"Sen. Bennet and Rep. Neguse cite East Palestine derailment in calling for further review of Uinta Basin Railway Project".
"U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado on Monday wrote a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to formally suspend federal authorization of a Utah rail project that will send up to five, two-mile-long oil trains a day along the Colorado River, under the Continental Divide at Winter Park, and through downtown Denver.
Citing “ongoing concerns about the risks to Colorado’s communities, water, land, air, and climate from the Uinta Basin Railway Project,” Bennet and Neguse noted the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, has yet to issue a special use authorization for construction of the 88-mile railway that would run through the Ashley National Forest in Utah and connect the oil fields in the northeastern part of that state to the nation’s main rail network.
“We urge you to formally suspend any decision on that authorization until a supplemental review is conducted to fully evaluate the effects of this project on Colorado’s local communities and environment,” the Bennet-Neguse letter states. “This review is especially critical in light of the recent train derailment and environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, which has laid bare the threat of moving hazardous materials by rail.”
A Norfolk Southern freight train derailed on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, leading to the toxic release of vinyl chloride."
David O. Williams reports for Colorado Newsline March 6, 2023.
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