(October 7, 2011) Washington – In the wake of the derailment in northern Illinois of a train reportedly including ethanol tanker cars, the Renewable Fuels Association has released the following statement:

“Safety is priority number one for America’s ethanol industry. We are committed to ensuring the safe production, transportation, and use of fuel ethanol. Importantly, the RFA continues to work with first responders all across the country to provide them with the tools and knowledge necessary to effectively respond to the rare instance of an ethanol-related emergency.”

According to data from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Association of American Railroads, 50 tank cars out of 315,718 total shipments of ethanol were involved in incidents in 2010. That means 99.999% of all ethanol shipments were completed safely.

“Ethanol is the largest volume hazardous material transported by rail today, with approximately 75% of all ethanol produced in the U.S. moving by rail. Incidents of release or fire as reported today are quite rare,” the RFA underscored. “We encourage all first responders and those in the ethanol and fuel business to take this unfortunate incident as a reminder to ensure they have the proper safety planning, training, and materials in place to respond effectively to an ethanol-related emergency.”

For complete ethanol emergency information, please visit the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition (EERC) at www.ethanolresponse.com, an RFA-led ethanol safety effort.