HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — An Illinois-based company plans to build a $35 million plant in Hutchinson to refurbish rail cars used to transport crude oil and other combustible liquids.
The Hutchinson News reports that Illinois-based Mervis Industries projects that the new business, Mervis Railcar, will employ 150 people within three years of opening.
Pressure is growing to improve the safety of tank cars used to transport the growing volume of oil that new drilling methods are producing. Several accidents, including one in July 2013 in Quebec, have drawn attention to the issue.
The Association of American Railroads mandated new safety enhancements in 2011. Now, federal officials are proposing that older cars be retrofitted to those standards.
Besides retrofitting tankers, the plant also could convert tankers for non-hazardous uses or destroy and recycle them.