NTSB replies to senators after Oregon crude derailment

In a reply dated July 5, 2016, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) responded to a letter from Oregon’s U.S. senators regarding the June 3 Union Pacific oil train derailment in Mosier, Ore.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), wrote to the NTSB on June 9, 2016 with a number of questions following the Union Pacific derailment of 16 tank cars carrying 96 carloads of Bakken crude en route from New Town, N.Dak. to a refinery in Tacoma, Wash.

Question 1: “Please explain why the NTSB decided not to send an investigatory team to the Mosier derailment.”

The NTSB replied it “decided not to launch on the Mosier derailment due to limited resources and the current investigative workload in the Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations (RPH). This information indicated that the circumstances of this accident did not pose any new significant safety issues. The tank cars were breached in a manner similar to those that we have seen in other accident investigations. In addition, the derailment resulted in no injuries or fatalities.”

The full NTSB reply can be read below.