next 5 years to nearly 9 billion gallons each year.
“An oil train derailment in Washington could have devastating impacts to public health and safety, our environment, and our economy,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, who is also Chair of the Safe Energy Leadership Alliance that includes 150 elected leaders from across the Pacific Northwest. “The surge in trains carrying crude oil through our state compels us to act, to demand notice to first responders, and to seek the funds to implement a response plan and other necessary safety measures.”
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.