SEATTLE (AP) — Environmental groups are suing the U.S. Department of Transportation over the shipment of volatile crude oil in older railroad tank cars.
The lawsuit filed Thursday by the Sierra Club and ForestEthics says the agency failed to respond a legal petition the groups filed in July. That petition sought an emergency order to prohibit crude oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana and elsewhere from being carried in older tank cars, known as DOT-111s.
The groups are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to order the agency to respond to its petition within 30 days.
The government has proposed rules that would phase out tens of thousands of older tank cars that carry crude oil and other highly flammable liquids. The groups say that process will take too long given the risks.
A response from Department of Transportation was not immediately available.
