NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oregon has asked federal regulators to stop trains carrying oil traveling through the state, according to a letter seen by Reuters, just weeks after a train derailed in the state, the first major oil-by-rail accident in a year.
In a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration dated June 8, the Oregon Department of Transportation said preliminary findings of an investigation into the incident in Mosier suggested inspectors might not be able to detect the problem that likely caused the crash.
In the accident, a Union Pacific train carrying crude oil derailed, burst into flames and spilled crude along Oregon's scenic Columbia River gorge.
A preliminary investigation suggested a failure with a bolt that fastened the rail to the railroad ties.
"Until the underlying cause of the bolt failures is understood and, a means of detecting this defect is developed, we request a moratorium on running unit oil trains over sections of track that contain track fasteners of this material within the state of Oregon," said the administrator for the state transportation department in the letter first reported by The Oregonian.
While rail shipments have dipped from more than 1 million barrels per day in 2014 as a result of the lengthy slump in oil prices, the crash reignited calls for tighter safety regulations for transporting crude by rail.
Justin Jacobs, a spokesman for Union Pacific, said the company would continue to transport crude oil safely and according to federal law.
"We absolutely understand the concerns out there. We take them very seriously. Safety is a top priority," a spokesman said.
(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar and Luc Cohen; writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)