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Death Rides The Rails

A train carrying crude oil derailed causing a massive explosion in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic in July 2013.
A train carrying crude oil derailed causing a massive explosion in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic in July 2013. "

Today's segment is a rebroadcast of Death Rides The Rails.

  

Railroads across America carry hundreds of billions of dollars of toxic materials every year. 

The body charged with regulating the industry, the Federal Railroad Administration, admits it inspects less than one percent of railroad activity. What risks does shipping hazardous materials on the railroads create? 

Host Frank Stasio talks with reporter Marcus Stern. His work, Boom: North America’s Explosive Oil-By-Rail Problem, examines regulatory responses to oil train explosions and the nation's aging railroad infrastructure. The work is a collaborative effort of Inside Climate NewsThe Weather Channel and The Investigative Fund.

The video below is a mini-documentary about the oil-by-train explosions in Canada. Stern's full report can be found here

Laura Lee was the managing editor of The State of Things until mid February 2017. Born and raised in Monroe, North Carolina, Laura returned to the Old North state in 2013 after several years in Washington, DC. She received her B.A. in political science and international studies from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2002 and her J.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law in 2007.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.