Senators call for oil train halt in wake of Eagle Creek Fire

Burlington Northern Santa Fe says 40 trains will keep chugging daily through the gorge.

Two Oregon senators say the risk of rockfall and flooding has made the Columbia River Gorge too dangerous for oil tankers. But freight officials plan to keep rolling on down the line.

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, argue that the Eagle Creek Wildfire could trigger flash floods or sudden debris slides, according to a public letter sent to Burlington Northern Santa Fe on Thursday, Sept. 21.

"These tragic events have forced evacuations of towns and homes, and endangered lives and infrastructure near these fires," the senators wrote. "We request that BNSF postpone movements of oil trains, and trains carrying other hazardous materials through the Columbia River Gorge while there are active wildfires and the ongoing concern of flash flooding and rockslides."

Burlington Northern, which runs about 180 miles of track through the gorge, has declined to halt any new shipments.

"There's no threat to our operations," railroad spokesman Gus Melonas said in a telephone interview. "We have fire trains in the area with personnel and equipment, and those (trains) are positioned to provide support if further safety on our gorge route becomes necessary."

Melonas noted that all freight operations were stopped voluntarily during the immediate flare up of the Eagle Creek fire that was first reported late Saturday, Sept. 2, and the following Sunday.

But after the first few critical hours passed, managers determined there was no danger to rail lines. The first engines to chug through the gorge had fire inspectors and other safety officials aboard, Melonas said.

Trains loaded with volatile or hazardous materials — and oil tankers in particular — have become a source of concern for public safety in the Columbia River Gorge. And some environmentalists say the threat of catastrophic fire or explosions is too great near population centers.

Freighters, on the other hand, says the risk is overblown by activists who are against the use of fossil fuels in general. Under federal law, railroad companies are considered "common carriers" that can't discriminate about what materials they haul.

"We cannot selectively say we'll move a container of tennis shoes and reject a load of oil," Melonas explained. "We don't control what we haul. We control how we haul it."

In a news release, Wyden and Merkley emphasize they are conveying concerns they heard firsthand from gorge constituents. Burlington Northern runs roughly 40 trains through the gorge in any 24-hour period, including freight and passenger lines operated by Amtrak.

The Union Pacific oil train fire just outside of Mosier in June 2016 derailed 16 oil tankers, spilling 42,000 gallons of oil that was mostly consumed by flames.

No injuries were reported.