![\"Hoeven](\"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Hoeven-Sen.png\")
<\/a>BISMARCK (CSi) \u2013 Gov. Jack Dalrymple, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven and Congressman Kevin Cramer met Tuesday with officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to discuss Monday\u2019s train derailment and fire near Casselton.\u00a0 Dalrymple, Hoeven and Cramer met with NTSB officials at the Central Cass School in Casselton which is serving as the tactical operations center for emergency responders.![\"CramerKevin\"](\"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/CramerKevin.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFollowing their meeting with the NTSB, Dalrymple, Hoeven and Cramer also met with local and state officials who are carrying out the emergency response following the train derailment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome the NTSB\u2019s investigation and hope that it will serve to improve rail safety,\u201d Dalrymple said. \u201cWe are also committed to providing all of the state resources needed in this emergency response.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dalrymple, Hoeven and Cramer said they will monitor the NTSB\u2019s investigation and will continue to work with local officials to ensure they have the resources needed to safeguard the public.<\/p>\n
Hoeven and Dalrymple spoke Tuesday to the CEO of BNSF Railway to express their concern about yesterday\u2019s accident in Casselton and to expedite ways that we can improve rail transportation safety.\u00a0 Hoeven also spoke with the chairman of the NTSB.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to see what the NTSB\u2019s recommendations are, but right now, we need to rigorously review which products can be shipped in which railcars for maximum safety until newer cars come online,\u201d Hoeven said. \u201cWe also need to advance rules for building new tankers with enhanced safety features.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year ago, Hoeven wrote to the head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) asking her to finalize such rules as soon as possible. To date, no rules have been completed, but he said he will continue to work with others to press the case. Hoeven also said it must be recognized that modern pipelines, with their new safety features, are an important part of enhancing the safety of petroleum transport, which is why he has been working aggressively to build projects like the Keystone XL pipeline.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “After meeting with federal, state, and local officials today I am continuing to monitor the situation, Congressman Cramer said. \u201c It is a blessing no loss of life was suffered. Ensuring the well-being of local residents remains the number one priority”<\/p>\n
Initial reports indicate that a westbound train carrying grain derailed shortly after 2p.m. Monday about a half-mile west of Casselton. The derailed train crashed into an eastbound train carrying crude oil, causing a large fire and several explosions.\u00a0 No injuries have been reported. Many of Casselton\u2019s residents left their homes late Monday at the urging of local officials. Railroad crews worked today to isolate a few tank cars that continued to burn.<\/p>\n
In response to the derailment, the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services activated the State Emergency Operations Center to assist local emergency response efforts. The North Dakota Department of Health dispatched personnel to the accident site Monday and Health Department staff remained on site today to oversee the monitoring of air quality and to conduct a preliminary assessment of potential environmental impacts. The Highway Patrol and state Department of Transportation also have assisted local emergency responders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “The National Transportation Safety Board, and various other federal agencies, state, and local officials are all currently on the ground conducting an investigation to determine exactly what led to the unfortunate accident near Casselton,” said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. “I’m remaining in close contact with state and local officials, as well as BNSF and NTSB, to make sure the necessary resources are in place to provide for the safety of the citizens of Casselton and to make sure there’s a quick and safe clean up of the accident site.”<\/p>\n
Dalrymple, Hoeven and Cramer met in Casselton with local and state officials to further coordinate emergency response efforts.\u00a0 Officials who attended the meeting included: Casselton Mayor Ed McConnell, Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp\u2019s deputy state director Ross Keys, Terry O\u2019Clair, director of the state Health Department Air Quality Division, Cass County Commission Chairman Ken Pawluck, Cass County Emergency Manager Dave Rogness, state Department of Emergency Services Director Greg Wilz and other state officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BISMARCK (CSi) \u2013 Gov. Jack Dalrymple, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven and Congressman Kevin Cramer met Tuesday with officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to discuss Monday\u2019s train derailment and fire near Casselton.\u00a0 Dalrymple, Hoeven and Cramer met with NTSB officials at the Central Cass School in Casselton […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35633"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35636,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35633\/revisions\/35636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}