Milwaukee Officials Mull Over Possibility Of Oil Train Explosion In City

Some Milwaukee city council members are discussing the prospect of an oil train explosion in Wisconsin’s largest city.

The officials have held the first of two hearings this month on the potential harm an explosion of so-called Bakken crude oil could do in Milwaukee, a city of 600,000 people. City officials say many thousands would have to be evacuated.

Emergency Management Director Steve Fronk said it would be very difficult to plan for such a situation by holding a large-scale drill.

“That often requires closing a street. There’s a daycare center across the street, and you’ve got to keep those people calm while you’re executing, running the drill. You’ve got to convince them that this is just an exercise,” said Fronk.

Fronk said local governments don’t have a lot of regulatory authority over the oil trains. He said if he had his druthers, rail companies would do more track maintenance and tell train operators to slow down.