Government Predicts 10 Oil-Hauling Train Derailments a Year, $4 Billion in Damages

This Feb. 17, 2015 file photo, shows a train derailment that sent a tanker with crude oil into the Kanawha River near Mount Carbon, W.Va. As investigators in West Virginia and Ontario pick through the wreckage from the latest pair of oil train derailments to result in massive fires, U.S. transportation officials predict many more catastrophic wrecks involving flammable fuels in coming years absent new regulations. (AP Photo/Chris Tilley,File)

nola.com - AP - by Matthew Brown and Josh Funk - February 23, 2015

BILLINGS, Mont. -- The federal government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the U.S.

The projection comes from a previously unreported analysis by the Department of Transportation that reviewed the risks of moving vast quantities of both fuels across the nation and through major cities. The study completed last July took on new relevance this week after a train loaded with crude derailed in West Virginia, sparked a spectacular fire and forced the evacuation of hundreds of families.

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CLICK HERE - PHMSA-2012-0082 (HM-251): Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Tank Car Standards and Operational Controls for High-Hazard Flammable Trains

CLICK HERE - PHMSA