JUST 56 HOURS after a Union Pacific oil train partially derailed and exploded near the small town of Mosier in the Columbia Gorge, the railroad was already running freight trains past its charred remains.
The derailment, just after noon on Friday, June 3, continues to have reverberations in a part of the country that's been increasingly skeptical about massive oil trains moving throughâincluding calls from Mosier city officials and Oregon's congressional delegation for reduced activity. But that's had little effect on Union Pacific's obligations.
The railroad has voluntarily curbed oil train traffic through tiny Mosier for the time being, but is pressing forward with most of the 20 to 25 trains it sends through a day. DIRK VANDERHART
BULLSEYE GLASS has finally gotten out from under a state cease-and-desist order on much of its productionâbut it's had to make significant commitments in order to do so.
The Portland company and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced a new agreement on Monday, June 6, detailing the fine-grained reporting the company will regularly have to submit to the state on its activities.
Under the agreement, Bullseye is prohibited from melting eight metals without industrial filters, as it's done for decades. Those metals: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, nickel, manganese, and selenium.
For four of those substancesânickel, manganese, cobalt, and seleniumâBullseye can ask for permission to melt without filtration, but must prove it won't risk human health. DVH
