INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, June 16 — On June 8, 2017, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval vetoed a railroad safety bill that would have mandated a minimum crew size for freight trains operating in the state. The measure (S.B. 427) would have restored to Nevada law a provision for minimum freight train crew size, insuring that no freight…

(Source: Houston Chronicle, June 12, 2017) HOUSTON — Crude coming from the Canadian oil sands faces pipeline congestion on its way to the Gulf Coast, forcing production companies to opt for more expensive rail transport instead. Full story: Houston Chronicle Tuesday, June 13, 2017

(Source: Associated Press, June 13, 2017) THE DALLES, Ore. — A board has affirmed an Oregon county’s decision to deny Union Pacific Railroad’s proposed track expansion along the Columbia River where an oil train derailed last year. The Columbia River Gorge Commission on Tuesday found Wasco County commissioners had evidence to reject the railroad’s application.…

(Source: The Oregonian, June 13, 2017) PORTLAND, Ore. — With visions of last year’s fiery oil train derailment in Mosier, environmental groups succeeded Tuesday in delaying — for now – a decision on Portland General Electric’s plan to sell nine diesel storage tanks to a company looking to expand ethanol and crude oil exports from…

(Source: DeSmog Blog, June 12, 2017) NEW YORK — USD Partners, a rail terminal operator owned in part by Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, has signed a nearly three year deal to facilitate moving tar sands by train from where it is extracted in Alberta, Canada, to an offloading terminal in Stoud, Oklahoma, in a…

(Source: Amtrak press release, June 14, 2017) SEATTLE — Amtrak has announced it will build a $28 million locomotive service facility in Seattle. This is Amtrak’s third major investment in the Seattle facility that provides services for two long-distance trains, the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight; Amtrak Cascades state supported corridor service; and maintenance for…

(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, June 12, 2017) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following is a statement by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa on three Department of Labor announcements last week that reverse rules put in place during the Obama administration which required companies to report outside union busting activities, as well as…

(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, June 12, 2017) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Teamsters Union submitted its comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on the proposed renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The union’s comments stressed the importance of the renegotiation focusing on long-standing issues that…

(Source: DeSmog Blog, June 7, 2017) NEW YORK — Despite a string of recent successes by West Coast communities to block the construction of oil-by-rail facilities, the oil industry has no plans to give up using rail to move oil to the West Coast. And it isn’t hard to understand why. There are no plans…