Royal Dutch Shell’s proposal to transport some 60,000 barrels of crude a day by rail from the Bakken shale fields to the coast of Washington state, has renewed concerns about what many have dubbed, “moving time bombs.”
“Shell No!” is again a rallying cry for environmentalists in Western Washington committed to derailing the oil giant’s plans to build a rail spur for its Puget Sound refinery. Years of derailments and explosions throughout North America combined with Shell’s use of the Port of Seattle as a home port for its Arctic drilling plans, spurned a new coalition, Stand Up To Oil, Communities Fueling Change. The coalition is posed to stand up to threats posed by rapid and dramatic changes in oil transportation while working to improve safety measures for oil currently traveling through the region. FSRN’s Martha Baskin has more from Seattle.