An oil train derailed over the Schuylkill River in January 2014 (archive photo).

On January 20, 2014, an oil train derailed in Philadelphia over the Schuylkill River, a source of drinking water for 1.5 million Philadelphia residents. A year later, 11 train tank cars containing crude oil derailed in a CSX rail yard in South Philadelphia, prompting a response by hazardous response teams. Community members are invited to join a conversation this Wednesday at USciences about the risks of oil trains in Philadelphia, including in some West Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Wednesday’s meeting is part of Clean Water Action‘s Community Listening Tour on oil trains organized for communities closest to the railroads that carry trains with more than 240,000 barrels of crude oil every day.

The meeting will include a 30-minute presentation as a primer on the issue, followed by a neighborhood engagement session. Participants will learn more about the issues and can ask about the risks. All of the input from participants is recorded so that decision-makers receive adequate feedback from their constituents. 

The organizers said that participants of the first three meetings held in the Francisville, Frankford, and Mt. Airy neighborhoods made it clear that they want to ensure that their neighborhoods are protected and agreed that more work needs to be done by Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management, the federal government, CSX Transportation, and Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the country’s largest refiner of Bakken crude oil.

Clean Water Action is partnering with Cedar Park Neighbors for this presentation, and any concerned residents are welcome to join (please RSVP here).

Here are more details about the meeting:

Wednesday, April 29
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Griffith Hall at University of the Sciences
600 S. 43rd Street