By Kristen Hays
HOUSTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell's proposed crude-by-rail project in Washington state has been puton hold pending environmental review, just days after a pair ofoil train derailments caused huge fires in Canada and WestVirginia.
A Skagit County Office of Land Use Hearings examiner ruledShell's proposal must undergo a full environmental review, whichcan take a year or more.
Shell's competitors have been railing in U.S. crudes since2012 to displace more costly imports and declining Alaskan oil.But a spate of derailments and crashes since 2013 has raisedsafety questions, particularly with North Dakota Bakken crude.
"Catastrophes have occurred elsewhere. No one doubts thatsuch a thing could occur here," the examiner, Wick Dufford,wrote in the order issued Monday.
Last week a CSX Corp train derailed in Mount Carbon,West Virginia, causing an explosion that set 19 cars ablaze anddestroyed a house. Two days before that a Canadian NationalRailway Co train derailed in remote northern Ontario,spilling oil and causing several cars to burn.
The worst accident by far was in July 2013 when a runawaytrain carrying Bakken crude crashed and exploded in a smallQuebec town, killing 47 people.
Shell said the proposal to move 70,000 barrels per day ofinland U.S. crude is critical for its 145,000 bpd refinery inAnacortes, and the company has participated in an "exhaustive"permitting process for more than two years.
Nearly a year ago the county determined that Shell's projectwould not require a full review, and several environmentalorganizations appealed.
"We respect the hearing examiner's decision and aredetermined to stay the course in this process," Shell said.
Tesoro Corp started railing Bakken crude to its120,000 bpd refinery next to Shell's plant in 2012. BP Plc, Trailstone's U.S. Oil & Refining and Phillips 66 followed suit in 2013 and 2014.
Shell was the last of the state's refiners to seekcrude-by-rail permits in late 2013. Opponents were largelyunaware of the other projects during the permitting phases, butShell's project caught their attention.
Dufford wrote that none of the previous approvals consideredthe "whole Northwest Washington scene."
"Unquestionably, the potential magnitude and duration ofenvironmental and human harm from oil train operations inNorthwest Washington could be very great," he wrote.
(Reporting by Kristen Hays; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)