A Washington state legislator says many of us know how to respond when the Earth shakes under our feet. But would we know how to respond if a train filled with oil derails and catches fire?
Rep. Christine Kilduff (D-Tacoma) has introduced a bill that would require the state to improve its public messaging about oil train accidents.
Rep. Kilduff told members of the House Public Safety Committee that people in Washington have been told to “drop, cover and hold” when they feel an earthquake. But she says there are no equivalent messages about how to respond when people see plumes of black smoke nearby.
Kilduff’s district includes the town of DuPont, where Mike Courts is the mayor. The town is crisscrossed by the tracks of two railroads and he said 500 hotel rooms are located near those tracks. Courts said, during a recent meeting with his senior staff, they identified potential crises and how the town is prepared for them.
“And we have procedures for all of those," Courts said. "And so I looked at all of them and said, ‘What do we do when the oil tank derails in the middle of town?’ And I got blank stares. We don’t have an answer to that.”
Kilduff’s bill would have the state Department of Health develop a public awareness campaign specifically tailored to oil spills. With a growing number of oil trains passing through Washington on a given day, she says it’s a message that deserves more attention.
Rep. Brad Klippert (R-Kennewick) questioned whether there’s a need for a specific campaign for response to oil spills. He suggested a more general public message to cover cases involving similar types of incidents.
“Maybe the bill should be amended to cover all noxious fumes or fires,” he suggested.
The bill is scheduled for a vote in committee later this week.
Our thanks to TVW for the sound for this story.