UP: Oregon oil train derailment caused by broken bolt

Union Pacific on Friday filed a report with the Federal Railroad Administration citing one or more broken bolts as the cause of the June 3 derailment of a crude oil train near Mosier, Ore., company spokesman Justin Jacobs said Saturday.    The June 3 derailment of a Union Pacific Corp. train carrying crude oil train near Mosier, Ore. was caused by at least one of the bolts holding the rail line in place being broken, UP spokesman Justin Jacobs said Saturday. 
   UP on Friday filed a report with the Federal Railroad Administration citing one or more broken bolts as the cause of the incident, which sparked a large fire that damaged area infrastructure and caused the evacuation of about 100 local residents.
   Eleven of the train’s 96 cars derailed as it traveled from Eastport, Idaho to Tacoma, Wash. carrying crude oil from the Bakken formation. Several lawmakers and other industry advocates, including Mosier Fire Chief Jim Appleton have since spoken out against such trains transporting Bakken crude, which is more flammable and volatile than other types of oil due to its higher gas content and vapor pressure and lower flash point.
   Jacobs, whose comments were originally reported by the Associated Press, said this type of mechanical issue is rare and that the company has never seen an incident like the Mosier derailment resulting from it.
   “We are unaware of any time when this has happened in the past,” he said. “This is an unusual failure.”
   Jacobs also noted that currently there is no evidence of wrongdoing or tampering with the railroad equipment that might have contributed to the failure. 
   “There’s nothing to indicate that would be the case,” he said.
   He also said that the broken bolt is unique in and of itself, in that it’s only used on curved sections of track. Because the train was travelling at a speed of 26 mph in an area where the speed limit is 30 mph, the railroad is still unsure as to why the bolt failed.
   Jacobs said that as a result of the incident and subsequent investigation, UP has replaced the bolts in that section of track with heavier duty bolts and begun the process of checking similar bolts in all curved sections of its 32,000 miles of track spanning 23 states.
   The railroad has also suspended crude oil transport in Columbia River Gorge area indefinitely and increased inspections in the region from once every 18 months to quarterly.
   “We will notify the community before we start running unit crude oil trains through the gorge,” Jacobs said.