A Skagit County hearing examiner in Mount Vernon, Wa., halted Royal Dutch Shell's plans to move Bakken crude oil by rail to Shell's Anacortes refinery in northwest Washington state pending environmental and public health risk reviews, which could take at least 1 year.
The ruling came days after oil train derailments caused fires in northern Ontario and Mount Carbon, W. Va., the latest in a series of crude-related derailments that include a July 2013 explosion in Quebec that killed 47 people.
Shell proposes using rail cars to transport 70,000 b/d of crude to the 145,000-b/d Anacortes refinery. Other companies already move oil via trains
through Washington state, including Tesoro Corp., BP PLC, Trailstone US Oil & Refining, and Phillips 66.
Shell started trying to obtain its crude-by-rail permits during 2013. Nearly 1 year ago, Skagit County determined that Shell's project would not require a full review, but several environmental organizations appealed to the hearing examiner.
"Catastrophes have occurred elsewhere. No one doubts that such a thing could occur here," Hearing Examiner Wick Dufford said in a Feb. 23 order.
Shell said it was "determined to stay the course" after working for 2 years on the necessary permits.