Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s executive budget request includes money – and people – for the state’s Public Service Commission in the areas of rail safety and pipeline regulation.
The PSC wants to start a rail inspection program. Commissioner Julie Fedorchak says this could help prevent future train derailments and accidents, such as last December’s oil train incident near Casselton.
"We can never promise the public that we will be able to eliminate those accidents," said Fedorchak. "But a state supplemental rail program will add more inspectors on the ground, working with the railroads, inspecting the track and the mechanics, and increasing the odds that you're going to find problems before they result in an accident."
The Commission is also hoping to be more involved in both natural gas and oil pipeline inspections. Currently, the PSC has some jurisdiction over in-state pipelines – and it would expand that, so it would handle the inspection of inter-state pipelines. Commission chairman Brian Kalk says the challenge will be to convince the Legislature to pay for it – making sure the salaries for the inspectors will be competitive.
"We've already seen significant turnover in our natural gas inspectors, because once they are fully trained, they get offered positions that literally double their salary," said Kalk. "So we're making the pitch, that if we do this program, we need to have the right number of people, and have the salaries attractive enough to get good people."
Kalk says he expects a lot of discussion about the program during the Legislative session, which convenes in January.