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Local Movement Opposes Fuel Transport By Rail

Flickr.com's woodleywonderworks

Environmentalists are trying to ban train shipments of oil and other fuels through Oregon cities, including Eugene.  KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.  

A group called 350 Eugene plans to present a resolutionto the city council later this month, arguing that moving fuel cars near or through communities endangers residents and the environment.

Tarika Powell is with the Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based think-tank dedicated to environmental sustainability and social justice.  She says incidents like the oil train derailment and fire in Mosier has stirred concern over the issue.

Credit Brian Bull
Tarika Powell, Senior Research Associate for the Seattle-based Sightline Institute.

“And people are trying to exercise their power to have more say, to ask the federal government to require the railroads to let them know when hazardous materials are coming through, so that the first responders can have some awareness, so that they can get there quickly.”

Powell is part of a panel discussion organized by 350 Eugene.

The city itself saw a train derailment in September, which included a tanker car filled with liquefied petroleum gas.  It didn’t rupture.

The panel will be held tonight at the First United Methodist Church in Eugene.  

 

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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