FARGO (KFGO-AM) - Calls are being made for more safety precautions and oversight after the fiery oil train derailment near Heimdal, North Dakota.
Don Morrison with the Dakota Resource Council says there's a race to get the oil out of the ground and shipped off as quickly as possible, with a transportation system that can't handle it.
He says the railroads and oil companies blame each other and public officials who fail to step up and make sure oil transporation is safe.
Democrat Representative Ron Guggisberg is critical of those who gutted a bill for a state run railroad safety program this session. The bill passed by the senate included three full time inspectors and nearly a million dollars in funding. But the Fargo firefighter says House Republicans stripped it. A compromise was worked out in the final days of the session which includes 1.5 inspectors and about half the amount of funding originally sought.
The state inspectors will supplement the Federal Railroad Administration rail inspection program.