Castricone: Volatile Crude Oil Shipments on Hudson River Rail Lines Must be Closely Monitored ‘Derailment would be Catastrophic’

LEGISLATIVE PRESS RELEASE

Tuxedo-Citing weekend reports about the shipment of highly volatile Bakken oil crude on the Hudson River rail lines, New York Assembly Candidate Dan Castricone said that New York should be training first responders on how to handle an emergency involving Bakken crude. Castricone also called for the establishment of an early alert system for law endorsement and safety personal in communities that could be affected when dangerous rail shipments are passing through their communities.

“We learned this weekend from the Times Herald Record and the Cornwall Local that high volatile crude oil from Bakken oil fields in North Dakota is being shipped down the Hudson River, that first responders are ill-equipped to deal with an emergency, and that dangerous toxins are released into the atmosphere when it is ignited,” said Castricone.

Forty-seven people died when a train loaded with Bakken crude derailed in Quebec last summer. Residents of Casselton, ND had to be evacuated last winter when a crude oil shipment from the Bakken fields collided with a train loaded with grain.

“A derailment would be catastrophic,” said Castricone. “It is imperative that our first responders be trained in how to deal with this stuff, and made fully aware of how to protect a community from the toxins that would be emitted after an explosion.