SANDPOINT — Local environmental quality and oil train issues reached all the way to Washington, D.C., Wednesday during rulemaking sessions at the U.S. Department of Transportation.  

Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper executive director Shannon Williamson was among a group of conservation advocates in petitioning U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx for more rigorous oil train regulations. According to Williamson, the primary goal of the trip concerned aging DOT-111 oil tank cars, which she said are some of the riskiest models on the rails for accidents and oil spills.

“They should have been removed back in the 1990s,” Williamson said.

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