U.S. railroads delivered 7 million barrels of crude in 2008, 46 million in 2011, 163 million in 2012, and 262 million in 2013, almost as much as that anticipated by the Keystone XL Pipeline alone
Then came 2013, in which more crude oil was spilled in U.S. rail incidents than was spilled in the previous thirty-seven years.
Unfortunately, the shipments aren’t really that safe. We don’t have the correct train cars to carry this unusual freight. The United States now has 37,000 tank cars with thin-walls that puncture easily after which the vapors can cause massive explosions.
And the returning empty trains are not quite empty. They have enough oil remaining in them to produce highly volatile vapors that make them even more prone to explosions than the full cars.
We often hear that people who choose to live near a railroad should just put up with the noise and the presence of dangerous cargo.
But there are health and safety regulations that would still allow the railroads to operate profitably.
And life would be a lot more pleasant for the sixteen million people who live within a half mile of the track.
Petition the Federal Railroad Administration to enforce the rules. Don’t let railroad lobbyists speak for you.
Sign the petition at
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/enforce…

@1 Wultenviron: Thank you for sharing your link. I just signed the petition against this corporate fueled atrocity, and passed it on.
This insanity has GOT to stop NOW!

Go Brian, GO!! Swinomish Tribal Nation---pass the word onto the Lummi Tribal Nation fighting this same shit in Cherry Point. THis corporate fueled greed has GOT to stop NOW!

@1 Wuldenviron: Thank you for sharing your link. I signed the petition and passed it on.

It gets worse.
https://intercontinentalcry.org/railroad…

If the shoreline railroad was unauthorized, the Swinomish Tribe among all others of us along the RR should have a winning case opposing oil and coal transport by rail.
This reckless corporate greed-fueled insanity must be stopped! Future generations and the health of this planet depends on our actions now.

I always wonder why everyone loses it when it comes to trains carrying things like oil and nuclear waste, but no one seems to care about the thousands of gasoline or explosive gasses carrying trucks that drive around everywhere. 200 of the 5,000 fatal truck accidents every year involve a HAZMAT carrying truck. No one will believe me I wager, but a nuclear waste spill is much safer and easier to clean than a gasoline spill.

Not saying this makes the trains safer, or somehow eliminates the need for us to wean off of fossil fuels, but it always strikes me as very odd.

@7 : I DO care about that very much, Theodore. But the record of exploding DOS-111 oil train derailments speaks clearly for itself, and as a native born (Caucasian) Washington State citizen who grew up on the Swinomish Reservation near the communities of La Conner and Anacortes, and knows damned well what stands to be lost, I fully stand with Brian Cladoosby and the Swinomish Tribe, and strongly urge the overwhelming majority of Washingtonians to do the same.

Another interesting read is the Point Elliot Treaty of1855

http://www.goia.wa.gov/Treaties/Treaties…

It makes you wonder why only some of the 15 articles of the treaty are enforced and just how they have been manipulated by todays lawyers.