Dayton talks to BNSF CEO, orders swifter state inspections of new oil train route

Gov. Mark Dayton said Thursday that state rail inspectors would speed inspections of a Willmar-to-Minneapolis line that has seen a marked increase in Bakken oil train traffic.

Dayton and BNSF Railway CEO Carl Ice spoke by phone Thursday morning, a day after the governor said he was worried about the increase in oil trains through the corridor that runs through western suburbs of the Twin Cities, and into Minneapolis. Dayton said at a subsequent news conference he told Ice that in the event of further decisions about rerouting, "I expect to be notified myself." Dayton said he gave Ice his home phone number.

Dayton said Ice told him that construction on rail lines in western Minnesota necessitated much of the rerouting, and that those projects are likely to wind down by winter. Dayton also said his request that the company not send the trains under Target Field during Twins games is largely moot for now since the team's season is over.

State officials have estimated an additional 99,000 Minnesotans are at risk if there were to be an incident along the more heavily utilized route. BNSF has disclosed in a report to the state that 11 to 23 trains per week are now using the route, which also runs through Wayzata and St. Louis Park before heading into Minneapolis and across the Mississippi River at Nicollet Island.

BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said the company "will continue to notify the administration of significant changes in traffic and routes for crude oil." Dayton said he and his staff had not been informed of the route change.

McBeth said the company conducts daily route inspections and operates at slower speeds on all routes where crude oil is being moved, including through the Twin Cities.

Dayton said inspectors for the state would move up scheduled inspections for 63 grade crossings along the new route, as well as of the track itself.

"Previously that was not a priority to be inspected because we didn't realize there'd be this volume of oil cars moving through," Dayton said.

Dayton said the state has little recourse to prevent BNSF from such rerouting decisions. "They own the tracks," he said.

But he said he'd renew his push at the Legislature next year for a property tax increase on the railroads, to raise state funds for more inspections and emergency response measures in affected communities.

The increase in oil trains between Willmar and the Twin Cities started in July and hastened further in September, according to traffic reports that the Star Tribune obtained and reported earlier in October.

Previously the large share of oil train traffic through the Twin Cities came via Moorhead, through St. Cloud, and into Minneapolis through Anoka and Coon Rapids.

Patrick Condon • 651-925-5049