Latest Train Derailment Demonstrates Renewable Energy Needed to Protect Water and Environment

WASHINGTON –EWG Executive Director Heather White said today that Monday’s West Virginia oil spill and explosion shows that it’s absolutely critical for the U.S. to reduce its dependence on oil and base our future economy on clean energy.

“America must make a fundamental shift toward renewable resources such as wind and solar power,” White said.

Her comments come after a CSX train traveling from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota to a refinery in Yorktown, Va., derailed on Monday, with at least one tank car falling into the Kanawha River and spilling oil. According to the Charlestown Gazette, all but two of the derailed cars were tank cars, each containing 33,000 gallons of crude oil.

The Bureau for Public Health of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced that water intakes from the river for the communities of Montgomery and Cedar Grove were turned off following the derailment. Approximately 2,000 customers were urged to conserve water and use it for essential purposes only.

“Our thoughts are with the community of Fayette County as its citizens deal with the devastating aftermath of this derailment. This crude oil spill is yet another cautionary tale about the impact of dirty energy on our natural resources and ultimately our health,” White said. “America has subsidized a vast and complex system to support dirty energy at the cost of public health and the environment. We need to protect clean water and the environment by putting the nation on the path to the clean energy future now and investing in renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar.”

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