tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321814673940609752024-03-05T20:08:32.988-08:00The Bakken Crude DebateHopefully this will be a place to educate people about the relatively unknown Bakken Crude oil from the Bakken Fields of North Dakota.John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-6478179880623192742016-05-02T07:57:00.001-07:002016-05-02T07:57:05.675-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b>Protect Community Safety: </b><br /><b>No single person train crews</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GilL234t4MZqFlEnRbrbOtQ2VCHPYFCxlZu3RwOydmDcGllKHl-6ggLcBdE7Y7wdw5fJ4xosdf20s3fQWjzg5Rqh-oJQ0UCrNjYrRjaa8QXWms6Q7ljLWVv-xKXYSoLApssCnt-DSM_u/s1600/11.14.13+flyover-02.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GilL234t4MZqFlEnRbrbOtQ2VCHPYFCxlZu3RwOydmDcGllKHl-6ggLcBdE7Y7wdw5fJ4xosdf20s3fQWjzg5Rqh-oJQ0UCrNjYrRjaa8QXWms6Q7ljLWVv-xKXYSoLApssCnt-DSM_u/s320/11.14.13+flyover-02.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aliceville Alabama 11/14/13</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Dear <div class="gmail_default" style="display: inline; font-family: arial narrow,sans-serif;">
Community Activist</div>
,</span><br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span>We have until <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1993773998" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">May 16th</span></span>
to tell the Federal Railroad Administration under no circumstances is
it safe to run trains through our communities with fewer than two crew
members.</span><br /></div>
<div align="left" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1993773999" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">March 15th</span></span>, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced a </span><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001zSPmIXzoAn7gA0qQDjV6Fry2a2GmLP1fSdi-5ilGld9yp2LXa7XDHxgreZyOSApUhwRJY72UxZkuPPt_1qguUy2ekPypF-EysLtUD8mbu92tBOZTB4MEDQ2Re2AEyP90d_ekm0df42dw6pPRI_46GTDLXjXzWmba62obslLv70G4lM8uPz3rlUEXEqZjFf8qnySYYemCW_ZQylcVCLwsJKKHd6uFqpU4ghnA0ZsFuKgCrnW-yV70Yg==&c=05_iGuiQX3BJUlVhev-LS4FCEtDjH6az7Wf75DqUg8BS-4bXCnOMkA==&ch=OLhs3UcU4lWBeHzuaInxLkzPLGOu8-qZImNrjfOyjUBkAxOhveeV1w==" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: black; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Proposed Rule on the whole question of crew staffing for trains in the United States.</a> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">After
careful consideration, Railroad Workers United has come to the only
conclusion possible: The Proposed Rule provided a road map for any and
all rail carriers to obtain the FRA's blessing to run trains with a
single employee, even on hazardous materials oil trains. Therefore, RWU
cannot support this Proposed Rule, period. </span><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001zSPmIXzoAn7gA0qQDjV6Fry2a2GmLP1fSdi-5ilGld9yp2LXa7XDHxgreZyOSApUEjpsQeWLUAGQUOdWdp0XyeP1MTpuKq0i8FJ098K7wcz2o5QS79dqKvJd7jRbwGtkhPJXRjv9j5LuqNlg-7j9xGPni9Ftb-scCa1xdxBLnzZHdiPrs9rTwd__epYft5iQJkLoObM1ehf0em3QBJWUB-CUFDAU0vK8WCiGPdDuy5xV-o02HNiNG8kFpcHQuz7ZXQLEO0jb0U6XJF3Bqqyc9VxNk5Np7Uu3Zh_f4uTX6Wk=&c=05_iGuiQX3BJUlVhev-LS4FCEtDjH6az7Wf75DqUg8BS-4bXCnOMkA==&ch=OLhs3UcU4lWBeHzuaInxLkzPLGOu8-qZImNrjfOyjUBkAxOhveeV1w==" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">This letter to the FRA is Railroad Workers United response</a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> to the proposed notice of rule making. </span></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We
continue to agree with the joint statement from nearly 7 years ago that
the BLET and UTU unions made in a joint Petition filed in June 2009
with the FRA on the question which reads: "No conditions exist where
one-person operations are safe." And since the Proposed Rule is
predicated on the "safe" operation of trains with a single crew member,
we urge the FRA to promulgate a rule that outlaws the practice. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We urge all RWU members, railroad workers, and community allies to </span><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001zSPmIXzoAn7gA0qQDjV6Fry2a2GmLP1fSdi-5ilGld9yp2LXa7XDHxgreZyOSApUzg0CRIOPpIicQX6thCRi8TaRP9FoMO8BhHY1Q_QL_ekQL4dqLiC-jXBq0Ji4mhMBChylAwkSEPCCj35KV4CBxl4oTzYxMRP6PpQAkcysTEMx-9U75aYNjNHERqbcGgzWfOS9QeMrA3neTfkDpMo494WRMUoT1DFHZ4C_IDtNT_4=&c=05_iGuiQX3BJUlVhev-LS4FCEtDjH6az7Wf75DqUg8BS-4bXCnOMkA==&ch=OLhs3UcU4lWBeHzuaInxLkzPLGOu8-qZImNrjfOyjUBkAxOhveeV1w==" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">contact the FRA and tell them in plain language: "No single employee train crews!"</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
Sincerely,</div>
<div style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
<var>Ross Grooters</var></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
<span><var>Steering Committee Co-Chair</var></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
Railroad Workers United</div>
<span style="color: black;"><var><a href="mailto:railroadworkersunited@gmail.com" target="_blank">railroadworkersunited@gmail.<wbr></wbr>com</a></var></span><br /><span style="color: black;"><var><a href="tel:202-798-3327" target="_blank" value="+12027983327">202-798-3327</a></var></span></div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-37506302382757553512016-04-29T05:33:00.000-07:002016-04-29T05:33:37.198-07:00One oil field a key culprit in global ethane gas increase <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From the Michigan News...<br />
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<a href="http://ns.umich.edu/new/multimedia/videos/23735-one-oil-field-a-key-culprit-in-global-ethane-gas-increase">
One oil field a key culprit in global ethane gas increase </a>
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<ul>
<li class="published">
<time pubdate="2016-04-26T15:24:42-04:00">
Apr 26, 2016 </time>
</li>
<li class="createdby">
Contact Nicole Casal Moore, 734-647-7087, ncmoore@umich.edu or
Katy Human, 303-735-0196, kathleen.human@colorado.edu </li>
</ul>
</header>
<span class="wf_caption" style="display: inline-block; float: right;"><span style="clear: both; display: block; width: 300px;"><a class="modal" href="http://ns.umich.edu/new/images/2016/one-oil-field-a-key-culprit-in-global-ethane-gas-increase-map-orig-20160426.jpg" style="clear: left; cursor: url("/new/plugins/content/multithumb/magnify.cur"), auto; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank" title="A snapshot from a simulation of how Bakken oil field hydrocarbon emissions including ethane affect North American ground-level ozone concentrations. Hydrocarbons react with nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sunlight to produce ozone. Ground-level ozone leads to poor air quality. This snapshot represents one hour during the summer of 2014 in an air quality model. The reddish hues directly over and downwind of the Bakken show that emissions there accounted for increases of up to 4 ozone molecules per billion air molecules, about 6 percent of the present EPA standard. The colors don't indicate that any particular location necessarily experienced an unhealthy air day, but they do show where Bakken emissions had the greatest impacts. Credit: Lee Murray, NASA GISS/Columbia University"><img alt="A snapshot from a simulation of how Bakken oil field hydrocarbon emissions including ethane affect North American ground-level ozone concentrations. Hydrocarbons react with nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sunlight to produce ozone. Ground-level ozone leads to poor air quality. This snapshot represents one hour during the summer of 2014 in an air quality model. The reddish hues directly over and downwind of the Bakken show that emissions there accounted for increases of up to 4 ozone molecules per billion air molecules, about 6 percent of the present EPA standard. The colors don't indicate that any particular location necessarily experienced an unhealthy air day, but they do show where Bakken emissions had the greatest impacts. Credit: Lee Murray, NASA GISS/Columbia University" class="multithumb" height="226" src="http://ns.umich.edu/new/cache/multithumb_thumbs/b_300_226_16777215_01_images_2016_one-oil-field-a-key-culprit-in-global-ethane-gas-increase-map-orig-20160426.jpg" style="margin: auto;" width="300" /></a>A
snapshot from a simulation of how Bakken oil field hydrocarbon
emissions including ethane affect North American ground-level ozone
concentrations. Hydrocarbons react with nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
sunlight to produce ozone. Ground-level ozone leads to poor air quality.
This snapshot represents one hour during the summer of 2014 in an air
quality model. The reddish hues directly over and downwind of the Bakken
show that emissions there accounted for increases of up to 4 ozone
molecules per billion air molecules, about 6 percent of the present EPA
standard. The colors don't indicate that any particular location
necessarily experienced an unhealthy air day, but they do show where
Bakken emissions had the greatest impacts. Credit: Lee Murray, NASA
GISS/Columbia University</span></span>
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ANN ARBOR—A single U.S. shale oil field is responsible for much of
the past decade's increase in global atmospheric levels of ethane, a gas
that can damage air quality and impact climate, according to new study
led by the University of Michigan.<br />
The researchers found that the Bakken Formation, an oil and gas field
in North Dakota and Montana, is emitting roughly 2 percent of the
globe's ethane. That's about 250,000 tons per year.<br />
"Two percent might not sound like a lot, but the emissions we
observed in this single region are 10 to 100 times larger than reported
in inventories. They directly impact air quality across North America.
And they're sufficient to explain much of the global shift in ethane
concentrations," said Eric Kort, U-M assistant professor of climate and
space sciences and engineering, and first author of the study published
in Geophysical Research Letters.<br />
<span class="wf_caption" style="display: inline-block; float: right;"><a class="modal" href="http://ns.umich.edu/new/images/2016/one-oil-field-a-key-culprit-in-global-ethane-gas-increase-aerial-orig-20160426.jpg" style="cursor: url('/new/plugins/content/multithumb/magnify.cur'), auto;" target="_blank" title="Researchers flew over the Bakken oil field in North Dakota and Montana to gather data about emissions of ethane, a hydrocarbon gas that can damage air quality and impact climate. This is the view from their NOAA Twin Otter aircraft. Credit: Eric Kort"><img alt="Researchers flew over the Bakken oil field in North Dakota and Montana to gather data about emissions of ethane, a hydrocarbon gas that can damage air quality and impact climate. This is the view from their NOAA Twin Otter aircraft. Credit: Eric Kort" class="multithumb" height="225" src="http://ns.umich.edu/new/cache/multithumb_thumbs/b_300_225_16777215_01_images_2016_one-oil-field-a-key-culprit-in-global-ethane-gas-increase-aerial-orig-20160426.jpg" style="margin: auto;" width="300" /></a><span style="clear: both; display: block; width: 300px;">Researchers
flew over the Bakken oil field in North Dakota and Montana to gather
data about emissions of ethane, a hydrocarbon gas that can damage air
quality and impact climate. This is the view from their NOAA Twin Otter
aircraft. Credit: Eric Kort</span></span>The Bakken is part of a
200,000-square-mile basin that underlies parts of Saskatchewan and
Manitoba in addition to the two U.S. states. It saw a steep increase in
oil and gas activity over the past decade, powered by advances in
hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling.<br />
Between 2005 and 2014, the Bakken's oil production jumped by a factor
of 3,500, and its gas production by 180. In the past two years,
however, production has plateaued.<br />
Ethane is the second most abundant atmospheric hydrocarbon, a family
of compounds made of hydrogen and carbon. Ethane reacts with sunlight
and other molecules in the atmosphere to form ozone, which at the
surface can cause respiratory problems, eye irritation and other
ailments and damage crops.<br />
Surface-level ozone is one of the main pollutants that the national
Air Quality Index measures in its effort to let the public know when
breathing outside for long periods of time could be harmful.
Low-altitude ozone also plays a role in climate change, as it is a
greenhouse gas and the third-largest contributor to human-caused global
warming after carbon dioxide and methane.<span class="wf_caption" style="display: inline-block; float: right;"><span style="clear: both; display: block; width: 300px;"></span></span>Globally, the atmosphere's ethane
levels were on the downswing from 1984 to 2009. The gas gets into the
air primarily through leaks in fossil fuel extraction, processing and
distribution. Scientists attributed its declining levels to less venting
and flaring of gas from oil fields and less leakage from production and
distribution systems.<br />
But in 2010, a mountaintop sensor in Europe registered an ethane
uptick. Researchers looked into it. They hypothesized that the boom in
U.S. oil and gas brought about by hydraulic fracturing could be the
culprit—even a continent away. Ethane concentrations have been
increasing ever since.<br />
To gather their data, the researchers flew over the Bakken Formation
in a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft, sampling air for 12 days in May 2014.
Their airborne measurements from directly over and downwind of oil
production areas show that the field's ethane emissions of 0.23
teragrams per year, or roughly 250,000 U.S. tons, effectively cancel out
half of the global decline rate.<br />
"These findings not only solve an atmospheric mystery—where that
extra ethane was coming from—they also help us understand how regional
activities sometimes have global impacts," said co-author Colm Sweeney, a
scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental
Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, and NOAA. "We did not
expect a single oil field to affect global levels of this gas."<br />
Ethane emissions from other U.S. fields, especially the Eagle Ford in
Texas, likely contributed as well, the research team says. The findings
illustrate the key role of shale oil and gas production in rising
ethane levels.<br />
The study is titled "Fugitive emissions from the Bakken shale
illustrate role of shale production in global ethane shift." Also
contributing were researchers from NOAA, NASA Goddard Institute for
Space Studies, Columbia University, Stanford University and Harvard
University. The research was funded primarily by NOAA and NASA.<br />
<br />
<strong>More information:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Study: <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016GL068703/epdf">Fugitive emissions from the Bakken shale illustrate role of shale production in global ethane shift </a></li>
<li><a href="http://clasp-research.engin.umich.edu/faculty/kort/">Eric Kort</a></li>
</ul>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-25514198899473362672016-02-29T10:02:00.000-08:002016-02-29T10:10:06.627-08:00 The New Oil-Storage Space: Railcars<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div>
<b>The New Oil-Storage Space: Railcars</b></div>
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<div>
By Nicole Friedman and Bob Tita</div>
<div>
Updated Feb. 28, 2016 9:09 p.m. ET<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMWh6RIZEoEr5grT3ZSAWURQyZhRycwapNUqnAO18qudghErjwrWdxE_PPBjPa7WYB6nWxyIuO3yDKko2PhuxBtfowsPLikEynPTzCH0Wn-qk5Yq9-mAZBuueYJVoINsKPAoZJuphQXVz/s1600/IMG_7130.CR2" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMWh6RIZEoEr5grT3ZSAWURQyZhRycwapNUqnAO18qudghErjwrWdxE_PPBjPa7WYB6nWxyIuO3yDKko2PhuxBtfowsPLikEynPTzCH0Wn-qk5Yq9-mAZBuueYJVoINsKPAoZJuphQXVz/s320/IMG_7130.CR2" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div>
The U.S. is so awash in crude oil that traders are experimenting with new places to store it: empty railcars.</div>
<div>
Thousands
of railcars ordered up to transport oil are now sitting idle because
current ultralow crude prices have made shipping by train unprofitable.
Meanwhile, traditional storage tanks are running out of room as U.S. oil
inventories swell to their highest level since the 1930s. </div>
<div>
Some
industry participants are calling the new practice “rolling storage”—a
landlocked spin on the “floating storage” producers use to hold crude on
giant oil tankers when inventories run high.</div>
<div>
The combination
of cheap oil and surplus railcars has created a budding new side
business for traders. J.P. Fjeld-Hansen, a managing director for trading
company Musket Corp., tested using railcars for storage last year and
found he could profit by putting the oil aside while locking in a higher
price to deliver it in a later month.</div>
<div>
The company built a
rail terminal in Windsor, Colo., in 2012 to load oil shipments during a
boom in U.S. oil production. Now, Mr. Fjeld-Hansen says, “The focus has
shifted from a loading terminal to an oil-storage and railcar-storage
business.”</div>
<div>
Energy Midstream, a trading company based in The
Woodlands, Texas, stored an ultralight oil known as condensate on Ohio
railcars last month for about 15 days before shipping it to a buyer in
Canada.</div>
<div>
Dennis Hoskins, a managing partner at Energy
Midstream, says there are so many unused tank cars that he is constantly
hearing from railcar owners hoping to put them to use. “We get offers
everyday for railcars,” he said.</div>
<div>
The use of railcars for
storage could be limited by the cost of track space and safety and
liability concerns that have followed a string of high-profile transport
accidents. Issues range from leaky cars to the risk of collisions and
fires.</div>
<div>
Federal regulations require railroads that store cars
loaded with hazardous materials like oil to comply with strict storage
and security measures to keep the cars away from daily rail traffic.
Railroads and users face responsibility for leaks, collisions or other
mishaps.</div>
<div>
“I don’t want the liability,” said Judy Petry,
president of Oklahoma rail operator Farmrail System Inc. “We prefer not
to hold a loaded car.”</div>
<div>
Still, the oil has to go somewhere. The
surge in shale-oil production has created a massive glut that the
industry is struggling to absorb. BP PLC Chief Executive Bob Dudley
joked in a speech this month that by midyear, “every storage tank and
swimming pool in the world will be filled with oil.”</div>
<div>
Khory
Ramage, president of Ironhorse Permian Basin LLC, which operates a rail
terminal in Artesia, N.M., said he hears regularly from traders looking
to store crude in his railcars.</div>
<div>
Crude-storage costs “have been
accelerating, just due to the demand for it and less room,” he said.
“You’ll probably start seeing this kick up more and more.”</div>
<div>
U.S.
crude inventories rose above 500 million barrels in late January for
the first time since 1930, according to the Energy Information
Administration.</div>
<div>
The cheapest form of storage—underground salt
caverns—can cost 25 cents a barrel each month, while storing crude on
railcars costs about 50 cents a barrel and floating storage can cost 75
cents or more. The cost estimates don’t include loading and
transportation.</div>
<div>
Railcars hold between 500 and 700 barrels of oil, less than a cavern, tank or ship can store.</div>
<div>
The
use of U.S. railcars to transport large volumes of oil picked up steam a
few years ago as a byproduct of the fracking boom. Fields sprung up
faster than pipelines could be laid, so producers improvised and shipped
their output to market by rail. Companies soon realized railroads
offered greater flexibility to transfer oil to whomever offered the best
price. Some pipeline companies even joined the rail business, building
terminals to load and unload oil. U.S. oil settled <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1509521882" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Friday</span></span> at $32.78 a barrel, down nearly 70% from mid-2014. </div>
<div>
The
plunge in oil prices brought that activity to a halt. Analysts estimate
there are now as many as 20,000 tank cars—about one-third of the North
American fleet for hauling oil—parked out of the way in storage yards or
along unused stretches of tracks in rural areas.</div>
<div>
Producers
and shippers who signed long-term leases for the cars during the boom
are stuck paying monthly rates that typically run $1,500 to $1,700 per
car. Traders can pay those prices and still profit. Oil bought at the
April price and sold through the futures market for delivery a year
later could net a trader $8.07 a barrel, not including storage or
transportation costs.</div>
<div>
As central storage hubs fill up, oil
companies are more willing to pay for expensive and remote types of
storage, said Ernie Barsamian, principal of the Tank Tiger, which keeps a
database of companies looking to buy and sell oil storage space.</div>
<div>
The Tank Tiger posted an inquiry <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1509521883" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday</span></span> on behalf of a client seeking 75,000 barrels of crude-oil storage or space to park 100 to 120 railcars loaded with crude.</div>
<div>
Mr.
Barsamian likened the disappearance of available storage to a coloring
book where nearly all the white space has been filled in.</div>
<div>
“You’re getting closer to the edges,” he said.</div>
<div>
Write to Nicole Friedman at <a href="mailto:nicole.friedman@wsj.com" target="_blank">nicole.friedman@wsj.com</a> and Bob Tita at <a href="mailto:robert.tita@wsj.com" target="_blank">robert.tita@wsj.com</a></div>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-68123305467184724322015-07-17T12:24:00.001-07:002015-07-17T12:24:37.795-07:00Trains plus crude oil equals trouble down the track<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Trains plus crude oil equals trouble down the track
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Every day, strings of black tank cars filled with crude oil roll slowly
across a long wooden railroad bridge over the Black Warrior River. But
with some timber pilings so badly rotted that you can stick your hand
right through them, and a “MacGyver”-esque combination of plywood,
concrete and plastic pipe employed to patch up others, the bridge
demonstrates the limited ability of government and industry to manage
the hidden risks of a sudden shift in energy production.
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By Curtis Tate - McClatchy Washington Bureau </div>
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Every day, strings of black tank cars filled with crude oil roll
slowly across a long wooden railroad bridge over the Black Warrior
River.<br />
The 116-year-old span is a landmark in this city of 95,000 people,
home to the University of Alabama. Residents have proposed and gotten
married next to the bridge. Children play under it. During Alabama
football season, die-hard Crimson Tide fans set up camp in its shadow.<br />
But with some timber pilings so badly rotted that you can stick your
hand right through them, and a “MacGyver”-esque combination of plywood,
concrete and plastic pipe employed to patch up others, the bridge
demonstrates the limited ability of government and industry to manage
the hidden risks of a sudden shift in energy production.<br />
And it shows why communities nationwide are in danger.<br />
“It may not happen today or tomorrow, but one day a town or a city is
going to get wiped out,” said Larry Mann, one of the foremost
authorities on rail safety, who as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill in
1970 was the principal author of the Federal Railroad Safety Act, which
authorized the government to regulate the safety of railroads.<br />
Almost overnight in 2010, trains began crisscrossing the country
carrying an energy bounty that included millions of gallons of crude oil
and ethanol. The nation’s fleet of tens of thousands of tank cars,
coupled with a 140,000-mile network of rail lines, had emerged as a
viable way to move these economically essential commodities. But few
thought to step back and take a hard look at the industry’s readiness
for the job. <br />
In a series of stories, McClatchy has detailed how government and
industry are playing catch-up to long-overdue safety improvements, from
redesigning the tank cars that carry the oil to rebuilding the track and
bridges over which the trains run.<br />
Those <b></b>efforts <b></b>in the past year and a
half may have spared life and property in many communities. But they
came too late for Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, a Canadian lakeside resort town
just across the border from Maine. A train derailment there on July 6,
2013, unleashed a torrent of burning crude oil into the town’s center.
Forty-seven people were killed.<br />
“Sometimes it takes a disaster to get elected officials and agencies
to address problems that were out there,” said Rep. Michael Michaud,
D-Maine, a member of the House of Representatives subcommittee that
oversees railroads, pipelines and hazardous materials, who’s leaving
Congress after six terms.<br />
Other subsequent but nonfatal derailments in Aliceville, Ala.,
Casselton, N.D., and Lynchburg, Va., followed a familiar pattern:
massive fires and spills, large-scale evacuations and local officials
furious that they hadn’t been informed beforehand of such shipments.<br />
The U.S. Department of Transportation will issue a set of new rules
in January regarding the transportation of flammable liquids by rail.<br />
“Safety is our top priority,” said Kevin Thompson, a spokesman for the <a href="http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0001">Federal Railroad Administration</a>,“both in the rule-making and through other immediate actions we have taken over the last year and a half.”<br />
Nevertheless, McClatchy has identified other gaps in the oversight of crude by rail:<br />
– The Federal Railroad Administration entrusts bridge inspections to
the railroads and doesn’t keep data on their condition, unlike its
sister agency, the Federal Highway Administration, which does so for
road bridges.<br />
– Most states don’t employ dedicated railroad bridge inspectors. Only
California has begun developing a bridge inspection program.<br />
– The U.S. Department of Transportation concluded that crude oil from
North Dakota’s Bakken shale region posed an elevated risk in rail
transport, so regulators required railroads to notify state officials of
large shipments of Bakken crude. However, the requirement excluded
other kinds of oil increasingly transported by rail, including those
from Canada, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah.<br />
– While railroads and refiners have taken steps to reserve the
newest, sturdiest tank cars available for Bakken trains, they, too, have
ruptured in derailments, and Bakken and other kinds of oil are likely
to be moving around the country in a mix of older and newer cars for
several more years.<br />
<span class="ng_subhead">Staying power</span>
<br />
American railroads moved only 9,500 cars of crude oil in 2008 but
more than 400,000 in 2013, according to industry figures. In the first
seven months of 2014, trains carried 759,000 barrels a day – that’s more
than 200,000 cars altogether – or 8 percent of the country’s oil
production, according to the federal <a href="http://www.eia.gov/">Energy Information Administration</a>.<br />
The energy boom, centered on North Dakota’s Bakken region, was made
possible by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a horizontal drilling
method that unlocks oil and gas trapped in rock formations. It was also
made possible by the nation’s expansive rail system.<br />
Crude by rail has become a profitable business for some of the
world’s richest men. Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, bought <a href="http://www.bnsf.com/">BNSF Railway</a>
in 2009. It’s since become the nation’s leading hauler of crude oil in
trains. Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, is the
largest shareholder in <a href="http://www.cn.ca/">Canadian National</a>, the only rail company that has a direct route from oil-rich western Canada to the refinery-rich Gulf Coast.<br />
Amid a worldwide slide in oil prices in recent weeks, crude by rail
shows few signs of slowing down. The price per barrel of oil has dropped
nearly 50 percent since last January. Still, the six largest North
American railroads reported hauling a record 38,775 carloads of
petroleum the second week of December. <br />
“We anticipate that crude by rail is going to stay over the long term,” said Kevin Birn, director at <a href="https://www.ihs.com/">IHS Energy</a>, an energy information and analysis firm, and a co-author of <a href="http://unconventionalenergy.blogs.ihs.com/2014/12/23/crude-transport-by-rail-in-north-america-here-to-stay-free-report/">a recent analysis of the trend</a>. <br />
Regulatory agencies and the rail industry may not have anticipated
the sudden increase in crude oil moving by rail. However, government and
industry had long known that most of the tank cars pressed into crude
oil service had poor safety records. And after 180 years in business,
U.S. railroads knew that track defects were a leading cause of
derailments.<br />
To be sure, railroads are taking corrective steps, including
increased track inspections and reduced train speeds. They’ve endorsed
stronger tank cars and funded beefed-up training for first responders.<br />
Ed Greenberg, a spokesman for the <a href="https://www.aar.org/">Association of American Railroads</a>,
the industry’s principal trade group, said railroads began a
“top-to-bottom review” of their operations after the Quebec accident.<br />
“Every time there is an incident, the industry learns from what
occurred and takes steps to address it through ongoing investments into
rail infrastructure, as well as cutting-edge research and development,”
he said. “The industry is committed to continuous improvement in
actively moving forward at making rail transportation even safer.”<br />
But the industry continues to resist other changes, including calls for more transparency. The dominant Eastern railroads, <a href="http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en.html">Norfolk Southern</a> and <a href="http://www.csx.com/">CSX</a>, sued Maryland to stop the state from releasing information to McClatchy <b></b>about crude oil trains.<br />
The industry also seeks affirmation from the courts that only the
federal government has the power to regulate railroads. The dominant
Western carriers, BNSF and <a href="http://www.up.com/">Union Pacific</a>,
joined by the Association of American Railroads, sued California over a
state law that requires them to develop comprehensive oil
spill-response plans.<br />
<span class="ng_subhead">‘Need to know’</span>
<br />
After a CSX crude oil train <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/05/02/226425_lynchburg-va-oil-train-derailment.html?rh=1">derailed in downtown Lynchburg</a>,
Va., on April 30, spilling 30,000 gallons of Bakken crude into the
James River, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an emergency
order: Railroads carrying more than 1 million gallons of Bakken crude,
or about 35 tank cars, were required to begin notifying state
emergency-response commissions where and how often such shipments moved
so that communities could prepare better in case of accidents.<br />
The railroads, used to keeping such information close to the vest,
asked state officials to sign nondisclosure agreements treating the
reports as confidential and limiting their release to those with “a need
to know.”<br />
Some states initially agreed, and the Transportation Department
voiced no objections. Others, however, declined to sign the agreements,
finding no reason to exempt the oil train reports from their
open-records laws.<br />
Since June, McClatchy has obtained full or partial Bakken train
reports from 22 states. The reports show an estimated range of how many
Bakken trains pass through each county each week, and the routes they
use. Some states, such as Virginia and New York, released all the
details. Illinois, however, didn’t reveal the routes. Alabama and New
Jersey disclosed only the counties, not the routes or frequency.<br />
Having lost the fight in California, Washington state and elsewhere,
some railroads continued to press their case in other states that the
reports were security and commercially sensitive. After the <a href="http://www.pema.pa.gov/Pages/Default.aspx#">Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency</a> denied McClatchy’s request in July, McClatchy appealed the decision to the state’s <a href="http://openrecords.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/open_records/4434">Office of Open Records</a>.<br />
In October, the open records office ordered the emergency management
agency to release the records. Days later, the agency posted them, in
full, on its <a href="http://www.pema.pa.gov/Pages/Bakken-Crude-Information.aspx#.VKM5KMmPa5I">website</a>.<br />
In July, the <a href="http://www.mde.state.md.us/Pages/Home.aspx">Maryland Department of the Environment</a>
was about to release the Bakken reports to McClatchy when two
railroads, Norfolk Southern and CSX, sued the state to block the
release. <br />
The Federal Railroad Administration all but put the issue to rest in October. In guidance published in the <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/#%21documentDetail;D=FRA-2014-0011-0023">Federal Register,</a>
the agency said no federal law protected the Bakken train reports from
public disclosure and that the information they contained was neither
security nor commercially sensitive.<br />
Delaware, West Virginia, Idaho and Tennessee, which denied
McClatchy’s requests outright, haven’t reconsidered since the federal
guidance. Texas has made no decision on how much information, if any, to
release.<br />
Greenberg, of the Association of American Railroads, said the
industry remained concerned that publicly releasing the information
“elevates security risks by making it easier for someone intent on
causing harm.” The reports “should remain with local, state and federal
emergency responders,” he added.<br />
Mapped out, the reports show concentrated streams of Bakken traffic
radiating from North Dakota to the Mid-Atlantic, Gulf Coast and Pacific
Northwest. The reports do not, however, show smaller quantities of
Bakken or any quantity of other kinds of crude oil shipped by rail.
Individual railroads may be notifying emergency responders of such
cargoes, but at least for now, they aren’t required to do so.<br />
The Federal Railroad Administration has sought comment on whether the
reporting threshold should be lower and include other types of crude
oil.<br />
Thompson, the railroad administration spokesman, said the May
emergency order was meant to be “a powerful but narrowly constructed
tool to address an imminent hazard,” the one presented by Bakken crude.<br />
“It was and remains an interim step in our ongoing effort to ensure the safe transport of crude by rail,” he said.<br />
<span class="ng_subhead"> <b>In the dark</b></span>
<br />
In March, emergency response officials in Sacramento, Calif., were stunned to learn that the decommissioned <a href="http://www.afcec.af.mil/brac/mcclellanafb/">McClellan Air Force Base</a> on the city’s northwest side had become a transfer point for crude oil.<br />
After a McClatchy reporter told him about the facility, the city’s
interim fire chief sent his battalion chief and a hazardous materials
inspector to the site, where they found 22 tank cars loaded with crude
oil. The facility had been operating for several months, without the
knowledge of local fire chiefs or the county emergency manager. It had
also been operating without a permit from the <a href="http://www.airquality.org/">Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District</a>, apparently in violation of California’s strict environmental laws.<br />
The same week McClatchy’s <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/">Sacramento Bee </a>published a <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/03/29/222807_sacramento-officials-kept-in-dark.html?rh=1">story</a>
in late March revealing its existence, the facility received a permit
to transfer 11 million gallons of crude oil a month from trains to
trucks.<br />
In September, <a href="http://earthjustice.org/">EarthJustice</a>, a
San Francisco-based environmental group, sued the air quality management
district, challenging its decision to issue the permit without public
comment or an environmental impact review.<br />
In October, Sacramento County’s top air-quality official rescinded
the permit, acknowledging that its approval was a mistake. The McClellan
transfer operation shut down in mid-November.<br />
Two or three Bakken trains a month are moving <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/article4331978.html">through California’s capital</a> to other destinations, and area officials are bracing for a big increase: The <a href="http://www.energy.ca.gov/">California Energy Commission</a> projects that rail could deliver 22 percent of the state’s petroleum needs in a few years.<br />
In response to growing concern about emergency preparedness amid the
rise in crude by rail, the industry established a special training
program at its <a href="http://www.aar.com/">research and testing facility</a> in Pueblo, Colo.<br />
Since classes began in July, the nation’s largest railroads have
spent $5 million to train 1,500 emergency response personnel at the
school. <a href="http://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/">Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D</a>., persuaded the <a href="http://www.fema.gov/">Federal Emergency Management Agency</a> to contribute another $5 million to continue the program.<br />
“Our emergency responders are often our first line of defense – and they usually do it without pay,” <a href="http://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=475616b6-e73b-4364-81ae-852d6a1137c2">Heitkamp said Monday in a statement</a>. “It’s on all of us to make sure they have the training and resources they need to protect our families and communities."<br />
Individual railroads also bring training to many communities along
their routes. CSX, for example, just concluded an 18-city tour with its
Safety Train, a mobile classroom that educates first responders on the
basics of responding to rail accidents. The railroad said 2,200
personnel from 350 departments had participated.<br />
But the training may have its limits.<br />
The <a href="http://www.nfpa.org/">National Fire Protection Association</a> estimated that <a href="https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/tables/11s0352.pdf">in 2009</a>,
the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were
about 1.1 million firefighters spread across 30,000 departments. More
than 800,000 of them were volunteers. Nationwide, volunteer departments
have turnover rates of 20 percent to 50 percent.<br />
Steve LoPresti, the hazmat chief for Montgomery County EMS in
suburban Philadelphia, said his department was all-volunteer. The
department has a “robust” training schedule, he said, and has worked
with other agencies as well as railroads hauling crude oil through the
county.<br />
But it can be tough for volunteers to take the time off for training, even if someone else pays for it.<br />
“They have full-time jobs, maybe part-time jobs,” LoPresti said. “They’re family men. They have other responsibilities.”<br />
Lac-Mégantic showed the enormous risk that even the best-trained firefighters might face. <a href="http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/sites/default/files/hearings/Rangeley%20Chief%20Pellerin%20testimony.pdf">In Senate testimony last April</a>,
Tim Pellerin, a Maine fire chief whose department assisted its Quebec
neighbor, said it had taken 1,000 firefighters from 80 departments on
both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border 30 hours, a million gallons of
water and 8,000 gallons of firefighting foam to bring the massive blaze
under control.<br />
Rick Edinger, assistant chief of the Chesterfield County, Va., Fire and EMS department and a hazardous materials expert who <a href="https://ntsb.gov/news/events/2014/railsafetyforum/presentations/Panel%203_C_Rick%20Edinger.pdf">testified on oil train fires</a> at the <a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/Pages/default.aspx">National Transportation Safety Board</a>
in April, said in an interview that most departments were capable of
responding to an incident involving a 9,000-gallon gasoline tanker
truck. But one rail car can hold as much as 30,000 gallons. A 100-car
oil train could contain 3 million<br />
“Once you reach that point of no return,” he said, “it doesn’t matter what the volume is.”<br />
<span class="ng_subhead">Unheeded warnings</span>
<br />
A common thread runs through the Lac-Mégantic, Aliceville and
Casselton derailments: the workhorse DOT-111 tank car. The NTSB has been
warning about it for decades.<br />
The car is minimally reinforced and has a well-documented tendency to puncture or rupture in derailments.<br />
A series of explosions from the late 1960s to the late 1970s killed
dozens of people, including railroad workers and first responders,
prompting an overhaul of the pressurized tank cars then used to haul
flammable and toxic gases with many of the same features under
discussion now.<br />
The problems subsided by the early 1980s. But unlike those cars, the
DOT-111 wasn’t similarly retrofitted. And it continued to fail
catastrophically in derailments that involved flammable or poisonous
liquids, as three decades of NTSB accident reports reviewed by McClatchy
demonstrate.<br />
Many of those accidents – from Newark, N.J., in 1981 to Dunsmuir,
Calif., in 1991 to Baltimore in 2001– were caused by track defects or
human error. <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/01/27/215650_railroad-tank-car-safety-woes.html?rh=1">But in report after report</a>, the NTSB warned that the design of the DOT-111 tank car increased the severity of these accidents.<br />
About a decade ago, railroads began transporting large volumes of
ethanol, a renewable, highly flammable alternative fuel. Rail
transportation of ethanol grew over several years, peaking at 360,000
carloads in 2011. At least seven fiery derailments from 2006 to 2012
involving ethanol transported in DOT-111 cars sent another warning.<br />
In June 2009, a Canadian National train derailed on washed-out track
at a road crossing at Cherry Valley, Ill. Multiple DOT-111 tank cars
punctured, spilling more than 300,000 gallons of ethanol. A woman was
killed when the massive blaze engulfed her vehicle at the crossing.<br />
The Association of American Railroads petitioned the <a href="http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/">Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration</a>
in March 2011 for an improved tank car design. About a year later,
then-NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman wrote Cynthia Quarterman, who was
then the head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, pleading for improvements to the DOT-111. In her reply,
Quarterman concurred with Hersman but expressed concerns about the cost.<br />
Two months after Lac-Mégantic went up in flames in July 2013,
Quarterman’s agency released its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,
the first step in the usually lengthy process.<br />
Last July, the Transportation Department proposed a 2017 deadline to
phase out or retrofit the DOT-111 fleet. But for now, the car is
ubiquitous in crude oil and ethanol trains nationwide.<br />
Among other steps taken by the department this year, the Federal
Railroad Administration’s Thompson noted that it had “issued a safety
advisory requesting companies to take all possible steps to avoid using
DOT-111 tank cars when transporting Bakken crude.”<br />
That wasn’t enough to satisfy environmental groups, which <a href="http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2014/groups-bring-new-legal-action-for-federal-ban-of-dangerous-oil-tank-rail-cars">petitioned</a>
the Transportation Department for an immediate ban on DOT-111 cars
hauling Bakken crude oil. When the department denied the petition, the
groups sued.<br />
Railroads generally don’t own the tank cars used to transport oil by train.<br />
Since the more recent high-profile accidents, many refiners have
opted to go with the higher standard the rail industry adopted
voluntarily in 2011, with thicker shells and extra shielding on the ends
of the cars, as well as features that protect top and bottom valves in
case of a derailment.<br />
BNSF and <a href="http://www.cpr.ca/en">Canadian Pacific</a>, two of the biggest Bakken haulers, have imposed surcharges on crude oil shippers who use pre-2011 tank cars.<br />
However, the oil and rail industry’s principal trade groups have
requested that regulators give them more time to phase out the cars.
Under both government and industry proposals, the cars with the fewest
protections could remain in crude oil service through 2020.<br />
The $1.1 trillion spending bill Congress approved in December
contains a requirement that the DOT issue its final rule by Jan. 15.<br />
Even the newer cars have vulnerabilities. Post-2011 cars involved in a
derailment last January in New Augusta, Miss., spilled 50,000 gallons
of heavy Canadian crude.<br />
So did at least one newer car in Lynchburg, which released its entire
contents of Bakken crude into the James River, most of which burned.
The city’s downtown was spared.<br />
Some of the most vocal advocates for a more aggressive timeline for
retrofitting or retiring the DOT-111 fleet are elected leaders in cities
and towns. Karen Darch, the village president of Barrington, Ill., a
Chicago suburb, has testified on Capitol Hill and submitted comments to
regulators. Two busy rail lines intersect in her community, and trains
carrying crude oil and ethanol pass within feet of homes, businesses and
schools.<br />
“We have people who are, quite literally, sitting ducks,” she said.<br />
<span class="ng_subhead"> <b>Repeated violations</b></span>
<br />
In Tuscaloosa, repairs are underway on the century-old bridge. But
its condition had received less attention from local, state and federal
authorities, and the railroad that maintains it, before crude oil trains
began rolling over its rotting timbers in 2013.<br />
The <a href="http://www.tcida.com/">local industrial development authority</a> gave $785,000 in tax abatements to the <a href="http://www.huntrefining.com/home.aspx">Hunt Refining Co</a>. to build a two-track rail terminal capable of unloading 600,000 gallons of crude oil a day at its Tuscaloosa refinery.<br />
Mike Smith, a lawyer for the agency, said its jurisdiction didn’t
extend beyond the refinery and that it had no authority to evaluate the
condition of, or require repairs to, the rail infrastructure that leads
to it. A spokeswoman for Hunt, based in Houston, declined to comment.<br />
The <a href="http://www.adem.state.al.us/default.cnt">Alabama Department of Environmental Management</a>
quickly approved Hunt’s permits to build and operate the terminal, with
no public comment or review. A spokesman for the department didn’t
return multiple phone calls seeking comment.<br />
The Federal Railroad Administration doesn’t inspect bridges. That responsibility rests with the railroad.<br />
The <a href="http://www.watcocompanies.com/rail-services/abs/">Alabama Southern Railroad</a>, which is owned by <a href="http://www.watcocompanies.com/">Watco</a>,
a company headquartered in Pittsburg, Kan., maintains the Tuscaloosa
bridge and the track that runs across it. Regulators have cited the
company many times over the years for safety violations. Federal
Railroad Administration inspection reports obtained through a Freedom of
Information Act request show that inspectors recommended penalties for
Alabama Southern 15 times from January 2006 to September 2013.<br />
In June, an Alabama Southern train carrying crude oil derailed in
Buhl, Ala., about 12 miles west of Tuscaloosa. Though nothing spilled,
seven battered tank cars remained on the ground for the next two months,
a short distance from people’s front porches. <br />
Tracie VanBecelaere, a Watco spokeswoman, said the company would
invest as much as $17 million over three years in new rail, ties and
ballast on the 62-mile Alabama Southern line between Tuscaloosa and
Columbus, Miss. <b></b><br />
In late October, bundles of new crossties lined the track near a road
crossing in Northport, across the river from Tuscaloosa. Tie
replacements “will continue for several months,” VanBecelaere said.<br />
She said the track was inspected more than federal law required and
was checked ultrasonically for internal defects twice a year.<br />
The old bridge is getting a $2.5 million overhaul as part of the same
project, VanBecelaere said. She said it had passed an inspection over
the summer.<br />
John Wathen, an environmentalist who’s been monitoring the condition
of the rail infrastructure around Tuscaloosa for the past year, wonders
whether it’s enough.<br />
“The repairs I see them making right now are more like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound,” he said <b>.</b><br />
<span class="ng_subhead">Potential for disaster</span>
<br />
October is a busy time in Tuscaloosa, with Alabama football season in
full swing. One home-game weekend this year, there were no hotel rooms
available within 50 miles of the city. Tuscaloosa’s population expands
on home game days. The university’s <a href="http://www.rolltide.com/facilities/bryant-denny.html">Bryant-Denny Stadium</a> can hold more than 100,000 fans.<br />
The railroad bridge is perhaps more than a mile from the stadium, as
the crow flies. Across the river in Northport, a whole encampment of
recreational vehicles owned by football fans sits just 50 feet from the
structure. The city council allows the tailgaters to park their campers
there for the season’s duration.<br />
The 7,500-seat <a href="http://www.tuscaloosaamphitheater.com/">Tuscaloosa Amphitheater</a>,
which recently hosted Mary J. Blige and the Doobie Brothers, sits near
the bridge on the opposite bank. The Oliver Lock and Dam, a popular
fishing spot, is about half a mile downriver.<br />
Thousands more people descend on Northport in October for the annual <a href="http://www.kentuck.org/festival.html">Kentuck Festival of the Arts</a>.<br />
Most Tuscaloosa residents know about the bridge and some have stories
about how it intersects with their lives. But few know about the
hazardous cargoes that creep across it in slow-moving trains, and with
them the potential for disaster.<br />
And Tuscaloosa knows disaster. On April 27, 2011, a powerful tornado,
with winds of 190 mph, ripped through the city, chewing up
neighborhoods, schools and shopping centers. Of the 65 Alabamians killed
by the tornado that day, 52 were in Tuscaloosa.<br />
For Wathen, a big worry is that if an oil train derailed on or near
the bridge, it wouldn’t take long for the spilled cargo to reach the
Black Warrior River. Once it reached the dam, Wathen said, it would be
virtually impossible to clean up, no matter what kind of oil it was.<br />
“It would be an environmental catastrophe,” he said.<br />
Wathen has other fears, as well. In addition to the 47 fatalities,
the derailment and fire in Lac-Mégantic destroyed 50 buildings,
consuming the heart of the city’s business district.<br />
“Lay that footprint over Tuscaloosa or Northport,” Wathen said.
“Nothing would have survived within the fire footprint. We’ve seen that
already.”</div>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-15910629626498745842015-07-17T10:28:00.002-07:002015-07-20T06:42:32.972-07:00Safe by Whose Standards?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Safe by <span data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">Whose</span></span></span></span> Standards?</h2>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
After 2.5 million dollar "repair" job bridge still needs work. </h4>
07/16/15 <br />
John L. Wathen<br />
(Follow links to more background info. use back button to return here)<br />
((All photos enlarge when clicked))<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHF1MaxQ9HLoiTunetHXfvGT0cpMoPvSO4qwcOtOBvSgi-DbqDdQIkilrO5JVoD1XF7zGAHZhyvMG2OHOSaKqjkCSUanO3M2wuV7v5c-Ur4wgB5WCe_nie_7ueIuy85gnSGA8zsDBR-yf/s1600/IMG_0908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHF1MaxQ9HLoiTunetHXfvGT0cpMoPvSO4qwcOtOBvSgi-DbqDdQIkilrO5JVoD1XF7zGAHZhyvMG2OHOSaKqjkCSUanO3M2wuV7v5c-Ur4wgB5WCe_nie_7ueIuy85gnSGA8zsDBR-yf/s400/IMG_0908.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flight provided by <a href="http://www.southwings.org/">SouthWings</a></td></tr>
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WATCO Railroad maintains that the bridge over Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa, Al. is safe. By <span data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">whose</span></span></span></span> standards? Since there are no federal standards for the construction and maintaining such structures who oversees them to make sure they are safe? The owners.<br />
<br />
If a developer in town builds a house it goes through rigorous inspections at every step of the process. Doesn't it make sense that an industry that hauls such dangerous cargo's as crude oil and chemicals would be held to a similar national standard for bridges? That's not the case.<br />
<br />
After the <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/01/update-on-aliceville-bakken-train-wreck.html">Alliceville train wreck</a> where a unit train of Bakken crude blew up and left over 20 cars into the swamp there I started really paying attention to the oil-by-rail issue and was disturbed by some of my findings. <br />
<br />
During the time the Aliceville tracks were being rebuilt unit trains (bomb trains) were being routed through Tuscaloosa via the oldest bridge over the Black Warrior River in the area. Although WATCO, the owners of the bridge maintain that no Bakken has crossed the bridge. Genesee & Wyoming RR stated that until the cause of the Aliceville wreck was known no oil was being shipped across that line. It was being diverted across a northern route to avoid the Aliceville site. The only feasible route I could find available on that line found on Google maps takes the trains straight through downtown Northport and Tuscaloosa Alabama.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YKpA-nwRE1DUePC6QFO1H2MFSA0cVURlnHlb-plUbVFrLiVGTQYIXEQ8WZM4VKv4-V8I6cQqX3QA7N2-48OZOBEPWAnjNC4k2XsY24yczTNlDRIypaTiSLmoLHLhF4V2tzDHkY4Q5eWK/s1600/IMG_0986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YKpA-nwRE1DUePC6QFO1H2MFSA0cVURlnHlb-plUbVFrLiVGTQYIXEQ8WZM4VKv4-V8I6cQqX3QA7N2-48OZOBEPWAnjNC4k2XsY24yczTNlDRIypaTiSLmoLHLhF4V2tzDHkY4Q5eWK/s320/IMG_0986.jpg" width="320" /></a>According to WATCO, the bridge is owned by Alabama Southern Railroad. When you look them up the listing says "A Watco Co." So I will refer to WATCO as the responsible party until Someone shows me different. Here is a video report posted during the use of what was described as an alternate route to the north. <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/01/alternate-crude-routes.html">"Alternate Crude Routes" </a><br />
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While traveling with a reporter from the Aliceville wreck site we saw a unit train of about 100 cars heading into Tuscaloosa along a route that I later found to be in bad condition, or so it seems to me from the decay I saw. <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/06/buhl-alabama-oil-train-wreck-update.html">Rotted Cross ties, twisted rails,</a> missing spacer plates, spikes not driven in or completely missing. The train was made up just like the Bakken trains with 3 or 4 engines followed by a few box type cars and then as many as 80 to over 100 DOT-111 tank cars followed by 2 more box cars to act as collision buffers. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_3l0gRiUWwn349Q-omICIUqHFGgq3LQXK64a7BH5Gp4TZkdXiDx_p2L0JXVO2-IfVeTng1VCa9-XqaJn1Qs6XvH92xBD5d-Sk4vLR1H0laV_Wdl_FNB_ZST73zGnEpiMKDtNHJmPaQ-4/s1600/IMG_0938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_3l0gRiUWwn349Q-omICIUqHFGgq3LQXK64a7BH5Gp4TZkdXiDx_p2L0JXVO2-IfVeTng1VCa9-XqaJn1Qs6XvH92xBD5d-Sk4vLR1H0laV_Wdl_FNB_ZST73zGnEpiMKDtNHJmPaQ-4/s400/IMG_0938.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">03/24/15 Aerial photos courtesy of <a href="http://www.southwings.org/">flights by SouthWings</a></td></tr>
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The train in the aerial wasn't one we call bomb trains. It has only
about half of the cars normally associated with Bakken trains. I have
documented such trains passing over the bridge during the period when
the Aliceville line was closed.<br />
<br />
We followed it right into town and across an antique bridge built in 1897 to accommodate steam engine trains. In it's day it was state of the art engineering. Today, however it has fallen into disrepair and having to support a lot heaver car with much more dangerous cargoes. <br />
The aerial photo above is of a train hauling only 45 or so cars. It
snakes completely around the downtown Northport and passes within mere
feet of the parking lots for Tuscaloosa Amphitheater.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7v7NqMJ2piLk3oNb3KSyNbMes_GQ0YaBJ1980UYvD8M1dez5NTXw7_ylek0j_wBIKks6_k3m5jxFy7DKiEsrB0HQSa_E7TkL5Ne0t6UhEpGzZ7rO5EnuVD9kAYpT25Xqe5aNhv2vVWBZf/s1600/Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7v7NqMJ2piLk3oNb3KSyNbMes_GQ0YaBJ1980UYvD8M1dez5NTXw7_ylek0j_wBIKks6_k3m5jxFy7DKiEsrB0HQSa_E7TkL5Ne0t6UhEpGzZ7rO5EnuVD9kAYpT25Xqe5aNhv2vVWBZf/s320/Map.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://explosive-crude-by-rail.org/">For an interactive map visit this link</a> </td></tr>
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Following Google Earth you can see where the lines separate in Miss. with one leading to Aliceville and the other to Tuscaloosa. The map seen on the right shows the known explosive oil routes coming out of Miss. There are only 2 coming through this area.<br />
<br />
Shortly after the video above was released there was another train wreck in <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/06/another-one-in-ditch.html">Buhl Alabama</a> on the same line we documented the bomb train only a few weeks prior. This time it was not Bakken and the train seemed to have just rolled off the tracks. It is a class 1 track with a speed limit of less than 10 MPH. After looking at the rotten cross ties I started looking up the line at the infrastructure. What I found was alarming. I am not an engineer nor do I hold any scientific degrees but I consider myself to be less than stupid and have enough common sense to see things that to me are dangerous.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4WKpnifRrPNohXfqD11R5JIFSaYSn5Kxidt1nspQ4mEI3BzCPgGUdCJUamhk8MmCPBG6363sIjcH_aE_T_sML74c3nDeIrR-2zwlvIJo9diDSkTMKcuuIohktIecvQGO4ksaC0yyHdcN/s1600/Buhl+wrech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4WKpnifRrPNohXfqD11R5JIFSaYSn5Kxidt1nspQ4mEI3BzCPgGUdCJUamhk8MmCPBG6363sIjcH_aE_T_sML74c3nDeIrR-2zwlvIJo9diDSkTMKcuuIohktIecvQGO4ksaC0yyHdcN/s320/Buhl+wrech.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After the Buhl wreck <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/07/exploderende-olietreinen-in-de-vs.html">I was contacted by a film crew from the Netherlands</a> wanting to do a story about bomb trains and the Tuscaloosa bridge. I was surprized that a documentary company from overseas saw this as important enough to report.<br />
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Shortly after that I was contacted by the Weather Channel wanting to do a piece covering the bridge. It was released on Dec.08, 2014. <a href="http://stories.weather.com/boom">"Boom" (North America's Oil-By-Rail Problem)</a> I met with the reporter Marcus Stern for a walk about around the bridge. We documented many broken cross members, rusted metal, heavy wooden braces hanging like widow makers from the bridge in a public use area.<br />
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McClatchy news agency contacted me about it soon after the Wx Channel left. Curtis Tate came down and had done his homework. He already knew a lot about the issue and routes taken by the trains. His story was released 12/31/14 and was hard hitting. He touched on many of the issues covered by Wx Channel but added a lot of info to the story. <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2015/07/trains-plus-crude-oil-equals-trouble.html">"<span style="font-weight: normal;">Trains plus crude oil equals trouble down the track".</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Until these stories were posted no one locally thought it was news worthy. It was after all the national media attention that a story was posted in the Tuscaloosa News proclaiming the rail road was <a href="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20150111/NEWS/150119949">spending 2.5 million dollars on repairs. </a>There was a flurry of activity for a while then it stopped. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1nEDcrIf53rJH8cJRHL4UmZiyJ4s2DoAvIGpvy7h0okGP9AQ1z3TqI2QRiYNHvwFMo8mlml38fxs8dU8jRU1aekmPjyRTw9agH3C4-k-UV8Zhiv3n7PLojor9epYzNcHMh8RS1wz8qnn/s1600/IMG_2404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1nEDcrIf53rJH8cJRHL4UmZiyJ4s2DoAvIGpvy7h0okGP9AQ1z3TqI2QRiYNHvwFMo8mlml38fxs8dU8jRU1aekmPjyRTw9agH3C4-k-UV8Zhiv3n7PLojor9epYzNcHMh8RS1wz8qnn/s320/IMG_2404.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">Recently I returned to the site with a reporter doing a story for Hemispheres Magazine. I was disappointed to see the still questionable condition of the bridge. Some of the rotten poles had been replaced and some cosmetic repairs, for lack of a better term had been done. The T'News story ran on Jan.11, 2015. When I returned 5 months later I found much to be concerned about still. There were some broken pieces of creosote railing on the ground right under hanging cross arms left hanging during the 2.5 million dollar so-called repairs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Several of the poles had been replaced but many more still stand with rotted centers and makeshift splices. There were two piles of new poles sitting by the bridge but not used. Why? Why not do the whole job instead of using half efforts. It amounts to more like window dressing to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">In the video accompanying the "Boom" story </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">at 6 min 27 seconds in you will see a broken cross brace installed to stabilize the piers. On May 27th, 10, 2015 which was 4 months after the 2.5 million dollar repairs but it still hangs exactly as it was in Jan. 2015. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8HrsyEy3FOubTkh1sZOCqwoTue0keQNkQ1X5U_9iaRDyaDzYEEwTlp_Rx3fLS1VCNacIVCftW6za0-nWOLfNZvmdjL8Hz5E9pl_v4Xl0bq52v4FVmIk7bL4A4k916MySpafHzQTmY1oj/s1600/Boom+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8HrsyEy3FOubTkh1sZOCqwoTue0keQNkQ1X5U_9iaRDyaDzYEEwTlp_Rx3fLS1VCNacIVCftW6za0-nWOLfNZvmdjL8Hz5E9pl_v4Xl0bq52v4FVmIk7bL4A4k916MySpafHzQTmY1oj/s320/Boom+photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screen shot of <a href="https://vimeo.com/113817083">Boom</a> story @ <span style="font-weight: normal;">6 min 27 seconds into video</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by John L. Wathen 5/27/15 4 months after repairs began.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnotLSuWjTQtC5qfs_decz7BlWGp3DAL3VJTe6QzK4_E2JAhwSSv5Plv0lgSEDnRFab0jexYZrB2zdXL2igNkQXL8Yja6ftOUlx5-uGd31NM-g3YFWkJ2HvR4pfbRchB153uT-PiEpzQv/s1600/+%2528101+of+122%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnotLSuWjTQtC5qfs_decz7BlWGp3DAL3VJTe6QzK4_E2JAhwSSv5Plv0lgSEDnRFab0jexYZrB2zdXL2igNkQXL8Yja6ftOUlx5-uGd31NM-g3YFWkJ2HvR4pfbRchB153uT-PiEpzQv/s320/+%2528101+of+122%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Same cross arm hanging 07/15/15, 7 months after repairs began.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I was told by a WATCO representative that they are through with repairs for this year and may plan more for next year. From what I saw it never should have stopped this far short of complete repair. If this is 2.5 million dollars in repairs then it may take about 10 times that to bring it back to a safe condition. On Jan. 11, 2015 Tracie VanBecelaere, communications director for WATCO, said the bridge
work should be finished by next month with the rest of the railroad
repairs finished by April 2015. I can see where it still needs much more work before it is safe.<br />
<br />
There are loads of fresh creosote poles laying in piles close to the
bridge that were never used. Why? I found several bags of concrete long
ago hardened by weather in piles not used. Why?If the crews were on hand and the materials were there then why stop short of completing the job?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7/15/15 WATCO says they are through for this year</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7/15/15</td></tr>
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It makes no sense to me why a company who claims to be so interested in safety would let a bridge decay like this one has in such a sensitive area. They made this comment in the <a href="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20150111/NEWS/150119949?p=1&tc=pg">T'News article</a> 7 months ago.</div>
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"Ed McKechnie, Watco's
executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said through
VanBecelaere that Watco was aware of Wathen's concerns with the train
trestle."</div>
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"John has a
passion for the environment just as we have a passion for the safety of
the communities we serve and our team members," she said. "We are
constantly reinvesting in our railroads and are committed to operating
them safely." This goes way beyond any environmental concerns. This is a concern for human safety!</div>
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What I have seen in the past few days leads me to be even more concerned than ever. Not only did they not complete the repairs that were started, there is now more to do than ever.</div>
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Examination of the rock pillar in the river on the Tuscaloosa side of the span I found that it was placed on a wooden form, filled with stone from the river and poured with what passed for cement in the 1890's. There were no electric vibrators like we use today to make the concrete settle into the form so many voids can be seen. </div>
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The wooden cribbing has long ago rotted away allowing the stone to pour out into the river. </div>
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Leaving there I walked through the public use areas and found many of
the cross arms still broken and hanging like widow makers over people's
heads who use the area.Tuscaloosa built the Amphitheater with parking on both sides of the tracks but no safe walking path through the structure. People have to walk under the bridge with no warning of the hazards hanging overhead. <br />
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The
people and walkway seen in the upper photo are in a public use area
behind the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater which is less than 70 feet from the bridge.
They were taking photos with a toddler. None of them were
aware of the danger of hanging debris until I pointed it out. The young
lady seen below was actually sitting on a blanket directly under a
hanging cross arm waiting for a train to take pictures. When I showed
her the broken member hanging over her she promptly moved.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLNFxm3enEDR0GrcOgKAQ14EzN3psiewhBAIacLtzjHsSS4bX_NAKqNltkSwkMi1PczGA082Lak3vwcZ8RTf_udHlHKK8Ktavf28oCn3THI33NhaYKDAnNUdp9to_vlRnDFdmVEdX_HXk/s1600/+%252832+of+122%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLNFxm3enEDR0GrcOgKAQ14EzN3psiewhBAIacLtzjHsSS4bX_NAKqNltkSwkMi1PczGA082Lak3vwcZ8RTf_udHlHKK8Ktavf28oCn3THI33NhaYKDAnNUdp9to_vlRnDFdmVEdX_HXk/s320/+%252832+of+122%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Seen
directly behind her is what I call a makeshift repair that should never
have been installed as a permanent fix. It amounts to cutting out a
portion of rotten support pole and slipping in a section of new or less
used poles. A steel or plastic pipe is slipped over the two and bags of
sacked concrete poured in the void. In my opinion this is what amounts
to what my dad called jury rigging. </div>
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If it were just one here and there it might not pose an issue. The
reality of it is that there are more than 200 of these spread throughout
the structure. From the Tuscaloosa side where the bridge begins to the
river span there are 86, give or take a couple. It's only about an 800
foot span. About 1/4 of those are grouped in one place directly adjacent
to the back of the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater.</div>
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In this one photo I counted 19 such repairs, 2 broken cross arm braces and lots of rot. I can't believe that after spending 2 million dollars to repair the bridge this is accepted.</div>
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On the Northport side I counted 158 such repairs, give or take a couple, starting at second street and going to the river. Some of the heaviest concentrations of such makeshift repairs are within a few feet of residences seen on the left with a couple of tons of discarded waste laying nearby. This is a common practice on this line and others. Simply throwing creosote poles and cross ties in the right of way and drainage ditches is unacceptable.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_sHV3EC0rpHA1xfgF77gVNbc349-TxIU0Y3zJ79ikX8l-UC2er2xfCyOdiMuD8tPTIm3kcSRrUoq3TpPpYlwRd_v60pruKre3N8BES23Ppio_Fg3DevCJKV81_4N0tMAp4lFPbeUImwb/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252847+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_sHV3EC0rpHA1xfgF77gVNbc349-TxIU0Y3zJ79ikX8l-UC2er2xfCyOdiMuD8tPTIm3kcSRrUoq3TpPpYlwRd_v60pruKre3N8BES23Ppio_Fg3DevCJKV81_4N0tMAp4lFPbeUImwb/s320/Steel+cancer+%252847+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Steel Cancer!<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">On the Northport side along the public walking trail I was shocked to see the amount of rust on the span leading out over the river. It amounted to a steel cancer eating away the very base the bridge needs to hold the weight of today's unit trains and dangerous cargo. Whether there has or has not been shipments of Bakken crude through here it is a fact that unit trains hauling All sorts of crude oil and dangerous chemical cargoes over what should be consider to be a dangerous bridge.</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUSZlBCmBOkW2Y0SzgU2N4yKkMX6QswAax1BHapeNstyaTniNCkFtS3jIQVboj_QVgNLfw8sQFzXHBovxzKx3bPpl0BR6OkMiwtqApE50vRecpPMOcaLEfr1Ov7stux-EXlU_Q5gTmz_A/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252810+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUSZlBCmBOkW2Y0SzgU2N4yKkMX6QswAax1BHapeNstyaTniNCkFtS3jIQVboj_QVgNLfw8sQFzXHBovxzKx3bPpl0BR6OkMiwtqApE50vRecpPMOcaLEfr1Ov7stux-EXlU_Q5gTmz_A/s320/Steel+cancer+%252810+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Note the rust stains on the cracked concrete piers. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jnkjuXl4yb_zQMB9L4la1e_JU6VjIZHDETUY6A5515fJpulhZC2U_mZWGNFREl8LIUVZQuN5M5KikYxzTXsVoyBoHhJ8RJKJiBuhQYY_W69nLraGvMSxOg23umXHLVp_a7eLpiOvpDVw/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252814+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jnkjuXl4yb_zQMB9L4la1e_JU6VjIZHDETUY6A5515fJpulhZC2U_mZWGNFREl8LIUVZQuN5M5KikYxzTXsVoyBoHhJ8RJKJiBuhQYY_W69nLraGvMSxOg23umXHLVp_a7eLpiOvpDVw/s320/Steel+cancer+%252814+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rust piled 3 inches deep on concrete fell from steel</td></tr>
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The next 3 photos are of the actual steel footers the bridge rests on. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GS-5rm9B-1n-rCcss6T6zbYQfs5yp-ZFp5oL4wQFJf-J8GyB9RjQ2TYVkBhQA4wcMweGBjFpyXUlrNcT44s3wp2OPi6hpiAoOZVnEGKHODXeLPY_s0yhXzZqIY8nIny4XToQ-fJdx_mF/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252820+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GS-5rm9B-1n-rCcss6T6zbYQfs5yp-ZFp5oL4wQFJf-J8GyB9RjQ2TYVkBhQA4wcMweGBjFpyXUlrNcT44s3wp2OPi6hpiAoOZVnEGKHODXeLPY_s0yhXzZqIY8nIny4XToQ-fJdx_mF/s320/Steel+cancer+%252820+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holes rusted through in critical areas.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyI9ON_2dDAYOcej4eStHRCp1gpGz9iLL0N5XMjYwMPq4xjRMtgmmZoeaD7AUVN4gH7-5gTvKyf_Qa7jQZoQluy6idjFcAT_J_Ot7I2jsKmLUwaN0bf00-3NsD-VWBdGKg5hXW3qcVadT/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252828+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyI9ON_2dDAYOcej4eStHRCp1gpGz9iLL0N5XMjYwMPq4xjRMtgmmZoeaD7AUVN4gH7-5gTvKyf_Qa7jQZoQluy6idjFcAT_J_Ot7I2jsKmLUwaN0bf00-3NsD-VWBdGKg5hXW3qcVadT/s320/Steel+cancer+%252828+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20150111/NEWS/150119949?p=1&tc=pg">From Tuscaloosa News Jan. 11, 2015</a><br />
"Watco said the train trestle is inspected annually by Watco inspectors,
Kansas City Southern inspectors and a third-party bridge inspector,
Osmose Railroad Services."<br />
Although the rules call for inspections there doesn't seem to be a mandate to require repairs based on the findings.<br />
<br />
This span starts directly over the walking trail at the Northport levee
and leads out over the river. All 4 piers are in similar condition. I
can't see the Tuscaloosa side as well as this but assume I will find similar conditions. Lots of rust and
obvious cracks in concrete piers poured as long as a century ago.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7_qTxJ5pPy6vzI6zoE9SJYphhLZxk49GYxesgOIhzska4qLq3iI8WUQZAhyX9e0bXHIigryAN96SDc7LM8HVb_YJ-7UE4fHHfSyljps3_2ZqMr0fXkX4CqL7fnUxA0lEzNRkPJJT0Bs7/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252877+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7_qTxJ5pPy6vzI6zoE9SJYphhLZxk49GYxesgOIhzska4qLq3iI8WUQZAhyX9e0bXHIigryAN96SDc7LM8HVb_YJ-7UE4fHHfSyljps3_2ZqMr0fXkX4CqL7fnUxA0lEzNRkPJJT0Bs7/s320/Steel+cancer+%252877+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Along the Northport side leading through the public use area there are
steel structures I was told that were designed to stabilize sway and
bucking when a train is passes over. Whatever the reason, ALL of them
are infected with the steel cancer called rust. No one has painted them
in decades it looks like. The steel has been eaten from about 1 inch in
places to less that 1/4 of the original thickness. Most of them were badly rusted on all 4 mounting piers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRWdGbVLrCWoHozR_QjXUVUK8ExqF_4TyNZPLV_7xQGlxinYZyQLkvLsmZOl5ZuO7a-H_UmHScdFaZZuQxqWKO1Af07zlddEkXuDxVYqQOaUHTc9mcOKYqKAq9VDCbeWcpK81r6-TjqYn/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252871+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRWdGbVLrCWoHozR_QjXUVUK8ExqF_4TyNZPLV_7xQGlxinYZyQLkvLsmZOl5ZuO7a-H_UmHScdFaZZuQxqWKO1Af07zlddEkXuDxVYqQOaUHTc9mcOKYqKAq9VDCbeWcpK81r6-TjqYn/s320/Steel+cancer+%252871+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Some of the gussets installed to brace corners were rusted all the way through. You can see daylight through a steel plate, it's way too rusty to withstand it's original load capacity. Steel in this condition can't be welded, it must be replaced.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0ez6TFwIFZbcEV2G2hsd2y_Jbqn7ooRUOSc3T5oqPz_XEQ-5j6qCiQIKvQaxcnVnrZHtq6mwf4Aoi1JHKbwjh4Jsls8_42l9xpO2MOlGL_cWDWtWJBdYIsNRZ2fMOFFlLLlMkJgLX4lL/s1600/Steel+cancer+%252868+of+113%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0ez6TFwIFZbcEV2G2hsd2y_Jbqn7ooRUOSc3T5oqPz_XEQ-5j6qCiQIKvQaxcnVnrZHtq6mwf4Aoi1JHKbwjh4Jsls8_42l9xpO2MOlGL_cWDWtWJBdYIsNRZ2fMOFFlLLlMkJgLX4lL/s320/Steel+cancer+%252868+of+113%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
The photo to the left is where it was marked showing a plate rusted all
the way through. The paint is so old it has faded and the rust is now
bleeding through. While I can't say there have been no inspections, this begs the question of why are they not acting expeditiously to correct these problems obviously to me that are years old?<br />
<br />
None of the steel spans show any signs of paint or repairs. Sandblasting these now would blow holes through the rotted steel. What looks to be the original primer paint may be all the paint it has ever seen. </div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
<br />
If this was after 2.5 million dollars worth of repairs it will probably take hundreds of millions to completely fix its true problems. I laughingly made a comment not long ago that to fix the problems they need to start with a bulldozer. That might not really be a joke!</div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The company maintains that it is safe. </h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
By <span data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".61.1:5:1:$comment10207359541290042_10207359724534623:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">whose</span></span></span></span> standards? There are no standards. Does that surprise or alarm anyone outside the industry? It should! </div>
</div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
Federal Railway Administration has no authority to even set standards for bridge construction and or repair? The state has no authority, cities or counties are voiceless in the issue even though many of our cities and rural communities are plagued with crumbling infrastructure and ever more dangerous cargoes being shipped through our yards. If the company says it's safe no one in government can challenge because there is no universal standard. I find that absurd since the rail industry is the only industry who can not refuse to haul hazardous cargo according to government rules. That must change if we are ever going to be safe from potential disasters like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/news/the-lives-they-lived/2013/12/21/regulars-of-the-musi-cafe/">Lac-Mégantic Canada. </a></div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
Take oil out of the equation. In my opinion this bridge isn't safe enough to haul sand much less toxic and sometimes deadly products. This isn't the only place where rail conditions are less than acceptable. All of America should be concerned about the safety of living and commuting along these potential bomb corridors.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUquZnBkjqaF_eQegT5sl9gU5_TkIvR0UOF9ZYVbUScZQON_4pjKZ1m7qZtHli0ZnefhlMZlEJz-mNb1a_2prHpGbtV9qmxshIQLN6BQaPv9SK7QgiafQkxzE8POAWBdUXd2HaCcKA4VmX/s1600/11059420_10206379187981822_1813985225876361793_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUquZnBkjqaF_eQegT5sl9gU5_TkIvR0UOF9ZYVbUScZQON_4pjKZ1m7qZtHli0ZnefhlMZlEJz-mNb1a_2prHpGbtV9qmxshIQLN6BQaPv9SK7QgiafQkxzE8POAWBdUXd2HaCcKA4VmX/s320/11059420_10206379187981822_1813985225876361793_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="coverText containsSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">
It's hard for me to believe but here during football games and art shows at Kentuck park people are allowed to park RV's under the bridge and tailgate with the entire family. On July 4th this year I video documented the fun and was alarmed to see a train roll through the fireworks smoke while thousands of people on both sides of the river were under or in very close proximity of this dangerous situation.<br />
<br />
When people say "It can't happen here" I respond with LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec, Aliceville Alabama, Casselton ND., Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, Lynchburg Virginia, Mount Carbon WV., and the list goes on and on. Most of the people impacted thought it would never happen to them. <br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
July 4th, 2015 </h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
</h4>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SjL23lSKAHE" width="420"></iframe>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-26728345494093500712015-07-17T06:57:00.001-07:002015-07-17T06:57:52.650-07:002 rail cars leaking crude after oil train derails in Montana<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From Tuscaloosa News...<br />
<h1 class="art_head">
2 rail cars leaking crude after oil train derails in Montana</h1>
<br />
<div class="art_byline">
</div>
<div class="art_pubdate" data-date="07/17/2015">
<h5>
Published: Friday, July 17, 2015 at 4:38 a.m.</h5>
<h5>
Last Modified: Friday, July 17, 2015 at 4:38 a.m.</h5>
</div>
<div class="article_text article_paragraph1">
CULBERTSON, Mont. (AP) — More than 20 cars on an oil train
derailed in rural northeastern Montana and at least two of them were
leaking crude, authorities said. Some area homes were evacuated.<br />
There
were no immediate reports of injury or fire, but of the 21 cars that
derailed only two remained upright, Roosevelt County Sheriff Jason
Frederick said.<br />
Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Michael
Trevino said the train was pulling 106 loaded crude oil cars when it
derailed near Culbertson near the North Dakota border just after 6 p.m.
MDT Thursday.<br />
Police, fire and other emergency responders were at
the site of the derailment, which forced the closure of U.S. Highway 2,
the region's main artery.<br />
Frederick told The Associated Press that
crews were not getting too close to the leaking cars until a BNSF
hazardous materials team arrives from Texas.<br />
But he said that there was no immediate threat to public safety.<br />
The sheriff didn't know how many homes were evacuated but described area as a rural setting with ranch homes spread apart.<br />
The
Billing Gazette reported that the derailment came only about six hours
after rail traffic started moving again after another BNSF derailment
further west near Fort Kipp on Tuesday.<br />
Rail officials declined to
specify if the train was hauling crude from North Dakota's Bakken oil
patch, where growing numbers of shipments have raised safety concerns.<br />
Trains hauling crude from the Bakken region have been involved in multiple derailments in recent years, some causing fires.<br />
U.S.
transportation officials recently extended an order for railroads to
notify states about shipments of hazardous crude oil shipments.<br />
___<br />
AP writers Thomas Peipert in Denver, Matt Volz in Helena, Mont., and Bob Seavey in Phoenix contributed to this report.</div>
</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-85978487207686164822015-05-06T09:42:00.002-07:002015-05-06T09:45:07.775-07:00A North Dakota town was evacuated after a Warren Buffett-owned oil train derailed and caught on fire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1>
A North Dakota town was evacuated after a Warren Buffett-owned oil train derailed and caught on fire</h1>
<div class="post-top">
<div class="flex byline">
<div class="flex-item">
<div class="list-pipes">
<ul>
<li class="all-caps author-byline ks-author-byline"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/amanda-macias">Amanda Macias</a> <span class="text-and">and</span> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/reuters">Reuters</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="list-pipes">
<ul>
<li class="date" data-bi-format="date" rel="1430924880">May 6, 2015, 11:08 AM</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="share">
<span class="text"></span><span class="text"></span><span class="text"></span>A train carrying crude oil derailed and caught fire in Wells
County, North Dakota, on Wednesday, officials said, just days after
the US government announced sweeping reforms to improve safety of the
volatile shipments.
</div>
</div>
The nearby town of Heimdal was evacuated after as many as many as 10
tank cars of a BNSF train came off the rails, local media and fire
officials said. There were no injuries, officials said. BNSF is owned by
billionaire Warren Buffett.<br />
A photo posted on Facebook by a local radio station showed flames and
heavy black smoke from several tank cars that had derailed in a field.<br />
According to <a href="http://www.kxnet.com/story/28992031/oil-tank-cars-on-fire-east-of-harvey-nd" target="_blank">KX News</a>,
Heimdal is a 40-person town in central North Dakota that is located
along one of the main rail lines heading east out of the giant Bakken
oil patch.<br />
About two-thirds of all North Dakota oil production is shipped by
rail; three-quarters of that oil goes to refiners on the US East Coast.<br />
<br />
<span class="image on-image" data-post-image="" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="rail line" border="0" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/554a3226eab8ea29084ac2e4-919-454/rail%20line.jpg" height="195" width="400" /><span class="source"> </span></span><span class="image on-image" data-post-image="" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="source">Google Maps/Amanda Macias/Business Insider</span></span><br />
"The FRA has deployed a ten person investigation team to the
site and will be conducting a thorough investigation into the cause of
the accident," Sarah Feinberg, acting administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration, said in a <a href="http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L16357" target="_blank">press statement</a>.<br />
BNSF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<br />
<br />
The derailment came just days after the US Department of
Transportation and Canada's Transport Ministry announced new rules last
Friday for oil trains, including phasing out older tank cars, adding
electronic braking systems, and imposing speed limits. The measures were
all meant to reduce the frequency and severity of oil-train crashes.<br />
The volume of crude oil shipped by rail has rocketed in recent years
as production increases from areas like North Dakota outpaced new
pipeline development.<br />
A spate of explosive accidents have accompanied that growth, the
worst of which occurred in July 2013 when a train derailed in the town
of Lac Megantic in Canada, killing 47 people.<br />
Already this year, five trains have derailed and caught fire in
the United States and Canada, all in rural areas. No deaths have
occurred but the accidents have stoked fears about the safety of
transporting crude oil by rail.<br />
(Reporting By New York Energy desk; Editing by Frances Kerry)</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-39997441153754723242015-05-06T09:39:00.002-07:002015-05-06T09:39:54.702-07:00Heimdal, North Dakota, Evacuated After Fiery Oil Train Crash<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="ember-view" id="ember834">
<h1 class="stack-heading">
Heimdal, North Dakota, Evacuated After Fiery Oil Train Crash</h1>
</div>
<address class="stack-byline">
<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/heimdal-north-dakota-evacuated-after-fiery-oil-train-crash-n354686">By Lisa Riordan Seville, Sean Federico-O'Murchu and Tracy Connor</a></address>
<div class="ember-view stack-capsule-wrapper" id="ember847">
<div class="ember-view" id="ember850">
A
tiny North Dakota town was evacuated Wednesday after a train carrying
crude oil derailed and 10 cars burst into flames, local authorities
said. It is the latest in a string of explosive oil train derailments
that have raised concerns about the large volume of crude moving across
America's tracks.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember851">
No injuries have been
reported from the derailment of a BNSF train near Heimdal, North Dakota.
The town, which in 2010 had a population of 27, has been evacuated, as
have farms near the crash site.
</div>
<div class="ember-view ad-location" id="ember856">
<div class="ad-container">
<div class="ad-content" data-bindattr-10="10" id="moceanTop-news-us-news-n354686-ember856">
</div>
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<div class="ember-view" id="ember857">
"I was in the house at 7:15 a.m. when we thought we heard thunder," witness Jennifer Willis told NBC News.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember858">
She went out to the scene, about an eighth of a mile away, and found the area covered in black smoke.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember859">
"It was kinda awesome.
It's kinda scary to hear it. It was like fireworks going off. You could
hear little explosions going off. I sat there for 15 minutes and you
could hear it going off," she said.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember860">
Fire crews from three
nearby towns were called in, and BNSF said it was aware of the incident
and cooperating with first responders.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember861">
The National
Transportation Safety Board was sending a five-person team to the site,
and the Federal Railroad Administration dispatched 10 investigators.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember862">
"Today's incident is yet
another reminder of why we issued a significant, comprehensive rule
aimed at improving the safe transport of high hazard flammable liquids,"
the FRA said in a statement. "The FRA will continue to look at all
options available to us to improve safety and mitigate risks."
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember863">
Last week, federal
regulators passed new safety rules governing crude by rail, which has
become a booming business thanks to the growth in U.S. oil production.
Nearly 450,000 tankers of crude moved through North America last year,
up from just 9,500 in 2009.
</div>
<div class="ember-view ad-location" id="ember868">
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<div class="ad-content" data-bindattr-11="11" id="moceanTop-news-us-news-n354686-ember868">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember869">
The Heimdal accident
comes nearly two years after a tragic oil derailment killed 47 people
and destroyed the center of a small Quebec town.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember870">
"There are trains pretty much all day going through," Willis said of Heimdal. "A lot of them carry grain and, of course, oil."
</div>
<h2 class="ember-view" id="ember875">
IN-DEPTH</h2>
<ul class="ember-view" id="ember880">
<li><strong><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-federal-rules-aim-stop-fiery-oil-train-crashes-n352221">New Rules Aim to Stop Fiery Oil Train Crashes</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/railroads-want-one-man-crews-massive-freight-trains-n308541">Can One Person Operate a Massive Freight Train</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember886">
</div>
<div class="ember-view widget-container facebook_embedded_post" id="ember889">
<div class="fb-post fb_iframe_widget" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1095067587173993&amp;set=a.341585532522206.101872.100000122869923&amp;type=1&amp;theater">
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</div>
<time class="stack-firstpub" title="2015-05-06 14:50:41 Z">First published May 6th 2015, 9:50 am</time>
<aside class="stack-talent">
<div class="stack-l-details no-photo">
<h1 class="stack-heading-talent">
Lisa Riordan Seville</h1>
Lisa Riordan Seville is a reporter and off-air producer for the NBC News Investigations Unit. Her stories...
<a class="stack-talent-bio-moreless" href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/heimdal-north-dakota-evacuated-after-fiery-oil-train-crash-n354686#">Expand Bio</a>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-56637422807387414512015-05-06T09:37:00.003-07:002015-05-06T09:37:45.503-07:00North Dakota Town Evacuated After Train Derailment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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North Dakota Town Evacuated After Train Derailment</h1>
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Updated: Wed 9:56 AM, May 06, 2015</div>
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<a class="fancy" href="http://media.graytvinc.com/images/heimdal+derail+picture+from+Jennifer+Willis.jpg" rel="story_group" title="Courtesy: Jennifer Willis">
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Courtesy: Jennifer Willis</div>
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A North Dakota town has been evacuated after a train derailment Wednesday morning.<br />
The Wells County Sheriff's Office tells Valley
News Live the town of Heimdal, ND was evacuated after an oil train went
off the tracks and started on fire around 7:30 a.m.<br />
Heimdal is in between Harvey and New Rockford.<br />
BNSF said in a statement the train was carrying crude oil and that initial reports from the crew indicate there are no injuries.<br />
Spokesperson Amy McBeth says the tank cars involved in the incident are the unjacketed CPC-1232 models.<br />
Fire crews from Harvey, Fessenden and Maddock
have all been called in to fight the fire. An official with Harvey Fire
says at least 5 oil tanker cars are burning.<br />
Witness Jennifer Willis lives about a half mile
from where the train derailed. She says she heard it happen this
morning and it sounded like thunder.<br />
Willis has been evacuated from her home. She
tells Valley News Live the closest they've been allowed to the scene is
an 1/8th of a mile and you could feel the heat.<br />
Stay with Valley News Live and ValleyNewsLive.com for more on this breaking story.<br />
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-42552963921565379902015-03-25T08:37:00.001-07:002015-03-25T08:37:07.077-07:00Cantwell, Murray, Baldwin, and Feinstein Introduce Oil Train Safety Legislation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><img class="CToWUd" height="74" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=caa4c7994e&view=fimg&th=14c517ed4b225554&attid=0.0.1&disp=emb&realattid=509e2df3f12985e4_0.0.1&attbid=ANGjdJ_nbGeEIEWxUlR6S8GDtxMjPSYAnPtlOW_kPvNS6mwSGs92JZhseMznjYEvl34rpF-ZgFWtImbgQ45dWOoEAls4rRN38qwAeyqFeoW4AdJxWF2ks_yl8iwfEGI&sz=w148-h148&ats=1427296567553&rm=14c517ed4b225554&zw&atsh=1" width="74" /></span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 48.0pt;">United
States Senate</span></i></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">For Immediate Release <wbr></wbr> CONTACT: Cantwell Press Office: <a href="tel:%28202%29%20224-8277" target="_blank" value="+12022248277">(202) 224-8277</a></span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_553972343" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday, March 25, 2015</span></span> Baldwin Press Office: <a href="tel:%28202%29%20224-6225" target="_blank" value="+12022246225">(202) 224-6225</a></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Feinstein Press Office: <a href="tel:%28202%29%20224-9629" target="_blank" value="+12022249629">(202) 224-9629</a></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Murray Press Office: <a href="tel:%28202%29%20224-2834" target="_blank" value="+12022242834">(202) 224-2834</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.95pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 24.0pt;">Cantwell, Murray, Baldwin, and Feinstein Introduce Oil Train Safety Legislation</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Bill would set new standards for crude volatility, take unsafe tank cars off the tracks, and increase fines for violations</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwn2iPUHZnX8xalKPwv22vwtow_tD05r75UeXP2rzojL_pF9VA_8PnMUKCPTM0X5StWM1x9BEqKJZiBGTFZ4u-DMw2faCEON63f_tthNk2PPyeQjDWa13Vuo6s6od8NyurcBEaOvAe0IpO/s1600/Copy+right-271.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwn2iPUHZnX8xalKPwv22vwtow_tD05r75UeXP2rzojL_pF9VA_8PnMUKCPTM0X5StWM1x9BEqKJZiBGTFZ4u-DMw2faCEON63f_tthNk2PPyeQjDWa13Vuo6s6od8NyurcBEaOvAe0IpO/s1600/Copy+right-271.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">WASHINGTON, D.C.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> –
Today, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy
Baldwin (D-WI), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced legislation that
would set strong new safety standards for trains hauling volatile crude
oil, to better protect American communities along the tracks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The
Crude-By-Rail Safety Act of 2015 requires the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to draft new regulations to
mitigate the volatility of gases in crude
oil shipped via tank car and immediately halt the use of older-model
tank cars that have been shown to be at high risk for puncturing and
catching fire in derailments.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">“Every new derailment increases the urgency with which we need to act,”
</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">said Senator Cantwell, ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.<b>
“Communities in Washington state and across the nation see hundreds of
these
oil tank cars pass through each week. This legislation will help
reduce the risk of explosion in accidents, take unsafe tank cars off the
tracks, and ensure first responders have the equipment they need. We
can’t afford to wait for ten accidents per year,
as estimated by the Department of Transportation.”</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">“Families
and communities in Washington state and across the country should be
able to feel safe knowing that every precaution is being taken
to protect them from oil train disasters,”</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Senator Murray said.
<b>“This legislation will help make sure the most dangerous tank cars
are kept off the tracks and is a strong step forward in reducing the
risks of oil train accidents and making sure our communities have the
resources they need to be prepared for emergencies
if they happen.”</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">“As
more and more volatile crude oil moves through Wisconsin and through
our country via rail it is critical that appropriate safety measures are
in place to reduce the risk of
deadly accidents,” </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Senator Baldwin said.<b>
“I’m proud to join Senators Cantwell, Feinstein and Murray in
introducing legislation that takes immediate action to phase
out the most dangerous tank cars carrying crude oil through our
communities and I am hopeful our colleagues in the Senate will join us
to prevent future oil train tragedies from occurring as we work to
increase safety and efficiency along America’s railways.”
</b></span><b><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: #1f497d;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">“As
more crude oil is moved by train, we’re seeing a surge in derailments
and explosions. Until we deploy safer tank cars and stronger safety
rules, countless communities across
the country face the risk of a devastating accident,”</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Senator Feinstein said.
<b>“That’s why I’m supporting Senator Cantwell’s bill, which will save
lives and property and ensure that railcar investments now underway will
lead to significant safety improvements. We can’t wait for the next
deadly accident to take the necessary steps to
improve rail safety.”</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The legislation would:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Require PHMSA standards for volatility of gases in crude oil hauled by rail.
</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Immediately
ban the use of tank cars shown to be unsafe for shipping crude oil.
Those models include DOT-111s and unjacketed CPC-1232s.
</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Require new tank car design standards that include 9/16<sup>th</sup> inch shells, thermal protection, pressure relief valves and electronically-controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Increase
fines on railroads that violate hazardous materials laws and establish
new fines for railroads and energy companies that don’t comply with
safety laws.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Authorize
funding for first responder training, equipment and emergency
preparedness. Also would authorize funding for increased rail
inspections and energy product testing.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Require comprehensive oil spill response plans for trains carrying oil, petroleum and other hazardous products.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Mandate railroads establish a confidential “close-call” reporting system for employees to anonymously report problems.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Require
railroads to disclose crude-by-rail movements to State Emergency
Response Commissions and Local Emergency Planning Committees along
hazmat rail routes.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The
legislation follows four fiery derailments involving oil trains since
the start of February. No injuries were reported, but a July 2013
derailment in downtown Lac-Mégantic,<b>
</b>Quebec, resulted in 47 deaths. The U.S. Department of Transportation
estimates an average of 10 derailments annually over the next 20 years
as crude-by-rail shipments grow, costing $4 billion.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Five
years ago, railroads hauled almost no crude oil. Now, more than 1.1
million barrels per day – with more expected – move by rail, largely
originating in the Midwest. But safety
regulations have not kept pace, and thousands of tank cars now in use
to haul hazardous materials were not designed to carry the more
flammable crude that comes from regions such as the Bakken shale.
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-73147641066775489162015-03-06T05:42:00.000-08:002015-03-06T05:42:58.809-08:00Another fiery oil train derailment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<header><div class="byline">
<span class="source">CBS/AP</span><span class="time">March 6, 2015, 6:45 AM</span></div>
<h1 class="title" itemprop="headline">
Another fiery oil train derailment</h1>
</header><div class="article-image" itemprop="image">
<span class="img "><img alt="" src="http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/03/06/c5bd5404-4300-4c55-9c9a-1d6b056ba1e2/thumbnail/620x350/a428a53d90617b4d250747746f3d0b1f/ap649196302212.jpg" /></span>
</div>
<div class="image-caption">
As seen from near Bellevue, Iowa, smoke rises from train derailment March 5, 2015, near Galena, Illinois
<span class="image-credit "> AP</span> </div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="entry" id="article-entry" itemprop="articleBody">
<strong></strong><strong>GALENA, Ill. --</strong> A freight
train loaded with crude oil derailed in northern Illinois, bursting into
flames and prompting officials to suggest that everyone with 1 mile
evacuate, authorities said.<br />
The BNSF Railway train derailed
Thursday afternoon in a rural area where the Galena River meets the
Mississippi, according to company spokesman Andy Williams. The train had
103 cars loaded with crude oil, along with two buffer cars loaded with
sand. A cause for the derailment hadn't yet been determined. No injuries
were reported.<br />
Only a family of two agreed to leave their home,
Galena City Administrator Mark Moran said at a news conference late
Thursday, adding that the suggestion to evacuate was prompted by the
presence of a propane tank near the derailment.<br />
The derailment
occurred 3 miles south of Galena in a wooded and hilly area that is a
major tourist attraction and the home of former President Ulysses S.
Grant. The Jo Daviess County Sheriff's Department confirmed the train
was transporting oil from the Northern Plains' Bakken region.<br />
Earlier
in the day, Moran said 8 tankers had left the track. But Williams said
at the news conference that only six cars derailed, two of which burst
into flames and continued to burn into the night.<br />
Firefighters
could only access the derailment site by a bike path, said Galena
Assistant Fire Chief Bob Conley. They attempted to fight a small fire at
the scene but were unable to stop the flames.<br />
Firefighters had to
pull back for safety reasons and were allowing the fire to burn itself
out, Conley said. In addition to Galena firefighters, emergency and
hazardous material responders from Iowa and Wisconsin were at the scene.<br />
The derailment comes amid increased public concern about the safety of shipping crude by train. <br />
According
to the Association of American Railroads, oil shipments by rail jumped
from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 500,000 in 2014, driven by a boom in the
Bakken oil patch of North Dakota and Montana, where pipeline limitations
force 70 percent of the crude to move by train.<br />
Since 2008,
derailments of oil trains in the U.S. and Canada have seen 70,000-gallon
tank cars break open and ignite on multiple occasions, resulting in
huge fires.<br />
A train carrying Bakken crude <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/criminal-probe-opened-in-quebec-train-crash/" target="_blank">crashed in a Quebec town in 2013, killing 47 people</a>. That same year, another crash <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/evacuations-strongly-urged-near-nd-derail-fire-site/" target="_blank">sent flames shooting into the sky in North Dakota</a>. Last year, it happened in <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/train-carry-crude-derails-in-virginia-catches-on-fire/" target="_blank">Lynchburg, Virginia</a>.<br />
Last month, a train carrying 3 million gallons of North Dakota crude <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/west-virginia-oil-train-derailment-threatens-water-supply/" target="_blank">derailed in a West Virginia snowstorm</a>, shooting fireballs into the sky, leaking oil into a river tributary and forcing hundreds of families to evacuate.<br />
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/train-that-derailed-in-west-virginia-had-new-tanker-cars-for-crude-oil/" target="_blank">That blaze</a> and the one sparked Thursday in Illinois involved CPC 1232 model tank cars, railroad officials said.<br />
That
model "is the newer, supposedly tougher version of the DOT-111 car
manufactured before 2011, which was faulted by regulators and operators
for a number of years," the Reuters news agency explains.<br />
Older rail cars <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-train-derailment-probe-focuses-on-fire-hours-before-quebec-disaster-tankers-with-history-of-puncturing/" target="_blank">have been prone to punctures</a>, and the industry is <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-dakota-derailment-just-latest-in-a-series-of-oil-train-accidents/" target="_blank">moving toward tank cars with thicker shells</a>.<br />
The
ruptures and fires have prompted the Obama administration to consider
requiring upgrades such as thicker tanks, shields to prevent tankers
from crumpling, rollover protections and electronic brakes that could
make cars stop simultaneously, rather than slam into each other.<br />
Improving railroad tank car safety was one of the National Transportation Safety Board's <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ntsb-releases-2015-most-wanted-safety-list/" target="_blank">"most wanted" items </a>on their 2015 safety list.<br />
In
a statement, the Federal Railroad Administration said it was sending
investigators to the Illinois derailment site and that the agency will
conduct a "thorough investigation," to determine the cause.<br />
BNSF spokesman Michael Trevino said railroad employees were on the scene and additional personnel were headed there.<br />
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner also put state personnel and equipment at the ready for deployment.<br />
In
a statement Thursday night, the railroad also said it was establishing a
claims center at the site of the incident to help and assist local
residents who may have incurred damage to their property or are in need
of temporary relocation.<br />
"BNSF is also taking precautionary
measures to protect the waterways in the area and will conduct air
quality monitoring," the railroad added.<br />
</div>
</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-42109690339206328102015-02-19T06:21:00.005-08:002015-02-19T06:21:57.382-08:00 Ontario, Riverkeeper Calls for Immediate Steps to Protect Public From Danger of Crude Oil Trains<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Ontario, Riverkeeper Calls for Immediate Steps to Protect Public From Danger of Crude Oil Trains</h2>
Leah Rae, Riverkeeper, (914) 478-4501 ext. 238 or (914) 715-6821, <a href="mailto:lrae@riverkeeper.org" target="_blank">
lrae@riverkeeper.org</a>
<br />
<em><b>After Disasters in West Virginia and Ontario, Riverkeeper
Calls for Immediate Steps to Protect Public From Danger of Crude Oil
Trains</b></em><br />
OSSINING, N.Y. – Feb. 18, 2015 – In the wake of two crude oil train
disasters in three days, Riverkeeper is calling for immediate federal
and state action to protect communities and the environment from the
imminent hazard presented by the virtually unregulated
shipment of crude oil by rail.<br />
"What will it take for our leaders to act?" John Lipscomb, captain of
Riverkeeper's Hudson River Boat Patrol Program, asked, in light of the
litany of crude-by-rail derailment disasters that have happened in the
past two years. "How many more derailments?
How many more explosions? This is an unacceptable risk."<br />
Every year, billions of gallons of oil move through states like New
York – over crumbling bridges, through pristine ecosystems, and
alongside schools and businesses. New federal safety rules for the
surging industry of rail shipment of crude oil are due
out this May – months after they were originally slated to be
published. But the plan is riddled with loopholes, and the most obvious
step – taking the worst-designed, most dangerous rail cars out of
service – wouldn't happen for years.<br />
Enough studies. Enough waiting. Riverkeeper and communities around
the nation once again call upon the State of New York and the Secretary
of Transportation to take immediate action to address the
all-too-evident dangers threatening our communities, economies
and environment every day.<br />
The State of New York should act on its emergency authority to
suspend the permits granted to Port of Albany oil transloading
facilities, which facilitate this ongoing endangerment. The state
Department of Environmental Conservation must then require an
environmental impact statement prior to any possible reactivation of
those permits.<br />
The U.S. Secretary of Transportation must, based on the imminent
hazard posed by crude-by-rail, issue an Emergency Order applicable to
all crude and ethanol transport by rail that immediately:<br />
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
Institutes a speed limit, taking into account rail conditions,
environmental and public health risks, and community vulnerabilities,
that protects the public.</li>
</ul>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
Limits the length of these trains, as <a href="http://www.riverkeeper.org/news-events/news/preserve-river-ecology/oil-transport/petition-seeks-to-limit-length-weight-of-oil-and-hazardous-material-trains-to-prevent-more-derailments/" target="_blank">
Riverkeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity requested last year,</a> in order to limit the devastation which could result from the next rail disaster.</li>
</ul>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
Prohibits the use of the 23,000 tank cars identified by the NTSB and
PHMSA as being the most vulnerable and least resilient tank cars on the
rails. These “worst” tank cars – which include both CPC-1232s and
DOT-111s – should not be permitted for use in hauling
any other hazardous liquids (such as tar sands crude oil).</li>
</ul>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
Requires that railroads immediately develop comprehensive spill response
plans keyed geographically to each county through which these trains
travel. Such plans are required for vessels carrying crude oil, but not
for trains – an unacceptable loophole that
needs to be closed.</li>
</ul>
Monday's derailment in West Virginia unleashed a huge fireball,
destroyed a home, forced residents to evacuate and closed downstream
public water supply intakes. Another oil train derailed and exploded in
rural Ontario Saturday night. These incidents follow
a string of other rail disasters across the continent, most tragically
the derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July 2013, in
which 47 people lost their lives.<br />
“No community should be subject to the real, imminent dangers that
crude oil trains present,” said Sean Dixon, Riverkeeper Staff Attorney.
"But the oil burning on the Kanawha River in West Virginia could as
easily be on the Hudson River. Imagine the fireballs
going up in our communities. Imagine our river on fire. Imagine our
drinking water intakes closed."<br />
"The very same crude oil rolls through our communities and along our
rivers, from Buffalo to Albany, along the Mohawk, down the Champlain
Valley, through Hudson Valley communities like Albany, Catskill,
Kingston, Newburgh, and West Nyack," Dixon said. "The
federal and state governments must act now to protect our communities,
our river, our environment."<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<em>Riverkeeper is a
member-supported watchdog organization dedicated to defending the Hudson
River and its tributaries and protecting the drinking water supply of 9
million New York City and Hudson Valley residents.</em></div>
</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-58747847457327318132015-02-19T06:19:00.004-08:002015-02-19T06:19:47.990-08:00 Waterkeepers Chesapeake Decries Another Crude Oil Train Explosion <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 class="itemTitle">
Waterkeepers Chesapeake Decries Another Crude Oil Train Explosion </h2>
<h3 class="itemTitle" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="itemDateCreated">Wednesday, 18 February 2015 10:38 </span>
</h3>
<ul class="lefttoolbar">
<li>
<span class="itemAuthor">
<a href="http://www.waterkeeperschesapeake.org/rmk2" rel="author">Robin Broder</a></span></li>
</ul>
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<a class="modal" href="http://www.waterkeeperschesapeake.org/media/k2/items/cache/68b62085e41e8f225811766f8d5eb2bb_XL.jpg" rel="{handler: 'image'}" title="Click to preview image">
<span class="imagehover"></span><img alt="Waterkeepers Chesapeake Decries Another Crude Oil Train Explosion" src="http://www.waterkeeperschesapeake.org/media/k2/items/cache/68b62085e41e8f225811766f8d5eb2bb_L.jpg" style="height: auto; width: 325px;" />
</a>
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<span class="itemImageCredits">Marcus Constantino/Reuters</span>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Disaster on the Kanahwa River in West Virginia is another example of a rail system not </span></i><i><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">able to handle highly volatile Bakken crude oil transport.</span></i></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"><img height="173" src="http://www.waterkeeperschesapeake.org/images/WVderail_WKAwebsite_image.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px;" width="173" /></span></i><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">On
Monday afternoon, a train hauling Bakken crude oil derailed along the
Kanawha River in Fayette County, West Virginia. Twenty of the cars
caught fire and a home was destroyed. There are reports that cars
continued to burn yesterday and an unknown volume of oil has leaked into
the Kanawha River. <a href="http://waterkeeper.org/2015/02/17/waterkeeper-alliance-calls-immediate-action-protect-communities-dangers-crude-transport-rail-aftermath-west-virginia-csx-train-derailment/" target="_blank">West Virginia Headwaters Waterkeeper Angie Rosser</a> is responding to the disaster, with support from Waterkeeper Alliance.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Our
thoughts are with the residents of Fayette County and the first
responders as they deal with this explosion and toxic oil spill. While
one home was damaged, many people evacuated and drinking water supplies
impacted, thankfully no one was seriously injured,” said Betsy Nicholas,
Executive Director of Waterkeepers Chesapeake. “Incidents like this one
are yet another warning that our entire region is at risk. Our rail
systems, suffering from years of delayed maintenance, were not made for
this highly volatile cargo.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">According
to CSX, the train consisted of two locomotives and 107 rail cars and
was traveling from North Dakota to Yorktown, VA, the same rail line that
runs through Lynchburg, Virginia. All of the oil cars were the CPC
1232 models, the presumably upgraded tanker cars that are “safer” than
the outdated, inadequate DOT-111 cars. These newer CPC 1232 also
derailed and exploded on the <a href="http://www.waterkeeperschesapeake.org/blog/item/31-local-waterkeeper-response-to-train-derailment-toxic-oil-spill-on-james-river" target="_blank">James River at Lynchburg in April 2014</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“This dangerous event could have happened on the James River again,” said <a href="http://jamesriverassociation.blogspot.com/2015/02/jra-responds-to-west-virginia-bakken.html?m=1" target="_blank">Pat Calvert, Upper James Riverkeeper</a>.
“This is the same rail line that runs along hundreds of miles of the
James River and through many population centers in Virginia. This is an
alarming reminder that our river and communities continue to be at risk
every day without stronger safety requirements for Bakken crude oil
transport. Increased inspections of the lines carrying this highly
volatile material are vital to the safety of Virginians and the James
River – a key drinking water supply for millions.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><img height="138" src="http://www.waterkeeperschesapeake.org/images/MarcusContantino_tanker_cars.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px;" width="207" />The
number of tanker cars traveling through towns and cities and along
rivers has increased exponentially due to the Bakken oil fracking boom
in North Dakota. The number of tanker cars on U.S. rails jumped from
9,500 carloads in 2008 to 415,000 in 2013, according to the U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT). The Congressional Research Service
reported that 258,541 carloads of crude traveled over the nation's
railroads in the first half of 2014. Bakken crude oil is more volatile
and flammable than other crude oils, as demonstrated by explosion of the
CPC 1232 model tank cars.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">We
are very concerned that access to information about routes and cargo
continue to be kept from the public and that the DOT’s final rules which
were promised in January are delayed until May. Rail safety experts say
that in </span>many circumstances, all local responders would be able
to do in the event of a large tank car fire is simply let it burn. But
that approach would involve tremendous damage in the many densely
populated areas in our region through which crude oil is now moving by
rail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The threats of derailments in cities like Baltimore are real. Two years ago <a href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-05-29/news/bs-md-rosedale-train-derailment-20130528_1_train-derailment-crash-site-hazardous-material" target="_blank">a train was hit at a crossing in Baltimore County and exploded</a>. Several years prior a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed underground within the City, exploded, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Street_Tunnel_fire" target="_blank">burned for days at extremely high temperatures</a>. Days later spilled chemicals from the <a href="http://www.mde.state.md.us/programs/PressRoom/Pages/436.aspx" target="_blank">derailment caused an explosion within the City's stormwater system</a>,
launching manhole covers into the air. During the same April 2014 rain
storm associated with the Lynchburg crude oil derailment and fire, <a href="https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/04/30/railroad-retaining-wall-collapses-in-charles-village/" target="_blank">a retaining wall collapsed and fell onto CSX train tracks</a> in Baltimore, just feet from where the trains run underneath a public park and an elementary school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“The
rail companies are fighting the states to keep the information from the
public. Meanwhile, these crude oil train derailments continue
unabated,” said Nicholas. “All indications are that the U.S. DOT will
allow transport of Bakken crude with these flawed railcars for the
foreseeable future. Our Waterkeepers will continue to fight for stronger
protections and the public’s right to know.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Contact: </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Robin Broder, <span id="cloak80249"><a href="mailto:robin@waterkeeperschesapeake.org">robin(at)waterkeeperschesapeake.org</a></span>, (703) 786-8172</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.waterkeeperschesapeake.org/images/Documents/WKC_WV_derail_statement_02182015.pdf" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">DOWNLOAD FULL STATEMENT</span></strong></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><strong style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Additional resources</span></strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Maps of rail systems and crude oil routes and incidents:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://bit.ly/1vUx6EN" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1vUx6EN</a> (Monday’s derailment)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://riveratrisk.org/" target="_blank">http://riveratrisk.org</a> (James River)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.blast-zone.org/">www.Blast-Zone.org</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/static/features/Trains+Oil/Trouble-down-the-track.html?brand=mcd" target="_blank">Map by county</a> (by McClatchyDc)</span><br />
<a href="http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/oil-trains" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/oil-trains</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.fractracker.org/2014/08/rail-accidents/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.fractracker.org/2014/08/rail-accidents/</span></a><br />
</div>
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<h2 class="itemTitle">
</h2>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-66402218654231801522015-02-17T12:46:00.000-08:002015-02-17T12:46:36.656-08:00Trains are carrying — and spilling — a record amount of oil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1>
Trains are carrying — and spilling — a record amount of oil</h1>
<div class="inline-video-caption">
<span class="pb-caption">Emergency
crews and environmental officials are responding to a train derailment
in West Virginia that sent at least one tanker containing crude oil into
a river and also caused a nearby house to catch fire. (AP)</span> </div>
When
14 tanker cars derailed and exploded Monday near tiny Mount Carbon,
W.V., neighbors likened the fireball to a scene from the apocalypse. It
was “like something Biblical, or wrath-of-God type stuff,”<a href="http://www.charlestondailymail.com/article/20150216/DM01/150219449/1420"> one resident said</a>.<br />
In
fact, the oil spill and fire on the banks of the Kanawha River was the
latest occurrence of a type of accident that U.S. officials say is
becoming distressingly common. Federal agencies are documenting a
dramatic rise in the number of rail mishaps involving oil tankers in the
last three years, as North American producers scramble to find ways to
transport surging oil output to markets.<br />
The<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/17/the-sky-filled-with-fire-after-oil-train-derailed-in-w-va/"> fiery explosion</a> of oil-laden CSX tanker cars along a snowy stretch of south-central West Virginia came just two days after a<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/15/us-canada-derailment-idUSKBN0LJ0S920150215"> similar incident in eastern Ontario</a>, and follows a year that shattered all previous records for rail accidents involving shipments of petroleum products.<br />
<div class="inline-content inline-photo inline-photo-normal horizontal-photo modal-0">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="4576e862c7"></a> <img class="zoom-in" data-hi-res-src="//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/Wires/Images/2015-02-16/Reuters/2015-02-17T002626Z_01_TOR314_RTRIDSP_3_USA-TRAIN-DERAILMENT-CSX.jpg&w=1484" data-low-res-src="//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/Wires/Images/2015-02-16/Reuters/2015-02-17T002626Z_01_TOR314_RTRIDSP_3_USA-TRAIN-DERAILMENT-CSX.jpg&w=480" height="320" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/Wires/Images/2015-02-16/Reuters/2015-02-17T002626Z_01_TOR314_RTRIDSP_3_USA-TRAIN-DERAILMENT-CSX.jpg&w=1484" width="640" /><br /> <span class="pb-caption">This
photo shows the sequence of an explosion erupting after a train
derailment on Feb. 16, 2015. A CSX Corp train hauling North Dakota crude
derailed in Mount Carbon, West Virginia. The incident set a number of
cars ablaze, destroyed a house, dumped oil in rivers like the Kanawha
River and forced the evacuation of two towns in the second significant
oil-train incident in three days. (Reuters/Steve Keenan)</span> </div>
More
than 141 “unintentional releases” were reported from railroad tankers
in 2014, an all-time high and a nearly six-fold increase over the
average of 25 spills per year during the period from 1975 to 2012,
according to records of the federal <a href="http://phmsa.dot.gov/resources/data-stats">Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration</a>.
The year 2013 had fewer accidents but a much larger volume of spilled
crude: 1.4 million gallons, an amount that exceeded the total for all
spills since record-keeping began in 1975.<br />
The increase adds yet another dimension to the controversy overthe construction of oil pipelines such as the<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-passes-keystone-xl-pipeline-bill-despite-obama-promise-to-veto/2015/01/29/3dae7d20-a7e8-11e4-a2b2-776095f393b2_story.html"> Keystone XL</a>.
Oil industry advocates contend that pipelines are safer than rail for
moving flammable petroleum, while opponents say pipelines tend to
experience much <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/oil-pipelines-are-not-safer-than-transporting-oil-by-train/2014/05/11/871171da-d7b8-11e3-8f7d-7786660fff7c_story.html">larger spills</a>.
The latest spill also highlights well-documented shortcomings in the
local preparedness for accidents involving hazardous rail cargo, safety
experts say.<br />
“Back-to-back fiery derailments involving crude oil
trains should be an unmistakable wake-up call to our political leaders,”
said Mollie Matteson, a senior scientist at the <a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/">Center for Biological Diversity</a>, an Arizona-based environmental group.<br />
The toll from the latest disaster is far from clear. West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin <a href="http://www.governor.wv.gov/media/pressreleases/2015/Pages/Governor-Tomblin-Declares-State-of-Emergency-in-Kanawha,-Fayette-Counties.aspx">declared a state of emergency</a>
in two West Virginia counties as firefighters and hazmat crews worked
for a second day to control the fire and contain an oil spill that
contaminated a small creek and threatened to spread to the Kanawha
River, a source of drinking water for cities and towns downstream.
Nearly 2,500 people were evacuated when portions of the 109-car train
derailed and then caught fire in a rural area southeast of Charleston.<br />
Only
one injury was reported, but a nearby house was destroyed as one tanker
after another exploded, creating columns of smoke and flame that could
be seen for miles. A CSX spokesman had no immediate explanation for the
accident but confirmed that leaking oil had already reached one of
Kanawha’s tributaries.<br />
“Fires around some of the cars will be allowed to burn out,” the company said <a href="http://www.csx.com/index.cfm/media/press-releases/1015-pm-monday-february-16-2015-csx-responds-to-west-virginia-derailment/">in a statement</a>.<br />
Transportation
experts have long complained about inadequate oversight and gaps in
local preparedness for such accidents. Earlier this month, the Obama
administration began a review of proposed new rules for oil-hauling
trains, including provisions that would mandate updated tanker designs
for freight trains hauling flammable cargo. But on Tuesday, CSX
officials disclosed that the tankers that caught fire in West Virginia
bore the latest design features, raising doubts over whether the new
rules would have helped.<br />
Part of the problem, energy experts say,
is that transportation has not yet caught up with the sheer volume of
oil being pumped by U.S. and Canadian companies in the past three years.
In 2012, trains carried 40 times more oil than they did in 2008, and
the volume doubled again in the following year, to nearly 800,000
tanker-car loads, according to figures posted by the <a href="https://www.aar.org/">Association of American Railroads</a>.
In production areas where pipelines are unavailable or at capacity,
rail has become the transit choice by default, Charles Esser, an analyst
with the International Energy Association, wrote in a <a href="http://www.iea.org/ieaenergy/issue6/rail-vs-pipelines-how-to-move-oil.html">recent blog</a>.<br />
“North
American rail shipments of oil are by no means unprecedented, but until
the recent surge in production, they were largely limited to stopgap,
temporary use, with pipeline construction favored,” Esser wrote. While
overall only about 10 percent of U.S. crude moves by tanker car, nearly
70 percent of the production from North Dakota’s surging Bakken fields
reaches refineries by rail, he said.<br />
“Not surprisingly, accidents
have increased, as well,” Esser said. The petroleum that spilled in
West Virginia on Monday originated in North Dakota and was headed for an
oil terminal in Yorktown, Va.<br />
As accidents mount, so do chances
for major disasters that could pollute communities and the environment,
Matteson said. She cited the July <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/quebecexplosion.html">2013 derailment in Quebec</a> that killed 47 people and forced the evacuation of 2,000 people.<br />
“People’s
lives are at stake, clean drinking water is at stake, and the
well-being of towns and wildlife along thousands of miles of rail line
are directly in harm’s way of this unchecked, reckless increase in oil
transport by rail,” she said.<br />
<div class="post-body-sig-line">
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/joby-warrick"><img class="post-body-headshot-left" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://wp-eng-static.washingtonpost.com/author_images/warrickjs.jpg?ts=1421439947007&h=180&w=180" /></a><div class="post-body-bio has-photo">
Joby
Warrick joined the Post’s national staff in 1996. He has covered
national security, intelligence and the Middle East, and currently
writes about the environment.</div>
</div>
</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-24548518903123612742015-02-17T12:29:00.002-08:002015-02-17T12:29:35.724-08:00The New, Everyday Fiery Train Crash<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<article class="" id="article" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article">
<h1 class="headline" itemprop="name">
The New, Everyday Fiery Train Crash</h1>
<div class="dek" itemprop="description">
A derailed crude-oil shipment in West Virginia is the latest
terrifying accident—despite new federal regulations and reputedly safer
tanker cars. </div>
<div class="metadata">
<span class="authors"><a class="author" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/david-a-graham/" itemprop="author" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" rel="author">David A. Graham</a></span> <span class="date last-child"><time content="2015-02-17T12:36:04-05:00" datetime="2015-02-17T12:36:04-05:00" itemprop="datePublished">Feb 17 2015, 12:36 PM ET</time></span>
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Even for West Virginia, a state that has suffered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Big_Branch_Mine_disaster">more than its fair share</a> of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/01/life-in-west-virginias-coal-country/384316/">industrial disasters</a>,
the images from a train crash Monday are apocalyptic: many cars
derailed, fires so fierce firefighters are simply waiting for them to
burn out, 300-foot fireballs. "It was like an atomic bomb went off," one
resident <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/west-virginia-train-derailment-sends-oil-tanker-river-204306095.html">told the Associated Press</a>.<br />
<aside class="pullquote instapaper_ignore">As long as the nation and the world runs on fossil fuels, crude oil will have to move across the continent. </aside>Miraculously,
there don't seem to be any serious injuries in the wreck, which took
place south of Charleston. The more-than-1oo-car CSX train was hauling
crude oil from the Bakken formation in North Dakota to Yorktown,
Virginia. (In a bitter irony, it went off the rails in Mount Carbon.)
Residents have been evacuated from the area, the West Virginia National
Guard is testing a tributary Kanawha River to see if crude has seeped
into it, and two water-treatment plants shut down Monday, depriving
residents of running water, to avoid contamination. The cause of the
crash is still unclear, officials said. While it occurred in the midst
of a snowstorm, there was no definitive connection yet, and the train
was on a flat stretch when the accident happened.<br />
The wreck is the latest in a steady stream of scary crashes involving
crude oil across North America. By far the worst was in Lac-Megántic,
Quebec, in 2013, when 47 people were killed. In December 2013, there was
a huge derailment in Casselton, North Dakota. (A second oil train
derailed nearby months later, <a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/national/Crude+train+dedrails+Alberta/10815214/story.html">but it was empty</a>.) Last April, 15 cars derailed and caught fire in Lynchburg, Virginia.<br />
But just Sunday, a 100-car train hauling crude <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/cn-train-carrying-crude-derails-catches-fire-in-northern-ontario/article23006415/">derailed and caught fire in Ontario</a>. On Saturday, another train <a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/national/Crude+train+dedrails+Alberta/10815214/story.html">derailed in Alberta</a>, though without any apparent leaks.<br />
One reason for the increase in accidents is the <a href="https://www.aar.org/Pages/Crude-Oil-Rail-Traffic.aspx">enormous growth in train hauling of oil</a>,
in turn driven by expanded oil production in the western United States.
Trains also haul crude oil from western Canada, including from the tar
sands that would be served by the Keystone XL pipeline if it is built.<br />
<hr />
<big><b>Carloads of Crude Oil Hauled, 2005-2013</b></big><br />
<figure><img alt="" src="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/2015/02/energy_independence_chart/bf2f0ffc6.jpg" height="304" width="570" /><figcaption class="credit"><a href="https://www.aar.org/Pages/Crude-Oil-Rail-Traffic.aspx">Association of American Railroads</a></figcaption></figure><hr />
The U.S. Department of Transportation reacted to the crashes by announcing <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/business/energy-environment/to-make-shipping-oil-safer-railroads-agree-to-8-measures.html">new safety standards one year ago</a>:
Speed limits are lower in cities, and trains have to add more braking
technology. Those steps were voluntarily taken by rail companies, and
critics attacked them as insufficient, accusing railroads of excessive
secrecy. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/business/us-orders-railroads-to-disclose-oil-shipments.html">Three months later, in May 2014</a>,
the department added more rules for disclosure and called on railroads
to replace older, less safe tanker cars called DOT-111s with newer ones,
CPC-1232s.<br />
And that's perhaps the scariest part of the West Virginia crash: The CSX train was <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/17/us-usa-train-derailment-csx-idUSKBN0LK1ST20150217">hauling only newer, reputedly safer cars</a>
when it derailed and caught fire. A car that caught fire in the
Lynchburg crash was also a CPC-1232. The National Transportation Safety
Board <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/new-safer-oil-cars-may-not-be-safe-enough-says-n87991">told the Senate last April</a> it didn't think CPC-1232s were good enough.<br />
Almost a year after the federal government moved to tighten the
standards, crashes don't seem to be stopping. Nor are the cars that have
been widely viewed as a panacea as effective as regulators or the
industry apparently hoped. And despite dropping oil prices, it's
unlikely that production will stop anytime soon in the Bakken or
Alberta; as long as the nation and the world runs on fossil fuels, crude
oil will have to move across the continent and through towns and
cities.<br />
The Department of Transportation is <a href="http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/us-dot-announces-comprehensive-proposed-rulemaking-safe-transportation-crude-oil">still considering stricter rules</a>, and safety advocates <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-train-derail-20150217-story.html">say there's more than can be done</a>. North Dakota <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/business/energy-environment/north-dakota-regulators-tell-producers-to-filter-crude-oil-of-flammable-liquids.html">recently mandated</a>
that oil companies filter some flammable liquids out of crude. For the
time being, though, fiery crashes may remain frighteningly routine.<br />
</article></div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-58663551097808979372015-02-17T07:30:00.002-08:002015-02-17T07:35:55.417-08:00West Virginia In State Of Emergency After Massive Oil Train Explosion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h1 class="post-title">
<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/17/3623474/west-virginia-derailment/">West Virginia In State Of Emergency After Massive Oil Train Explosion</a></h1>
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<span class="byline"> by <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/?person=eatkin">Emily Atkin</a><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=@emorwee"><img class="twitter-bird" src="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/cap-byline/bird_blue_16.png" /></a></span> <span class="posted-on">Posted on <time class="published" datetime="February 17, 2015 at 12:08 am">February 17, 2015 at 12:08 am</time> <time class="updated" datetime="February 17, 2015 at 9:07 am">Updated: February 17, 2015 at 9:07 am</time></span></div>
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<img alt="At least 14 rail cars of crude oil from a train owned by CSX Corp. are on fire in West Virginia." src="http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Screen-Shot-2015-02-16-at-10.50.21-PM.png" />
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At least 14 rail cars of crude oil from a train owned by CSX Corp. are on fire in West Virginia.</div>
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CREDIT: CBS News/Screenshot</div>
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Crude oil is pouring into a river that supplies drinking water and
approximately 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes due to
an oil train derailment and explosion in southern West Virginia on
Monday, according to <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/west-virginia-train-derailment-sends-oil-tanker-river-204306095.html">media</a> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-train-derailment-west-virginia-20150216-story.html">reports</a>. <br />
The train, owned by CSX Corp., was carrying more than 100 tankers of
crude oil from the Bakken shale in North Dakota when it derailed at
about 1:30 p.m., the L.A. Times <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-train-derailment-west-virginia-20150216-story.html">reported</a>.
Officials estimated that approximately 14 of those tankers were
involved in the derailment and subsequent fire, which as of 9 p.m. was
still raging. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency at
around 5:40 p.m. <br />
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One home has so far been confirmed destroyed, and at least one person
has been sent to the hospital for inhaling smoke. CSX put out a <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/csx-opens-community-outreach-center-for-west-virginia-derailment-300036763.html">statement</a> Monday night saying it would provide hotel rooms for displaced residents.<br />
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Concerns have also been raised about the potential contamination of
local water-treatment facilities, after officials noted that at least
one of the derailed tanker cars fell into the Kanawha River. The area is
about 30 miles from the location where 10,000 gallons of a coal
industry chemical called crude MCHM spilled and tainted the drinking
water supply a little over one year ago. <br />
Response efforts have so far been hampered by heavy snow. The area has been under a winter storm warning, according to the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/west-virginia-train-derailment-sends-oil-tanker-river-204306095.html">Associated Press</a>, and is expected to get anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of snow tonight. <br />
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The derailment in West Virginia was the second major oil train mishap
this weekend. Late Saturday night, a train carrying Bakken crude oil <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/16/3623379/oil-train-derails-in-canada/">derailed</a>
in northern Ontario, Canada, spilling oil and causing a fire. In that
incident, 29 of the 100 cars on the train went off the track near
Timmins, Ontario. An “unknown amount” of oil was spilled.<br />
Some research has suggested that Bakken shale crude oil is more prone
to catching fire and exploding than other types of crude. According to
the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/24/3323551/bakken-crude-explosive/">Wall Street Journal</a>,
it’s the most explosive type compared to oil from 86 other locations
worldwide, and The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) has <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-01-02/bakken-crude-more-dangerous-to-ship-than-other-oil-u-s-">confirmed</a> that it can catch fire at lower temperatures than heavier oil.<br />
Allegations were raised about the volatility of Bakken shale light
crude oil after a number of high-profile train derailments and
subsequent explosions, most famously including the deadly <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/07/07/2261791/crude-oil-carrying-train-derails-and-explodes-destroying-the-center-of-a-quebec-town/">Lac-Mégantic, Canada disaster</a>,
which killed 47 people. Officials at PHMSA have speculated that the
oil’s explosive nature could be because of the particular properties of
the oil, or the added chemicals from fracking, the primary technique
used to extract it in North Dakota.<br />
Though much of the political discussion over fossil fuels has recently focused on Canadian tar sands oil and a <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/11/3621910/house-votes-force-approval-keystone-xl-pipeline/">certain proposed pipeline</a> that would carry it, it’s worth noting that Bakken shale oil is primarily shipped by rail. Indeed, up to <a href="http://www.twincities.com/ci_25042540/soaring-north-dakota-oil-production-pushing-crude-rails">90 percent</a> of the North Dakota’s oil was expected to be shipped by rail, rather than pipeline, in 2014.<br />
The U.S. Transportation Department is currently considering whether to implement <a href="http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/us-dot-announces-comprehensive-proposed-rulemaking-safe-transportation-crude-oil">tougher safety regulations</a> for rail shipments of crude oil.</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-84984412884927703152015-02-17T06:40:00.004-08:002015-02-17T06:40:31.592-08:00West Virginia oil train derailment: Fires for hours, smoke<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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West Virginia oil train derailment: Fires for hours, smoke</h1>
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Towns evacuated as oil tanker derails in W. Virginia</h3>
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MOUNT CARBON, W.Va. (AP) — Fires burned for hours after a
train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil derailed in a
snowstorm in West Virginia, sending a fireball into the sky and
threatening the water supply of nearby residents, authorities and
residents said Tuesday.<br />
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Officials evacuated hundreds of families and shut
down two water treatment plant following the Monday afternoon
derailment. The West Virginia National Guard was taking water samples to
determine whether the oil had seeped into a tributary of the Kanawha
River, state public safety division spokesman Larry Messina said.<br />
On Tuesday, black smoke could be seen rising from some of the tanker cars in a photo posted by WSAZ-TV on Twitter.<br />
Messina said fire crews decided to let the tanks burn themselves out.<br />
Federal
railroad and hazardous materials officials are probing the accident, in
which part of the train formation hit a house. The office of Gov. Earl
Ray Tomblin, which has issued a state of emergency, said the tanker cars
were loaded with Bakken crude from North Dakota and headed to Yorktown,
Virginia.<br />
All but two of the 109 cars being hauled were tanker
cars, officials said. One person was treated for potential inhalation
issues, but no other injuries were reported, according to a statement
from CSX, the train company.<br />
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A CSX Corp train burns after derailment in Mount Carbon, West Virginia pictured across the Kanawha R …</div>
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David McClung said he felt the heat from one of the shuddering
explosions at his home. He lives about a half mile up a hill from the
site.<br />
"It was a little scary. It was like an atomic bomb went
off," he said. One of the explosions that followed sent a fireball at
least 300 feet into the air, McClung added.<br />
The state was under a
winter storm warning and getting heavy snowfall at times, with as much
as 7 inches in some places. It's not clear if the weather had anything
to do with the derailment, which occurred about 1:20 p.m. Monday along a
flat stretch of rail about 30 miles southeast of Charleston.<br />
Responders
at the scene reported at least one tanker went into the river but
Messina said early Tuesday that that did not appear to be the case.<br />
Local emergency responders were initially having trouble getting to the house that caught fire, he said.<br />
Fourteen to 17 tankers caught fire or exploded, said Jennifer Sayre, the Kanawha County manager.<br />
West
Virginia American Water shut down a water treatment plant, located
about 3 miles from the derailment, spokeswoman Laura Jordan said.
Another water plant downstream in the town of Cedar Grove also closed
its intake but later resumed operations, Messina said.<br />
About 85 displaced residents went to shelters set up by CSX and the American Red Cross, he said.<br />
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The
U.S. Transportation Department is weighing tougher safety regulations
for rail shipments of crude, which can ignite and result in huge
fireballs. Responding to a series of fiery train crashes, including one
this spring in Lynchburg, Virginia, the government proposed rules in
July that would phase out tens of thousands of older tank cars that
carry increasing quantities of crude oil and other highly flammable
liquids. It's not clear how old the tankers were on the derailed train.</div>
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The Lynchburg train also was hauling Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to Yorktown, Virginia.</div>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-80021662379120940492015-02-17T06:33:00.002-08:002015-02-17T06:33:47.691-08:00Train derails, explodes in West Virginia; crude oil spills into river<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Train derails, explodes in West Virginia; crude oil spills into river </h2>
<div class="metadata ">
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<span class="metadata__byline__author">By <a href="http://www.cnn.com/profiles/holly-yan">Holly Yan</a> and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/profiles/kevin-conlon-profile">Kevin Conlon</a>, CNN</span></div>
<div class="update-time">
Updated 7:36 AM ET, Tue February 17, 2015</div>
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<div class="js-gigya-sharebar" data-description="A train hauling crude oil derailed and exploded in West Virginia, displacing up to 1,000 residents and contaminating the local water supply." data-image-src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150216205134-ac360-train-derailment-oil-spill-west-virginia-00000805-large-169.jpg" data-isshorturl="true" data-link="http://cnn.it/19qKAhj" data-subtitle="" data-title="Train derails, explodes in West Virginia; crude oil spills into river " id="gigyaShareBar_4_gig_containerParent">
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<span class="el__storyelement__header">Massive explosion after train carrying oil derails</span> <span class="el__storyelement__gray">02:34</span></div>
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<section class="zn zn-body-text zn-body zn--idx-0 zn-has-multiple-containers zn-has-23-containers" data-containers="23" data-eq-pts="xsmall: 0, medium: 460, large: 780, full16x9: 1100" data-eq-state="large" data-vr-zone="zone-1-0" data-zn-id="body-text" id="body-text"><div class="l-container">
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<h3 class="el__headline">
Story highlights</h3>
<ul class="el__storyhighlights__list">
<li class="el__storyhighlights__item el__storyhighlights--normal">More than a dozen cars from a train carrying crude oil catch fire</li>
<li class="el__storyhighlights__item el__storyhighlights--normal">Oil spills into a river used for drinking water; parts of the river were on fire </li>
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<cite class="el-editorial-source"> (CNN)</cite>A
train hauling crude oil derailed and exploded in West Virginia,
displacing up to 1,000 residents and contaminating the local water
supply.</div>
</div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
At least 27 of the
train's more than 100 cars veered off the tracks, the West Virginia
Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said. And at least 15
of the derailed cars caught fire. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
One home was destroyed, and one person was injured, agency spokesman Lawrence Messina said. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
Complicating
matters: Oil from the train spilled into the Kanawha River -- a source
of drinking water in Kanawha and Fayette counties. Even parts of the
river caught fire amid the explosions, Messina said. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
At
least two water treatment plant shut down Monday night as officials
investigate how much oil may have spilled into the river, <a href="http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Train-Derailment-Causes-Fire-near-Montgomery-Evacuation-Underway-292096241.html" target="_blank">CNN affiliate WSAZ</a> said. About 2,000 people were at risk of losing water service. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
"Customers
in the Montgomery area are asked to conserve water and only use it for
essential functions," West Virginia American Water said in a statement. </div>
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Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued a state of emergency for Kanawha and Fayette counties. </div>
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About 1,000 were displaced due to the threat of fire or from power outages caused by the fire, Messina said. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
The
heat from the flames was so intense Monday night that crews couldn't
get closer to investigate until at least Tuesday, WSAZ said. </div>
<h3>
Chronic explosions</h3>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
Some train cars exploded at unpredictable intervals, shocking residents with each deafening blast. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
"We
were standing down by the river bank when we saw the train explode --
or a car explode -- and it shot up a mushroom cloud," witness Alex
Fandor told <a href="http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Train-Derailment-Causes-Fire-near-Montgomery-Evacuation-Underway-292096241.html" target="_blank">CNN affiliate WSAZ</a>. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
As he spoke, another loud explosion sent an colossal fireball into the sky. </div>
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The blasts continued even 10
hours after the derailment. The biggest explosion took place around
midnight, Montgomery volunteer firefighter John McGinnis said early
Tuesday morning. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
And he said there are still two or three cars that firefighters are worried about. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
Messina said it's not clear what caused the derailment. </div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
"We've
had some severe winter weather conditions here with significant
snowfall," he said. "We don't yet know whether that's a factor in this."</div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/23/us/trains-oil-safety/index.html" target="_blank">Safety officials wary of growing use of trains to ship oil</a></div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph zn-body__footer">
CNN's Dave Alsup contributed to this report. </div>
</div>
</section></div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-82762993696412568152015-02-17T06:32:00.003-08:002015-02-17T06:32:20.843-08:00Oil train derails in West Virginia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a class="articleOpinion-topicTag articleWidth-topicTag js-toggle--fade" href="http://america.aljazeera.com/topics/topic/categories/us.html">U.S.</a>
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John Raby / AP</div>
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<h1 class="articleOpinion-title">
Oil train derails in West Virginia</h1>
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<div class="articleOpinion-inner articleOpinion-inner--bottom">
<h2 class="articleOpinion-standfirst article-standfirst">
At least 14 cars burst into flames, one enters a river, and two nearby towns have been evacuated, local media report </h2>
<div class="articleOpinion-dateByline article-dateByline">
<div class="articleOpinion-dateTime article-dateTime">
<span class="date">February 16, 2015</span>
<span class="time">3:31PM ET</span>
<span class="date updated separator">Updated 10:45PM ET</span>
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<div class="text section">
A CSX train hauling crude oil has derailed in West Virginia with at
least 14 cars bursting into flames and two nearby towns evacuated in the
second significant oil-train incident in three days, local media
reported on Monday.<br />
At least one of the tank cars has entered the Kanawha River, and one
car ran into a house before bursting into flames, the Charleston Gazette
newspaper reported, citing Lawrence Messina, communications director
for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.<br />
Messina said local emergency responders were having trouble getting
to the house that caught fire. He did not know if anyone was inside.<br />
The nearby towns of Adena Village and Boomer Bottom were being
evacuated after the incident, which occurred at 1:30 p.m., local
television news channel WOWK reported.<br />
One person was being treated for potential inhalation issues, but no
other injuries were reported, according to a news release from CSX, the
train company<br />
At 6 p.m., Gov. Earl Ray Tomlin issued a state of emergency for
Kanawha and Fayette counties. His office said the tanker cars were
loaded with <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/2/crude-oil-flammable.html" target="_blank">Bakken crude from North Dakota</a> and headed to Yorktown, Virginia. <a href="http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/1_2_14%20Rail_Safety_Alert.pdf">A safety alert issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation</a> (PDF)
last year warned the public, emergency responders and shippers about
the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch.<br />
It was not immediately clear where the train was heading or whose oil
it was carrying. However, the crash occurred less than 200 miles west
of Lynchburg, Virginia, where another CSX train bound for an East Coast
oil terminal run by Plains All American Pipelines derailed and erupted
in flames last April.<br />
The state was under a winter storm warning and getting heavy snowfall
at times, with as much as 5 inches in some places. It's not clear if
the weather had anything to do with the crash.<br />
Kanawha County Manager Jennifer Sayre told the <a href="http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150216/GZ01/150219451">Charleston Gazette</a> that
there was burning oil on the Kanawha River, and that county officials
have told water company officials in Cedar Grove and Montgomery to shut
down their water intakes. She told the Gazette that each tank car
contained 33,000 gallons of crude oil.<br />
Theresa White, the director of Fayette County Emergency Management,
told the Gazette that the U.S. Coast Guard was on the scene with booms
to contain the oil.<br />
West Virginia American Water spokeswoman Laura Jordan said the
company shut down a water treatment plant, located about 3 miles away,
at about 2:30 p.m. local time. The plant serves about 2,000 customers,
or about 5,000 to 6,000 people.<br />
State health officials said another water plant downstream in the town of Cedar Grove also closed its intake.<br />
The fire continued burning along a hillside Monday evening, and small
fires could be seen on the river. As of 9:30 p.m. local time, billowing
flames could still be seen coming from several rail cars and something
appeared to be burning on the partially frozen river.<br />
Clean-up was expected to take several days, as the fires burn themselves out, said <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Joe Crist</a>, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Fayette County</a> fire coordinator. About 200 residents were evacuated.<br />
Crist said <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">West Virginia</a> American Water was testing to see if <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Kanawha River</a> water had become contaminated.<br />
David McClung said he felt the heat from one of the explosions at his home about a half mile up the hill.<br />
His brother in law was outside at the time of the derailment and
heard a loud crack below along the riverfront, then went inside to
summon McClung, his wife and their son.<br />
One of the explosions that followed sent a fireball at least 300 feet into the air, McClung said.<br />
"We felt the heat, I can tell you that," McClung said. "It was a little scary."<br />
The latest incident comes just two days after Canadian National
Railways (CN) train from Alberta's oil sands derailed in a remote wooded
area of northern Ontario. CN said 29 of 100 cars were involved, and
seven caught fire. No injuries were reported, but the cars were still on
fire Monday.<br />
The U.S. Transportation Department is weighing tougher safety
regulations for rail shipments of crude, which can ignite and result in
huge fireballs.<br />
Responding to a series of fiery train crashes, the government
proposed rules in July that would phase out tens of thousands of older
tank cars that carry increasing quantities of crude oil and other highly
flammable liquids. It's not clear how old the tankers were on the
derailed train.<br />
<i>Al Jazeera with wire services</i><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-47778989519040462522015-02-17T06:25:00.002-08:002015-02-17T06:32:39.412-08:00Century-old train trestle in Tuscaloosa getting $2.5 million in repairs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="art_head">
Century-old train trestle in Tuscaloosa getting $2.5 million in repairs</h1>
<h3 class="art_subhead">
Local environmentalist claims it's not enough to make it safe</h3>
<br />
<div class="art_main_pic landscape" data-byline="Staff%20photo%20%7C%20Erin%20Nelson" data-caption="Dustin%20Cunningham%2C%20with%20Railworks%2C%20directs%20traffic%20on%20Jack%20Warner%20Parkway%20as%20team%20members%20replace%20piling%20posts%20on%20the%20train%20bridge%20in%20front%20of%20the%20Tuscaloosa%20Amphitheater%20in%20Tuscaloosa%2C%20Ala.%20on%20Monday%20Jan.%205%2C%202015." data-img="http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tuscaloosanews.com%2Fbilde%3FSite%3DTL%26Date%3D20150111%26Category%3DNEWS%26ArtNo%3D150119949%26Ref%3DAR&imageVersion=Main&MaxW=728&logo=/images/watermark.gif&logoxpos=0&logoypos=0" data-title="">
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</a>
<br />
<div class="caption">
Dustin Cunningham, with Railworks, directs traffic on Jack Warner
Parkway as team members replace piling posts on the train bridge in
front of the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Monday Jan.
5, 2015.<br />
<i>Staff photo | Erin Nelson</i>
</div>
</div>
<div class="art_byline">
By Jason Morton<br />
Staff Writer
</div>
<div class="art_pubdate" data-date="01/11/2015">
<h5>
Published: Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 11:00 p.m.</h5>
<h5>
Last Modified: Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 11:42 p.m.</h5>
</div>
<div class="article_text article_paragraph0">
An estimated $2.5 million in repairs is under way on the railway
crossing the historic Mobile and Ohio Railroad train trestle spanning
the Black Warrior River.</div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
Watco Companies, a
Pittsburg, Kan.-based transportation company that leases this section of
track from Kansas City Southern, a holding company that owns the track,
declined to give specifics on the nature of the repairs.</div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
But
Tracie VanBecelaere, communications director for Watco, said the bridge
work should be finished by next month with the rest of the railroad
repairs finished by April.</div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
"But," VanBecelaere said, "that is dependent on the weather."</div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
The
repairs come alongside a Dec. 31 report on a yearlong investigation by
the McClatchy Company into national railway safety and the
transportation of Bakken crude oil.</div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
The
story begins and ends with anecdotes about the 19th-century Tuscaloosa
landmark. It raises questions about the safety of the trestle as well as
the general transportation of the fossil fuel that originates out of
the Bakken Shale Oil Field in North Dakota.</div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
In
recent years, the area has become a hotbed of oil production —
primarily through the use of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" — and
millions of barrels now flow from the region.</div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
But
Bakken crude oil has a different makeup from traditional heavy crude
oil, so much so that the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued an alert in January
2014 warning first responders, shipping companies and the general
public of its danger.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
The warning prompted the
International Association of Fire Chiefs to send out instructions on how
to handle the substance with "flash point and boiling points (that) may
be lower than other traditional light crude oil," the association's
warning said.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
In July, the
Wall Street Journal reported that safety measures normally installed to
reduce the volatility of crude oil was skipped in the Bakken region.
Now, the product unearthed there is a highly combustible mix that often
is rejected by pipelines for being too dangerous to transport.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
That's where the trains come in.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
A series of derailments of trains transporting Bakken crude caused fires and explosions that often made national news.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
The
closest to Tuscaloosa occurred near Pickens County Road 2 just south of
Aliceville in November 2013 when a 90-car train went off the tracks.
About a dozen cars were hauling Bakken crude and the spilled oil caught
fire, sending black plumes of smoke into the air that could be seen for
miles and causing the evacuation of at least one family.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
In
June, a train derailment in Buhl caused seven tanker cars to leave the
track. Some of them were carrying crude oil, but none of the cars
ruptured and nothing caught fire.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
Still, as a precaution, six homes that fell within a 1,000-foot radius of the crash site were evacuated.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
John
Wathen, an environmentalist with the Waterkeeper Alliance and founder
of the Hurricane Creek Creekkeeper group, said he has spent months
examining the train trestle along with the tracks that feed into and
lead away from it.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
He said more needs to be done to ensure the structure is safe and that Watco's current repair efforts are not enough.</div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
"This
has gotten so bad. It's like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound,"
Wathen said. "Their high bar for safety is the low bar for national
safety, and that's wrong."</div>
<div class="pagpag3" style="display: block;">
Watco said the train trestle
is inspected annually by Watco inspectors, Kansas City Southern
inspectors and a third-party bridge inspector, Osmose Railroad Services.</div>
<div class="pagpag3" style="display: block;">
VanBecelaere
said the inspections are required by the federal government, but Wathen
said no division of the U.S. Department of Transportation or any other
agency oversees them.</div>
<div class="pagpag3" style="display: block;">
"There are no federal inspectors for those bridges," Wathen said. "It's the fox guarding the hen house."</div>
<div class="pagpag3" style="display: block;">
Ed
McKechnie, Watco's executive vice president and chief commercial
officer, said through VanBecelaere that Watco was aware of Wathen's
concerns with the train trestle.</div>
<div class="pagpag3" style="display: block;">
"John
has a passion for the environment just as we have a passion for the
safety of the communities we serve and our team members," she said. "We
are constantly reinvesting in our railroads and are committed to
operating them safely."</div>
<div class="pagpag3" style="display: block;">
<i>Reach Jason Morton at <a href="mailto:jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com">jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com</a> or 205-722-0200.</i></div>
<div class="pagpag2" style="display: block;">
<br /></div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
<br /></div>
</div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-89789772201374922632014-07-15T05:27:00.000-07:002014-07-15T05:28:40.563-07:00Exploderende olietreinen in de VS <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="yt" id="watch-headline-title">
<span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Exploderende olietreinen in de VS">Exploderende olietreinen in de VS </span></h1>
<h1 class="yt" id="watch-headline-title">
<span class="watch-title " dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Exploderende olietreinen in de VS">(Exploding oil trains in the US)</span></h1>
<div id="watch-uploader-info">
<b>Published on Jul 12, 2014</b>
</div>
<div id="watch-description-text">
<div id="eow-description">
Door de toegang tot schalie-olie is
er in de VS in twintig jaar nog nooit zóveel olie naar boven gepompt.
Maar die olierevolutie brengt een onverwacht gevaar met zich mee, dat
zou kunnen leiden tot een catastrofe.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZZ8JM_HmR6Q?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
(<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".js.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204364418813852:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".js.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204364418813852:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".js.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204364418813852:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">(From
Google translate... "By accessing shale oil in the U.S. in twenty years
never so much oil pumped up. But the oil revolution brings an
unexpected danger with it that might lead to a catastrophe"))</span></span></span> </div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.0"><span data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$2:0">Loosely translated: </span><br data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$3:0" /><span data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$4:0">There
has been a major increase in the extraction of shale oil in the US,
more than in the previous 20 years. This ‘oil revolution’, however,
causes unexpected danger, which coul</span></span><span data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".hv.1:3:1:$comment10204364415533770_10204368289110607:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">d
have a catastrophic outcome. In three years, there has been a tenfold
increase in train incidents with highly inflammable oil. Because of new
extraction techniques in North Dakota more oil is being extracted than
ever. The number of trains transporting this oil has increased
twenty-fold. The railways and bridges are poorly maintained and cannot
cope with this increase. Therefore people fear that a catastrophe is
waiting to happen, just like last years’ accident in Canada with an oil
train which blew up half a city center and caused the death of 47
people. The US National Transportation Safety board advices these old
trains to be replaced by tanks with thicker steel holds and stress that
these transport should avoid villages and cities. Although all agree
that these transports as they are carried out at the moment are a major
threat, the necessary changes in legislation have not been made yet and
transports are still being carried out, straight through populated
areas.</span></span></span></span></span> </div>
John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-21578740498418660042014-07-11T06:17:00.000-07:002014-07-11T06:17:17.641-07:00Bakken Brine... No Problem?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20140711/APA/307119927">Published in Tuscaloosa News.</a><br />
<br />
<h1 class="art_head">
<span>Officials: No evidence brine in bay after ND spill.</span></h1>
<div class="art_head" style="text-align: left;">
<span>Interestingly enough the story fails to point out that this is another byproduct of the Bakken crude fracking industry. (JLW)</span></div>
<div class="art_head" style="text-align: left;">
<span><br /></span></div>
<div class="art_head" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="art_pubdate" data-date="07/11/2014">
<h5>
Published: Friday, July 11, 2014 at 3:30 a.m.</h5>
<h5>
Last Modified: Friday, July 11, 2014 at 2:39 a.m.</h5>
</div>
<div class="article_text article_paragraph1">
MANDAREE, N.D. (AP) — The snaking, nearly 2-mile trail of
saltwater that an underground pipeline spewed in the rugged hills of
western North Dakota's badlands left a 200-yard-long stretch of dead
vegetation, a company official said, though she added there is no
evidence yet that the spill has contaminated a nearby bay.<br />
<br />
On
Friday, officials were expected to continue investigating the extent of
the damage and cause of the pipeline leak that spilled nearly 1 million
gallons of saltwater, an unwanted byproduct of oil and gas production.
Also called brine, saltwater is considered an environmental hazard by
the state.<br />
The path the saltwater took into a ravine left a patch
of dead vegetation as wide as 100 feet in some points, said Miranda
Jones, vice president of environmental safety and regulatory at
Houston-based Crestwood Midstream Partners LP. The pipeline belonged to
Crestwood subsidiary Arrow Pipeline LLC.<br />
<br />
That ravine flows into
Bear Den Bay, a tributary of Lake Sakakawea. Sakakawea, one of the
nation's largest man-made lakes, is a drinking water source for the Fort
Berthold Indian reservation.<br />
On a boat trip to the bay Thursday,
The Associated Press saw no visible signs of contamination. Waterfowl
were present in the area — some sitting close to the bright yellow booms
placed at the point where the ravine meets the bay. Booms had also been
placed around a nearby water-intake system used by the reservation.<br />
<br />
The
company believes the spill began over the Fourth of July weekend. In
the first public statement in the two days since the spill was detected,
the Environmental Protection Agency said it had no confirmed reports
that the saltwater had reached Bear Den Bay. The agency said most of the
spill was pooled on the ground, soaked into the soil or held behind
beaver dams.<br />
Jones also said Thursday that there is no evidence the bay had been contaminated.<br />
<br />
On
Wednesday, Jones spoke to The Associated Press with Three Affiliated
Tribes chairman Tex Hall, who said then that the spill had leaked into
the bay. On Thursday, Jones said the chairman was referring to the
ravine.<br />
The area where the spill occurred is in a patch of North
Dakota's badlands — a dramatic, remote and rugged landscape
characterized by steep-sided hills dropping into ravines.<br />
<br />
Claryca
Mandan, natural resources administrator for the Mandan, Hidatsa and
Arikara tribes' natural resources department, said the area is "one of
the worst places it could have happened" as the geography complicates
cleanup and remediation efforts.<br />
<br />
Cleanup crews were carrying equipment into the bottom of the ravine by hand Thursday.<br />
On top of the bluff where the spill occurred, workers could be observed shoveling contaminated earth and taking soil samples.<br />
At the bottom of the ravine, Jones said, crews were removing contaminated water and using pipes to pump in fresh water.<br />
<br />
The EPA said it was assessing the site to ensure none of the brine had affected Lake Sakakawea. Crestwood
agreed to take the AP and a local television station to view part of
the affected area on Thursday, but with limitations on where and when
photographs could be taken.<br />
<br />
Later, Crestwood and tribal officials arranged the boat tour for the AP to view Bear Den Bay.<br />
<br />
Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation plays a key role in the state's oil
production, the second-highest in the nation. The reservation currently
represents more than 300,000 of North Dakota's 1 million barrels of oil
produced daily, according to the state's Department of Mineral
Resources.<br />
___<br />
MacPherson reported from Bismarck, N.D.<br />
___<br />
Contact Josh Wood at <a href="https://twitter.com/JWoodAP">https://twitter.com/JWoodAP</a><br />
</div>
<div class="art_head" style="text-align: left;">
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-15929090988658706412014-06-24T12:02:00.000-07:002015-05-29T12:32:06.472-07:00Buhl Alabama Oil Train Wreck UPDATE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHkSWj27LwZvsQ0qm7qkrKAOCAkYgAXHDuVlDPzhylxq1Nf_8PJIW7LrvCB2eHBdMVgqoWRy4aBzuCjjF5YOurn0U5y6mVn9lmwfFpTRjdd44uREptvEaofQNHTi3nhLODHK88sUyGjXv/s1600/IMG_5462.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHkSWj27LwZvsQ0qm7qkrKAOCAkYgAXHDuVlDPzhylxq1Nf_8PJIW7LrvCB2eHBdMVgqoWRy4aBzuCjjF5YOurn0U5y6mVn9lmwfFpTRjdd44uREptvEaofQNHTi3nhLODHK88sUyGjXv/s1600/IMG_5462.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by John L. Wathen (Click to enlarge all photos)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On June 16, 2014, A train carrying tank cars filled with fuel oil, Hazmat # 1993
derailed this afternoon with no explosions, no fire balls, no injuries.
It was NOT Bakken Crude.<br />
<div style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">UN <span style="font-style: italic;">No</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span></span> 1993</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Placard Subject:</span> FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS n.o.s., FUEL OIL</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hazard Class: <span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">FLAMMABLE LIQUID</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">No.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> 3</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I was able to get a ride with SouthWings pilot Dick McGlauphlin to survey the wreck site seen above. While this was nothing to ignore, it could have been so much worse. This was a light fuel oil placard # 1993. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUZNk-TcNkAwz68cR42_uzrgEX9fDZD09wYsCHX3ZWIANjzKbp8YhepDk430ZjHBmkVeCKt01aC9m1wtnYHU4XtAJgNX5iB5f3QYOp-wRmRQvfBIJ6sNBndqAgta6GDMXBFbhgkZJwp9R/s1600/IMG_5461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUZNk-TcNkAwz68cR42_uzrgEX9fDZD09wYsCHX3ZWIANjzKbp8YhepDk430ZjHBmkVeCKt01aC9m1wtnYHU4XtAJgNX5iB5f3QYOp-wRmRQvfBIJ6sNBndqAgta6GDMXBFbhgkZJwp9R/s1600/IMG_5461.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"> 1993 placard, fuel oil</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Here are some shots taken Sunday morning 06/22/14 from a <a href="http://www.southwings.org/">SouthWings</a>
plane. It shows a pretty good job of containment. I saw no signs of
large leaks or spillage. One thing stuck out to me. There were 4 DOT-111 cars on the tracks to pump oil into from the wrecked cars. There were 6 wrecked cars. I hope there were a couple of empties when it went in the ditch or something doesn't add up.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RQdLUpwG8q3CQm5-idro-5qTHf1vrOzrSV-eD797oMOdNRlJjpBY8malg0gBD-HCDQlRDpycSjE3qcyYQP8W_5FLG_XxrZi6_-f6mFaoPP3g53XqkcE-ldV1a4Pcinc6DPLG8lIEkSD2/s1600/IMG_5972.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RQdLUpwG8q3CQm5-idro-5qTHf1vrOzrSV-eD797oMOdNRlJjpBY8malg0gBD-HCDQlRDpycSjE3qcyYQP8W_5FLG_XxrZi6_-f6mFaoPP3g53XqkcE-ldV1a4Pcinc6DPLG8lIEkSD2/s1600/IMG_5972.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfdxinCpF9Z3aAtfiYdNC_G6sOtdj2TYtUAsDZwiI9IG7M_KmgCWUtsDspzMMUR0oFI8qSepRzY4ATJU5D3gtEFhzW93ZWlQXtRN1Px82iugV89rW27iDaFqXJgd4HEqLafyl9FPILyc4/s1600/IMG_5936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfdxinCpF9Z3aAtfiYdNC_G6sOtdj2TYtUAsDZwiI9IG7M_KmgCWUtsDspzMMUR0oFI8qSepRzY4ATJU5D3gtEFhzW93ZWlQXtRN1Px82iugV89rW27iDaFqXJgd4HEqLafyl9FPILyc4/s1600/IMG_5936.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fwP1R3gd7OKvmJDLzlJ1KpOSUm3HSZzCF7cZCbnIDESUkxZBh1zPQvyw3qIBJ5DbWy7V1VdNIEIbAk6rNqosFTYngbn4sAS_N4oztZmVNza1i5wav69KJvy-Mt1qn5B1eerYX3KGQHF2/s1600/IMG_5942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fwP1R3gd7OKvmJDLzlJ1KpOSUm3HSZzCF7cZCbnIDESUkxZBh1zPQvyw3qIBJ5DbWy7V1VdNIEIbAk6rNqosFTYngbn4sAS_N4oztZmVNza1i5wav69KJvy-Mt1qn5B1eerYX3KGQHF2/s1600/IMG_5942.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjmM-Tv8kBydLUuz0yfTCrMvmImoUNiBLidjMzILxfZaA8ncuwlbnEQojNP-RBtD2hhki4gxjIVAF_rhel6lQ0_q5vZRRd39t0f0NO3C-4HZxiaWCn3YOp7VztWzECKMvnOhxcWeKFS-s/s1600/IMG_5971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjmM-Tv8kBydLUuz0yfTCrMvmImoUNiBLidjMzILxfZaA8ncuwlbnEQojNP-RBtD2hhki4gxjIVAF_rhel6lQ0_q5vZRRd39t0f0NO3C-4HZxiaWCn3YOp7VztWzECKMvnOhxcWeKFS-s/s1600/IMG_5971.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
The aerial photos of the scene tell a lot about just how bad this could have gotten. Note the proximity of houses to the tracks. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-s4QUpFGZghNToswA0cdYuOKVNh6GvAmHOkgms4DgUcTTOfHpQQdhTPUdaKeKpAh4bskJ5JpSCy9GI6MscDzgMY1JkkVG4KyHHgv5h8CodGuWh63P-RKq_mOKkDIwOZcutcteiIEPP1Ce/s1600/IMG_5917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-s4QUpFGZghNToswA0cdYuOKVNh6GvAmHOkgms4DgUcTTOfHpQQdhTPUdaKeKpAh4bskJ5JpSCy9GI6MscDzgMY1JkkVG4KyHHgv5h8CodGuWh63P-RKq_mOKkDIwOZcutcteiIEPP1Ce/s1600/IMG_5917.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buhl Alabama oil train wreck 06/16/14</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now look at the footprint of the Aliceville Bakken Crude train wreck. Try to get your head around just how many of the houses in Buhl were in jeopardy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSoj6_s5vpsOiZUhm4lP9SSGFcPabGMIRQLhZCPbnIfwIojSbD9vA_ca1Xflrg5yCSOdErGgtxRshjM7n2zHUYTAlqlSnSKPl7hFaflomxnNMuxwMJhKz_4h3jmMZnKPop8S21bnesP_P/s1600/-1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSoj6_s5vpsOiZUhm4lP9SSGFcPabGMIRQLhZCPbnIfwIojSbD9vA_ca1Xflrg5yCSOdErGgtxRshjM7n2zHUYTAlqlSnSKPl7hFaflomxnNMuxwMJhKz_4h3jmMZnKPop8S21bnesP_P/s1600/-1-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenUTLeS8wLSpxCQHjpkjH3IhkWyW1j1sH071V3U7ycsXDEYcap9igTeC_TZ-pYoNvU8FIDWO0xAPvaJA7RB5XdOP7zbAkNcTjEENJV5a_a9tZek3QqA_AsaHlvaBuJVcnlNBRcZgS0mgc/s1600/-3507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenUTLeS8wLSpxCQHjpkjH3IhkWyW1j1sH071V3U7ycsXDEYcap9igTeC_TZ-pYoNvU8FIDWO0xAPvaJA7RB5XdOP7zbAkNcTjEENJV5a_a9tZek3QqA_AsaHlvaBuJVcnlNBRcZgS0mgc/s1600/-3507.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I make that connection because the line going through Buhl is or was the chosen alternate route for unit trains carrying Bakken Crude or more commonly now called "Bomb Trains". The rail road claims it isn't using the line for that anymore. Still, oil trains of some description were rolling on this line until the Buhl wreck. A track that is in very bad need of overhaul in my opinion. Below is a photo of a unit train going through downtown Northport and Tuscaloosa.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfNBok9WE5AtKQeAMOuZGQfT4_zXwsurMI-hbIk8YENkVGMpQHmKuLpPyDi31ecQmVgOogWrNlykMH893AcpgOy8Oy-ii1iAiQK68bgYmy5BS0hXRQJo3qjtzZ2Uq_mFLGt292a-_33RW/s1600/Screenshot+2014-06-24+13.06.52.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfNBok9WE5AtKQeAMOuZGQfT4_zXwsurMI-hbIk8YENkVGMpQHmKuLpPyDi31ecQmVgOogWrNlykMH893AcpgOy8Oy-ii1iAiQK68bgYmy5BS0hXRQJo3qjtzZ2Uq_mFLGt292a-_33RW/s1600/Screenshot+2014-06-24+13.06.52.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/01/alternate-crude-routes.html">See accompanying video here </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The tracks where the Buhl wreck happened and this bridge are on the same route. I went to several crossings and shot some pretty disturbing photos to me. The rail road has dismissed them as follows:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Most
of the photos show typical Class I track, which would be 5
non-defective ties per 39 feet of track, or 5 of 24 ties. While the
observation of this track can lead to concerns, the track <i>should</i> be able
to handle trains moving at 10 mph or less." I added emphasis on the word "should". </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I find it a bit concerning that the bottom level of safety is the high bar for this line. Only 5 of every 24 cross ties must be sound. It sure seems to me that if hazardous cargo is being shipped on the line which goes through Sipsey Swamp, it should be held to a little higher standard than the low bar for safety. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_fkMv9tL_NMAOlVwf3bGCVdqhqauE8dF-uM_dIPT8xMXlGtfLJvGhydhyphenhyphen-1pRHvM1bepx1bWe2I2w5tDpPH0DvDp1P8yajuG3R8rSgxJFqoKlT_RPGtLHe6giDCloYQXKL-Z7MEeKSZ9/s1600/IMG_5427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_fkMv9tL_NMAOlVwf3bGCVdqhqauE8dF-uM_dIPT8xMXlGtfLJvGhydhyphenhyphen-1pRHvM1bepx1bWe2I2w5tDpPH0DvDp1P8yajuG3R8rSgxJFqoKlT_RPGtLHe6giDCloYQXKL-Z7MEeKSZ9/s1600/IMG_5427.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
I saw and photographed a lot of rotten ties at every crossing I came to. That is something people all over the country should be paying attention to. If the infrastructure isn't sound, I don't care what type tank cars that are used, it is irrelevant if the tracks are not up to the loads. People should start now documenting track conditions and reporting them to the<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ntsb.gov%2F&ei=csWpU-bAHMWiyAS3jYGwBg&usg=AFQjCNFh6HgoNBip2_w39DZhxQ4YOiTh3A&sig2=Kg1Lq_RSR5oWLa0KlyA05g&bvm=bv.69620078,d.aWw"><i> National Transportation Safety Board</i>: <i>NTSB</i></a></div>
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The low bar shouldn't be the high bar where people's lives are concerned.</div>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-14670251922616083572014-06-16T19:39:00.001-07:002014-06-16T19:42:59.478-07:00Another one in the ditch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Buhl Alabama, June 16, 2014</div>
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A train carrying tank cars filled with Light Fuel Oil, Hazmat # 1993 derailed this afternoon with no explosions, no fire balls, no injuries. It was NOT Bakken Crude.</div>
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Due to a camera malfunction the photos were not that great at the scene but I was able to capture the incident fairly well. What is more important to me than the wreck is why the wreck happened. I took time to drive across every railroad crossing along the path.</div>
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Rotten cross ties, missing rail plates, dips and waves in the tracks that were quite scary since I had video taped a Bakken Crude train on these very tracks not too long ago. This line is in very bad condition and was probably the cause of the wreck. It should be mentioned that this is the route that was used as an <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/01/alternate-crude-routes.html">alternate route for Bakken</a> crude bomb trains after the <a href="http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com/2014/03/oil-mars-ala-swamp-months-after-crude_15.html">Aliceville Alabama</a> explosion.</div>
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Check out the photos below and see for yourself what is right outside most neighborhoods across America.<span id="goog_386130229"></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitB44IEWK3dJ8ZMPv6EB_fafxMgXazFCpdbXBDwUka7I0LuvNrentrIaeoyeKEVUP8Fu5J4Ne6UosKOwA7b9mXnvJpP4p3h-DllqKgB-rgpznzU9SylRd7ZB46EwQcst9x5PJeKF05JQWe/s1600/IMG_5417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitB44IEWK3dJ8ZMPv6EB_fafxMgXazFCpdbXBDwUka7I0LuvNrentrIaeoyeKEVUP8Fu5J4Ne6UosKOwA7b9mXnvJpP4p3h-DllqKgB-rgpznzU9SylRd7ZB46EwQcst9x5PJeKF05JQWe/s1600/IMG_5417.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rotten cross ties</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wavy tracks</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gymn2hXeC1l4qwVioFozQs1VK4OF3TEHLpGl7pzBp6UbLhzqiMpDlyILNmztmNKqIBk4HXWFovCWCHz0ZXFR5mBpNIP01jbGHr4yvHRWuqFmWufuPo6GUAcCBdlUgAa0jpPA03YzRBJe/s1600/IMG_5416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gymn2hXeC1l4qwVioFozQs1VK4OF3TEHLpGl7pzBp6UbLhzqiMpDlyILNmztmNKqIBk4HXWFovCWCHz0ZXFR5mBpNIP01jbGHr4yvHRWuqFmWufuPo6GUAcCBdlUgAa0jpPA03YzRBJe/s1600/IMG_5416.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sagging tracks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifra7YXn9QRNSvGLW3BUSP4Ck5ErsHRmoACmIl8LvzZ6tvYKG89eKE436storYMIxqtWzHAiQUhbUFzGhH7MwCagrK7LyRTYltWnD784V386ajufUFuzweFSLWHWA3ZBWRiBWjOgvvSTEN/s1600/IMG_5435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifra7YXn9QRNSvGLW3BUSP4Ck5ErsHRmoACmIl8LvzZ6tvYKG89eKE436storYMIxqtWzHAiQUhbUFzGhH7MwCagrK7LyRTYltWnD784V386ajufUFuzweFSLWHWA3ZBWRiBWjOgvvSTEN/s1600/IMG_5435.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oil stain on tacks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_t0PZgSiZ-5tNuM_XQIpydl4MOQLhMptodHaaOZAuSfSD4w2fQQ6-BA-RJAUUabJjs3KWO3He4Ykv9CWtmBCyWwWVk9U8guDMCB6NauEgvrhYmzslhZp0AB9zByC52ruIXOkFL1JGQWDg/s1600/IMG_5408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_t0PZgSiZ-5tNuM_XQIpydl4MOQLhMptodHaaOZAuSfSD4w2fQQ6-BA-RJAUUabJjs3KWO3He4Ykv9CWtmBCyWwWVk9U8guDMCB6NauEgvrhYmzslhZp0AB9zByC52ruIXOkFL1JGQWDg/s1600/IMG_5408.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cross ties completely rotted away</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaps under spacers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wreck site</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1993 hazmat placards (light fuel oil)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DOT - 111 cars</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I saw no sign of spillage yet</td></tr>
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632181467394060975.post-65702954196208958792014-03-15T09:00:00.001-07:002014-03-31T07:14:07.420-07:00Oil mars Ala. swamp months after crude train crash<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Oil mars Ala. swamp months after crude train crash</h1>
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<span class="info line"><b class="provider"><img src="http://img.vrvm.com/media/render.htm?m=671311749&height=20" /></b><br />
JAY REEVES<br /> </span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-i8feG_GN3NWgZcL8kqUTwoplzmT1r2LejgDQTcN1xrKbyWFvb5hba4vjXj1Gda0VO5cFA8cqt_bO2eBNpipyQpfx2dNNioUpxFlQb6raMCYYo7V_1V4ahNU5ZC9LKfDZxpZ8RvfMX62o/s1600/JLW+WKA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-i8feG_GN3NWgZcL8kqUTwoplzmT1r2LejgDQTcN1xrKbyWFvb5hba4vjXj1Gda0VO5cFA8cqt_bO2eBNpipyQpfx2dNNioUpxFlQb6raMCYYo7V_1V4ahNU5ZC9LKfDZxpZ8RvfMX62o/s1600/JLW+WKA.jpg" height="207" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Jay Reeves, AP</td></tr>
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John Wathen, an environmentalist with the Waterkeeper
Alliance, gestures at the site of a train derailment and oil spill near
Aliceville, Ala., on Wednesday, May 5, 2014. </div>
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Environmental regulators say
cleanup and containment work is continuing at the site, but critics
contend the accident and others show the danger of transporting large
amounts of oil in tanker trains. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)</div>
ALICEVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Environmental regulators promised an
aggressive cleanup after a tanker train hauling 2.9 million gallons of
crude oil derailed and burned in a west Alabama swamp in early November
amid a string of North American oil train crashes.<br />
So why is dark, smelly crude oil still oozing into the water four months later?<br />
The
isolated wetland smelled like a garage when a reporter from The
Associated Press visited last week, and the charred skeletons of burned
trees rose out of water covered with an iridescent sheen and swirling,
weathered oil. A snake and a few minnows were some of the few signs of
life.<br />
An environmental group now says it has found ominous traces
of oil moving downstream along an unnamed tributary toward a big creek
and the Tombigbee River, less than 3 miles away. And the mayor of a
North Dakota town where a similar crash occurred in December fears
ongoing oil pollution problems in his community, too.<br />
As the
nation considers new means of transporting fuel over long distances,
critics of crude oil trains have cited the Alabama derailment as an
example of what can go wrong when tanker cars carrying millions of
gallons of so-called Bakken crude leave the tracks. Questions about the
effectiveness of the Alabama cleanup come as the National Transportation
Safety Board considers tighter rules for the rail transportation of
Bakken oil, which is produced mainly by the fracking process in the
Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana. Oil production is increasing
there, boosting the amount of oil being transported across the country.<br />
Environmentalist
John Wathen, who has conducted tests and monitored the Alabama site for
months for Waterkeeper Alliance, said Genesee & Wyoming railroad
and regulators did the bare minimum to spruce up an isolated, rural site
and left once the tracks were repaired so trains could run again.<br />
"I
believe they really thought that because it's out of sight, out of
mind, out in the middle of a swamp, that nobody was going to pay
attention," said Wathen.<br />
Regulators and the company deny any such thing occurred, however.<br />
The
Environmental Protection Agency and the Alabama Department of
Environmental Management, which oversaw the cleanup, say more than
10,700 gallons of oil were skimmed from the water after the derailment,
and workers collected about 203,000 gallons of oil from damaged rail
cars using pumps. Another 290 cubic yards of oily dirt was excavated
with heavy equipment, or enough to cover a basketball court with soil
nearly 2 feet deep.<br />
Yet four months later, officials still say no
one knows exactly how much oil was spilled. That's mainly because an
unknown amount of oil burned in a series of explosions and a huge fire
that lasted for hours after the crash. Since no one knows how much oil
burned, officials also can't say how much oil may be in the swamp.<br />
About
a month after the crash, the head of Alabama's environmental agency,
Lance LeFleur, promised "aggressive recovery operations" in a written
assessment for a state oversight commission. He said the oil had been
contained in a "timely" manner and none had left the wetlands.<br />
Michael
Williams, a spokesman for the Connecticut-based Genesee & Wyoming,
which owns the short-line Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway line where
the crash occurred, said the company is still monitoring the site
closely and maintaining a system of barriers meant to keep oil from
spreading. The work is continuous, he said.<br />
But regulators and the
railroad confirm one of Wathen's worst fears: That environmental
agencies let the railroad repair the badly damaged rail bed and lay new
tracks before all the spilled oil was removed. Wathen calls the move a
mistake that's behind the continuing seepage of oil into the water.<br />
"I
do agree that they needed to get the rail cars out. But there were
other ways to do it," said Wathen. "Those would have been more
expensive."<br />
James Pinkney, an EPA spokesman in Atlanta, said the
rail line had to be fixed quickly to remove oil and damaged rail cars
that still contained crude from the wetland.<br />
Agencies are now
working with the company and its contractors to recover the remaining
oil trapped in the rail bed, but it's unclear when or how that might
happen.<br />
"The EPA and ADEM are continuing to work together to
insure all recoverable oil is removed from the site," Pinkney in a
written response to questions.<br />
Ed Overton, an environmental
sciences professor at Louisiana State University, said spilled crude can
linger at a site indefinitely if it's buried in the ground. Depending
on the amount of oil that remains, he said, containment devices may be
needed in the swamp for at least a couple of years.<br />
But Bakken
crude evaporates quickly once exposed to air because of its composition,
said Overton, so the fact that oil remains in the swamp isn't "the end
of the world."<br />
"It's going to look bad for awhile," he said. "It's
amazing how quickly Mother Nature can handle such things, but it will
take time."<br />
The cause of the derailment - which happened at a
wooden trestle that was destroyed by the flames and since has been
replaced by buried culverts that let water flow underneath the tracks -
remains under investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration.<br />
The
crash site appears in better shape now than right after the derailment,
partly because burned tanker cars misshapen by explosions are gone.
Much of the water surrounding the site appears clear, and the odor from
the site isn't bad enough to reach the home of Leila Hudgins, just a few
hundred yards away.<br />
"I haven't smelled anything," said Hudgins. "They did a good job. They hauled off truckload after truckload."<br />
The
crash site, located off an old dirt road and a new one that was built
during the response, is accessible both by car and foot, but Hudgins
said she hasn't looked closely at the spot where it happened.<br />
The
railroad said testing hasn't detected any groundwater contamination, and
EPA said air monitoring ended about a month after the crash when it
became apparent there were no airborne health hazards.<br />
Still,
questions linger. Wathen said he has been taking water samples several
hundred yards downstream from the crash site and has detected the
chemical fingerprint of so-called Bakken crude, which the train was
carrying with it derailed.<br />
"There's no question it is outside
their containment area, and I think it's even further away," said
Wathen. "This is an environmental disaster that could go on for years."<br />
The
Alabama train was on a southbound run when it derailed less than 3
miles south of Aliceville, a town of about 2,400 people near the
Mississippi line. Another oil train derailed and burned in December at
Casselton, N.D., and 47 people died in July when a train carrying Bakken
oil exploded and burned in Quebec.<br />
The mayor of Casselton, Ed
McConnell said he has been keeping up with the Alabama cleanup because
spilled oil also was buried under the rebuilt railroad tracks near his
town of 2,400 people. He worries that oil will reappear on the ground at
Casselton as the spring thaw begins in coming weeks.<br />
"It's still
in the ground here, too," said McConnell. "They've hauled a lot of dirt
and stuff out. But they covered up the (oily) dirt before getting it all
up and rebuilt the track to get it going."<br />
Alabama's
environmental agency said it still regularly visits the wreck site,
which is encircled with the same sort of absorbent fencing, oil-snaring
pom-poms and plastic barriers that were used on the Gulf Coast after the
BP well blowout in 2010.<br />
Once the "emergency" phase ends, the
state environmental agency will install wells to monitor groundwater,
said spokesman Jerome Hand.<br />
Government regulators will approve any plans for removing remaining oil from the site, he said.<br />
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John L. Wathenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140840127236193125noreply@blogger.com0