CSX is one of the major rail companies that is profiting from the oil-by-rail boom led by North Dakota’s Bakken crude oil. On September 28th, a day that is apparently national “good neighbor day,” CSX broadcast the following message on Twitter.
Which is a nice message. But CSX and the rest of the rail industry can turn into a horrible neighbor for many communities across the country. Why? Because as rail companies they are essentially above the law due to a legal doctrine known as “pre-emption.”
Pre-emption means that rail companies are not subject to any local or state laws. So if they want to build a new propane transloading facility near a school or neighborhood, they can. And CSX and others in the industry do.
A new article by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) details how pre-emption has allowed for the construction of oil and gas transloading facilities on rail company property with little to no oversight in communities like Grafton, Massachusetts.
In Grafton, the owner of a small railroad constructed what is now the largest rail propane facility in the state. No construction permits were acquired. No environmental assessments completed. And as NECIR reports, the rail company’s neighbors weren’t very happy about any of this.
Residents were dumbfounded: The location was in the middle of a residential neighborhood, less than 2,000 feet from an elementary school and atop the town’s water supply.
That is the reality of pre-emption. As we’ve reported on DeSmog since oil trains started derailing and exploding, pre-emption applies to all areas of rail operations.
Rail companies believe they are not subject to “right to know” laws regarding the transportation of dangerous materials through communities.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
