Exclusive: North Dakota Oil-By-Rail Routes Published for First Time

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For the first time, DeSmogBlog has published dozens of documents obtained from the North Dakota government revealing routes and chemical composition data for oil-by-rail trains in the state carrying oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing (โ€œfrackingโ€) in the Bakken Shale.

The information was initially submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) under the legal dictates of a May 7 Emergency Order, which both the federal government and the rail industry initially argued should only be released to those with a โ€œneed-to-knowโ€ and not the publicย at-large.

North Dakota’s Department of Emergency Services, working in consultation with the North Dakota Office of the Attorney General, made the documents public a couple weeks after DeSmogBlog filed a June 13 North Dakota Public Records Statute request.

โ€œThere is no legal basis to protect what they have provided us at this point,โ€ North Dakota assistant attorney general Mary Kae Kelsch said during the June 25 Department of Emergency Service’s quarterly meeting, which DeSmogBlog attended via phone. โ€œIt doesn’t meet any criteria for our state law to protectย this.โ€ย 

Initially, oil-by-rail giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and other rail companies sent boilerplate letters โ€” one copy of which has been obtained by DeSmogBlog from the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security through the state’s Public Records Act โ€”ย to severalย State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs), arguing train routes should be keptย confidential.

BNSF also sent several SERCs a boilerplateย contract proposal, requesting thatย they exempt the information rail companies were compelled to submit to the SERCs under the DOT Emergency Order from release under Freedom of Information Act. A snippet of the proposed contract can be seenย below:ย 

Dan Wilz, homeland security division director and state security advisor of the Department of Emergency Services, said the claims did not hold legalย water.ย 

โ€œJoe can stand on a street corner and figure that out within a week’s period,โ€ Wilz said at the quarterly meeting. โ€œThey watch the trains go through their community each and everyย day.โ€

BNSF, Canadian Pacific Railwayย (CP Rail) and Northern Plains Railroadย all submitted information to the Department of Emergencyย Services.

CP Rail: 7 Trains/Week, โ€œHighlyย Flammableโ€

In its submission to the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, CP Rail revealed it sent seven oil-by-rail trains through 13 counties in North Dakota the week of June 9-15. CP Rail also estimated it generally sends 2-5 trains through those same counties during an averageย week.

Some oil-by-rail trains, dubbed โ€œbomb trainsโ€ by some due to their propensity to explode, carry over 2,677,500ย gallons of fracked oil. The trains are often over a mile in length and contain over 100 cars.ย 

The company also released information on the chemical composition of the Bakken oil it sends on its rail cars, conceding that Bakken oil is โ€œhighly flammableโ€ and โ€œeasily ignited by heat, sparks orย flames.โ€

Further, CP Rail admitted that Bakken oil has โ€œa very low flash pointโ€ and that โ€œwater spray when fighting [its] fire may beย inefficient.โ€

BNSF: Bakken Oil-By-Railย Kingย 

BNSF, owned by Warren Buffett โ€”ย a major campaign contributor to President Barack Obama both in 2008 and 2012 and one of the richest men on the planetย โ€” is widely considered the king of oil-by-rail in the U.S. The documents BNSF released to the Department of Emergency Services back up theย notion.

One document shows BNSF sent 31 oil-by-rail trains through Cass County, North Dakota during the week of May 29 – June 4, also saying it sends between 30-45 trains per week on average through the County. That same week, 30 BNSF trains zoomed through Barnes County, North Dakota.

A document filed the next week, covering June 5 – June 11, shows 45 trains passed through Cass County that week. Another 37 passed through Ward County, North Dakota and another 33 through McHenry, Pierce and Mountrail counties.

Northern Plains: Chemical Compositionย Revealed

In its DOT submission, Northern Plains included an expansive Bakken crude oil sample chemical composition test submitted by Musket Corporation, which has a terminal and transload site in North Dakota.

Northern Plains also submitted a Bakken Crude Safety Data Sheet, created by Musket, as well. The Sheet echos CP Rail in stating that Bakken oil is a โ€œhighly flammable liquid andย vapor.โ€

Further, the Sheet explains that Bakken oil contains Benzene, aย carcinogen.

A record amount of Bakken oil spilled into waterwaysย that are a drinking source for many as a result explosions of oil-by-rail trains in 2013. Most recently, the exploding oil-by-rail train in Lynchburg, Virginia spilled into the James River.


Photo Credit:ย Erin Ferrell – ABC 13 News |ย Twitter

Compared to CP Rail and BNSF, Northern Plains is a minor player in terms of the amount of oil it carries by rail in North Dakota. It submitted that it carries 12 trains per year and all within Walsh County, North Dakota, also including a map of itsย route.


โ€œRight to Knowโ€ vs. โ€œNeed toย Knowโ€

Despite the fact dozens of oil-by-rail trains pass through North Dakota counties on a daily basis, carrying a substance that contains a known carcinogen and is โ€œhighly flammable,โ€ Big Rail and Big Oil used its legal might to claim only a select few โ€œneed to knowโ€ where these carsย travel.ย 

โ€œFor some reason this entire rail oil industry, they just fill these rail cars and send them without really knowing whatโ€™s in them,โ€ Scott Smith, chief scientist for Water Defense said in an article appearing in the summer edition of the Earth Island Journal. โ€œAnd itโ€™s the only industry Iโ€™m aware of that gets away withย that.โ€

But this time around, due to the North Dakota Public Records Statute, Big Rail and Big Oil didn’t get away withย it.ย 

Photo Credit: Kyle Potter | Forum ofย Fargo-Moorhead

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Steve Horn is the owner of the consultancy Horn Communications & Research Services, which provides public relations, content writing, and investigative research work products to a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit clients across the world. He is an investigative reporter on the climate beat for over a decade and former Research Fellow for DeSmog.

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