Union Pacific Resuming Bringing Oil Trains Through The Gorge

Despite please from local and state officials not to run oil trains through the Gorge until the cause of a fiery crash has been determined, Union Pacific says they are resuming train traffic this week.

It was 16 cars of a 96-car Union Pacific train that went off the rails by Mosier earlier this month. Four cars burned sending smoke into the air that could be seen for miles.

The train was carrying Bakkan crude from new Town, North Dakota to Tacoma, Washington.

While no one was injured, it hurled the town into chaos, forcing evacuations and stopping others from doing anything - such as showering or flushing toilets - that would send water down the drain.

Many local and state officials have called on Union Pacivic to wait on resuming traffic until an exact cause had been determined, saying that while no one was injured, there was a feeling that Mosier had dodged a bullet.

Union Pacific says they are resuming traffic because of a federal mandate.