Oregon legislators derail effort to hide oil train safety plans

Oregon lawmakers withdrew a bill on Friday that would allow railroads to keep plans for oil train disasters a secret.

A year after a train derailed, caught fire and spilled oil into the Columbia River in Mosier, lawmakers were poised to approve a measure that would require railroads to draft worst-case scenario plans. But the bill also would prevent public scrutiny by exempting the plans from Oregon public records law and legal subpoenas.

By a 31-26 vote, the House of Representatives agreed to send the bill back to the Legislature's ways and means committee for more work.

The last-minute maneuvering on the House floor featured lawmakers on both sides of the issue criticizing The Oregonian/OregonLive for reporting on the effort to conceal the plans. A story about the legislation appeared on the newspaper's front page Friday.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2017/06/oregon_legislators_derail_effo.html