Banning the Use of Hazardous Rail Cars

Earthjustice, representing Sierra Club and ForestEthics, filed a legal petition and subsequent lawsuit in 2014 to compel the U.S. Department of Transportation to ban DOT-111 rail cars for shipping flammable Bakken crude oil due to their tendency to puncture and explode.

• Since 2005, there has been a more than 4,000 percent increase in crude oil shipped by rail in the U.S., largely driven by production from Bakken shale. These shipments often involve trains over 1.5 miles long with up to 120 cars.
• The National Transportation Safety Board identified DOT-111 tank cars as hazardous because they are prone to puncture upon impact, which can lead to oil spills, fires, and explosions. Rail industry estimates suggest that banning these cars for Bakken crude transport would reduce the risk of punctures and spills by over 75 percent.
• In July 2014, Sierra Club and ForestEthics petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation for an emergency order to prohibit DOT-111 cars for Bakken crude. After the DOT failed to respond, a lawsuit was filed in September 2014. The case was eventually dismissed following the release of a final tank car rule in May 2015.
• The volume of oil spilled in train accidents in 2013 exceeded the total amount spilled between 1975 and 2012 combined. It is estimated that 25 million Americans reside within the dangerous blast zone of the nation's rail lines.
• Canada has implemented immediate bans on many DOT-111 cars and is phasing them out of hazardous transport, a move the document notes will shift more of these cars into the U.S.

APA

Earthjustice (2014). Banning the Use of Hazardous Rail Cars. https://earthjustice.org/case/banning-use-of-hazardous-rail-cars

Chicago

Earthjustice. Banning the Use of Hazardous Rail Cars. 2014. https://earthjustice.org/case/banning-use-of-hazardous-rail-cars.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Banning the Use of Hazardous Rail Cars |date=18 July 2014 |url=https://earthjustice.org/case/banning-use-of-hazardous-rail-cars |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2014banning, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Banning the Use of Hazardous Rail Cars}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2014}, month = jul, url = {https://earthjustice.org/case/banning-use-of-hazardous-rail-cars}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }