NYSNA member and St. Elizabeth Medical Center RN Ethel Mathis traveled from Utica to Pittsburgh, PA, to attend the “Oil Train Response 2015” conference and training held November 11-13. The conference addressed the regulatory and social impact of oil trains that pass unchecked through our cities and towns and provided a timely follow up to NYSNA’s action during Convention protesting oil trains traveling through Saratoga Springs and commemorating the horrific derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people.

Participants shared strategies for fighting specific oil train terminal proposals in places like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Albany. Ms. Mathis came away better informed and ready for action: “The oil train movement is building. Communities are waking up to this very real health danger, and as nurses, we have a stake in protecting the public’s health. This conference gave me the tools I need to organize other RNs to join me in saying no to unregulated oil trains in our communities.”