Railroads Wrangle With States to Keep Oil Shipments Secret

Last month, the Department of Transportation ordered railroads to start giving state emergency response teams basic information about trains hauling crude oil through their cities and towns. The idea is that if state emergency teams are armed with at least some details on these shipments—when they’re arriving, how much oil they’re hauling—they can be better prepared in case something happens. Such as a train derails. Or a giant, fireball-inducing explosion erupts.

But railroads aren’t so keen on making that information public. As the Associated Press has reported, companies such as BNSF, CSX, and Union Pacific are asking states to sign strict non-disclosure agreements promising not to make the information public. Some states are complying. Others aren’t.