James Macpherson of the Associated Press reports in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that on Tue., Dec. 10 North Dakota regulators set new rules requiring oil companies shipping millions of gallons of crude a week by rail to reduce the oil's volatility before it's loaded onto train cars. Bakkan crude oil from North Dakota now comes through Albany rail lines. "Oil trains that carry North Dakota crude through the U.S. and Canada were involved in at least 10 major accidents in less than two years, including an explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people," the story reports. North Dakota State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said that now all crude from the state's oil patch would have to be treated by heat or by pressure to remove certain liquids and gases before being loaded onto rail cars effective April 1. Locally, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens and State Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald issued a press release, writing, “New York State is pleased North Dakota has taken aggressive action to increase the safety of transporting crude oil across the state and nation. Reducing the volatility of Bakken crude at the source protects public health, protects the environment and provides an additional safeguard for New Yorkers and communities across the country. We thank North Dakota for taking swift action.”