Railroads tell South Dakota that 3 trains carrying crude oil routinely pass near Sioux Falls

BNSF Railway is regularly hauling three trains a week loaded with crude oil through the Sioux Falls area, but those are the only shipments of crude from North Dakota's Bakken region crossing the state, according to records released Wednesday.

The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources posted records online Wednesday with details of crude oil shipments moving through the state, which The Associated Press had previously requested be released.

BNSF is hauling three trains a week with more than 1 million gallons of crude oil apiece through Minnehaha County, according to the records. Three trains a week also pass through four northwest Iowa counties, the railroad disclosed.

Canadian Pacific said it isn't carrying crude oil through South Dakota.

The U.S. Department of Transportation ordered railroads in May to give state officials specifics on oil train routes and volumes so emergency responders can better prepare for accidents. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said that a pattern of fiery accidents involving trains carrying crude from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana had created an "imminent hazard" to public safety.

Most notable of those was an oil train derailment last July in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people.

Railroads that fail to comply with the order are subject to a $175,000 fine per day and are prohibited from hauling oil from the Bakken region until they do so.