Do you know what's on that train?

Most of us aren't conditioned to think of the train that rumbles through our neighborhood as a ticking time bomb, and most of the time it's not.

"It's not a problem unless it's a problem," said Paul Glosser, a captain in Marion's Fire Department.

All manner of hazardous materials are transported by rail through north central Ohio on a routine basis, from ethanol to propane and anhydrous ammonia, and other chemicals many people have never heard of. There have been some local incidents with train derailments and other accidents over the years, particularly in the Huron County city of Willard over Thanksgiving two years ago.

But the risk that comes with transporting hazardous materials by rail can be equated to the prospect of traveling by air. Jet crashes may be a horrifying prospect, but the overwhelming majority of planes take off and land safely. Virtually all trains reach their destinations without incident as well.

In just the past few years, however, the amount of crude oil rolling along the rails has ballooned. Drilling activity has taken off in the Dakotas and that oil needs to reach markets throughout the eastern half of the U.S., taking much of it through Ohio, and counties such as Richland, Crawford and Marion.

"It's pretty much daily. It scares the bejibbers out of me," the former director of Marion County's Emergency Management Agency, Harry Burdick, said.

Two railroad lines, both operated by CSX, cut across not just Marion County but snake through the heart of the city of Marion as well, from every direction on the compass. One of those lines extends north into Crawford County, through the downtown and residential parts of Galion, and then on up through the center of the Richland County city of Shelby and village of Plymouth.

Both lines transport volatile, flammable Bakken crude oil, up to 15 times a week on the north-south – or Mount Victory – line, and up to five times a week on CSX's Columbus line, which passes through Marion. s not available to the public, and emergency officials in the area say they still don't have any idea what's moving through their city or county on any given day. But most aren't overly concerned, and all of them are quick to emphasize that they're prepared should what isn't a problem suddenly become a problem.

"I'm very confident about the plans we have in place to deal with things like that. CSX also has teams in place, and we work hand in hand with them," Mike Bailey, director of the Richland County Emergency Management Agency, said.

"And the state is always on standby, all we have to do is pick up the phone. With something that size, there's going to be a unified command with everyone working together, and CSX would be a major contributor."

The Galion Fire Department has a high awareness of oil trains moving through its city.

"Our fire station is right next to the tracks," Fire Chief Phil Jackson said. "But we've only dealt with train accidents (train vs. vehicle) mostly. We've had some blowoffs, exhausts from the chemicals, that have alarmed some people, but we've been fairly lucky in Galion."

If concerns about oil cars are heightened in Marion County, it may be because so much train traffic moves through the county seat. The county also leads the state in train-vehicle crashes, with five reported in 2013 resulting in three injuries, according to the Ohio Public Utilities Commission.

"We get an annual report that shows how many cars go through the county carrying crude oil, and it's a number that would shock you. With 100 to 110 cars fully loaded, that can be 2 million gallons," Burdick said.

Glosser, who heads the Fire Department's hazmat unit in the city of Marion, said the scale of alarm should not be that great for area residents, adding that most derailed train cars can easily be righted and sent on their way without incident.

But Bakken crude isn't something to mess around with.

"It's a high hazard, primarily a fire hazard," Glosser said. "There's the potential for the rail car next to it to ignite, and it sets off massive fireballs. We don't get notification."

Until recently, rail companies weren't required to tell anyone what they were transporting. But after a train carrying oil exploded in Quebec, Canada in 2013, killing 47 people, federal regulators in this country stepped in, ordering railroads to release data on how many of their lines carry at least a million gallons of Bakken crude a week, beginning last May.

Here in Ohio, the Department of Public Safety was the recipient of that information, which it kept to itself until last month.

"After consultation with the Ohio Homeland Security officials and legal counsel it was decided that the information contained in the documents given to us by the railroads would not jeopardize safety," DPS spokesperson Joseph Andrews said.

"Traditionally, railroads maintained the confidentiality of information related to certain shipments for competitive and security reasons, but share information about hazardous materials with appropriate agencies," CSX spokesperson Kristin Seay said.

