Lake Oroville provides water for thousands of people and acres of farmland throughout California. If toxic oil were ever to spill in the lake from a train derailment, the outcomes would be catastrophic.
The Dakotas, where such oil extractions as fracking and other methods take place, are a major source of oil shipped to the West Coast and other parts of the country. Since no major pipeline exists to ship these products to big refineries like ones in Benecia, Martinez and San Luis Obispo, the current way to get them there is by train.
The Union Pacific Railroad ships oil over a route that follows Highway 70 through the Feather River Canyon and above Lake Oroville in Butte County. The counts chief administrative officer, Paul Hahn, and board members from the Butte County Environmental Council have written several letters to the state of California, the governor’s office and the federal government to express their concerns.
“The problem is the oil is basically being shipped from North and South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming -- the area where the Bakken oil fields -- are to California, and this oil is a special kind of oil that is highly flammable and corrosive,” Hahn said.
-Butte County Development Services Photo
“The concern that we in Butte County have, as have a whole lot of other communities, is along the way into regards to this curvy rail spur along Highway 70,” he explained. “It’s potentially dangerous to have a-hundred-cars-or-more trains filled with Bakken oil if there was a derailment of some sort.”
In 2014, a train carrying corn derailed in Feather River Canyon. The severity of the wreck can been seen in a short documentary called “On The Wrong Track.”
“There are people saying we should ban these trains from the railroads, which is not going to happen. What we tried to do is sort of recognize that. We don’t control at the county level interstate commerce,” Hahn said.
-Lake Oroville ca.gove website photo
“The railroads are under federal and state jurisdiction," he explained, "and so what we have been trying to do is write to the feds and say ‘we don’t like these things, but if you’re going to allow them, you need to do a better job of regulating the railroads themselves.' We need safer tankers that these things are being carried in, better maintenance of the railroads themselves, potentially speed limits to the railroads in the curvy areas. At the state level, we have asked for more training in case of a fire. How do we contain the oil spill before it gets into Lake Oroville?”
Bakken oil is very heavy and once it gets into the water it sinks and does not dilute. If it were to get into Lake Oroville, thousands of fish could die.
“You know the doomsday scenario is that eventually the oil gets into the California water supply,” Hahn added.
“I think the answer is that there is no perfect answer, as much as just on-going training, on-going regulation that is reasonable, and trying to find the balance.”
-- Tom Sundgren