Train Derailment Oil Spill in North Dakota

An aerial view of the area where 18 cars of a 106-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train carrying oil derailed and exploded west of Casselton.

Unique identifier: GP0STO6GO

Type: Image

Shoot date: 02/01/2014

Locations: North America, North Dakota, United States of America

Credit line: © Ann Arbor Miller / Greenpeace

Ranking: ★★★★ (E)

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Train Derailment Oil Spill in North Dakota

Scenes of the cleanup and recovery near Casselton, North Dakota, after train cars carrying oil derailed and exploded Dec. 30, 2013. A westbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train carrying grain derailed and fell onto an adjacent track carrying the eastbound BNSF oil train. Eighteen cars on the 106-car oil train derailed and burned, in a section of track where four trains have derailed in the last 10 years. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a safety warning that crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region may be more volatile than traditional heavy crude. North Dakota is leaning more and more on its rail network to move oil. The state’s top oil regulator, Dept of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms, recently projected that up to 90% of the state’s crude would move out of the state by train this year – up from 70% in 2013. North Dakota is the No. 2 oil-producing US state, behind Texas, and is expected to produce more than 1 million barrels a day.

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