Public Forum Tuesday on Hazardous Train Cargo Through Everett, WA

June 7, 2014

Events in Everett, Everett

train warning signs

Hazardous cargo passes through Everett daily.


Coal car in Everett, WA

How many coal cars come through Everett each day?

Rail tankersThere are growing concerns about the possibility of accidents involving railroads transporting hazardous train cargo including oil and coal through Everett and Snohomish County. This isn’t really a new concern as dangerous incidents involving trains have occurred in our area. The most severe happened on September 25th, 1979 as much of downtown Everett was evacuated after a train carrying LPG gas derailed and a tank car flipped over. Businesses were closed and people were evacuated while a crane was brought in to right the tanker. Recent accidents involving trains carrying oil have drawn attention to dangerous cargo on the rails and on Tuesday there will be a public forum to discuss the issue and present results from a study conducted by the Snohomish County Train Watch…

The public is invited to learn more about the issue of coal and oil trains that transport toxic and explosive materials through Snohomish County. The results and findings of the Snohomish County Train Watch will be presented and discussed at a public forum, in coordination with the Sierra Club of Snohomish County, Transition Port Gardner, and 350 Seattle.

The train watch was organized to learn the exact quantities of coal and oil-by-rail transports through the community, which is information that the rail industry does not share with the public. For a one week period in April, dozens of volunteers held watch on the tracks in Edmonds, Everett and Marysville to count the number of trains passing though Snohomish County en route to the coal export facility in Delta, BC and the refineries in Anacortes and Cherry Point.

The Snohomish County Train Watch was organized by Everett resident Dean Smith in coordination with the Sierra Club of Snohomish County.

“Trains with hazardous cargo have been traveling through our cities for decades. What’s different now is the volume and the content,” commented Smith. “With the increase in production of fracked oil from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota, we’ve seen an increase in explosive rail disasters in North America in the past year, which we hope to prevent here,” he added.

The public is invited to learn about the public risks, the issues specific to Snohomish County, the latest developments on this national issue and what residents can do about it.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Reception at 6:45pm
Meeting and Presentation at 7:30pm
Everett Public Library Auditorium
2703 Hoyt Avenue

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My Everett News is a hyperlocal news website featuring news and events in Everett, Washington. We also cover City of Everett information and items of interest to those who live and work in Everett.

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