"We strive to maintain the optimum balance between sharing information to assist emergency planners and first responders and to protect communities, always with the ever-present concern about certain data getting in the wrong hands."

Seay added that CSX is a common carrier under U.S. interstate commerce law and is therefore required to move any freight tendered to the company by a customer. She said crude oil accounts for less than 2 percent of the freight on its network. But according to the Association of American Railroads, crude transported by rail in the U.S. has risen from 5 million tons in 2011 to 40 million in 2013. Ohio ranks fifth in the nation in rail traffic.

Beginning last year, CSX began complying with several safety measures as part of a new federal initiative, which is ultimately voluntary. It includes increased track inspections, reduced speed limits for oil trains in urban areas, additional trackside monitoring and a greater emphasis on training for first responders, in which firefighters for the city of Galion have participated.

"We've taken some classes that CSX has put on," Chief Jackson said. "Everybody here is trained in hazmat up to the technician level, which is the highest you can get, and we're set up to take our training again in the next month or so. It's good to have a refresher course because we don't deal with this that often."

Should emergency officials in this region ever have to deal with an explosion on an oil train, they know precisely how to proceed.

"The first thing you do is stay back and evacuate the area, then look at the placarding on the car and see what's involved. You get out the binoculars, stand back, and see what you've got," Richland County's Bailey said. "Other things to take into consideration are runoff, evacuations and air monitoring."

"Life safety takes priority, and then we would try to mitigate the situation," Marion's Glosser said. "We might set up a remote monitor to throw large quantities of water on it. More than likely you're going to be backing off."

Burdick concurred with that strategy.

"We would most likely let it burn. It cuts down on the life hazard if we're able to control it, as well as the environmental impact if it just burns at site," he said.

During the summer of 2012, a broken rail caused a train carrying ethanol to explode in Columbus, injuring one person, forcing the evacuation of about 100 people and causing more than a million dollars in damage.

When a train carrying the chemical styrene monomer derailed in Willard in November 2013, leaking 26,000 gallons of that flammable liquid, there was no explosion, but 600 people were ordered out of their homes for three days, a major inconvenience over the Thanksgiving holiday.

The accident occurred on a CSX track, the same one now transporting Bakken crude down through Plymouth, Shelby, Galion and Marion, and Huron County EMA director Jason Roblin had firsthand experience working with the rail company throughout the event.

"From the time we got on the scene to when we wrapped up, officials at CSX were open and honest and looking to work together. They put up people in hotels, they fed people meals, stuff they didn't have to do," Roblin said.

"It was their responsibility to clean it up, and the company they brought in to do the environmental testing and sampling, they were top notch. They have all the right people on speed dial. They've come a long way in their corporate culture over the past 20 years."

Bailey, a former fire chief for the city of Mansfield, expects a similar response protocol would be established in Richland County should a similar incident occur under his watch.

"You don't want to reinvent the wheel," he said. And neither is he losing any sleep waiting for a rail car transporting Bakken crude to explode in a populated area.

"No, I'm not concerned at all," he said. "As far as moving this stuff, it's the safer way to go. It's certainly better than using the interstates."

thill3@nncogannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ

Bakken crude oil transport by county

Crawford: 0 to 15 trains per week on 16.38 miles of track, Mount Victory route, CSX

Marion: 2 to 5 trains per week on 29.05 miles of track, Columbus route, CSX; 0 to 15 trains per week on 31.17 miles of track, Mount Victory route, CSX

Richland: 0 to 15 trains per week on 19.94 miles of track, Mount Victory route, CSX.

Source: CSX

Potential hazards of petroleum crude oil

Highly flammable, easily ignited by heat, sparks or flames.

Vapors may form explosive mixtures with air, may travel to source of ignition and flash back.

Vapors are heavier than air, will spread along ground and collect in low or confined areas. Explosion hazard indoors, outdoors or in sewers.

Containers may explode when heated.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation