A train carrying flammable liquids heads west through downtown Spokane on Oct. 1, 2014
Spokane seeks seat at talks on proposed Vancouver oil terminal
Nicholas Deshais
The Spokesman-Review March 8, 2015
A BNSF freight train pulling 103 cars of crude oil from North
Dakota’s Bakken formation derailed in rural Illinois last week, sending
flames and jet-black smoke into the sky and triggering warnings from
federal officials of a “substantial danger” of contaminating the
Mississippi River.
Last month, a similar incident occurred in rural West Virginia when an oil train carrying 70,000 barrels of Bakken oil derailed and exploded, engulfing 19 tanker cars in flames....
....Any one of these incidents could lead to the evacuation of 20,000 people if they happened in downtown Spokane; there’s no telling the extent of the lives lost or property damaged in the city’s core in such a scenario.
Derailments, leaks and explosions of trains carrying crude oil are becoming more common...
...“Those trains will go through the city of Spokane. The petition seeks a seat at the table for Spokane to ensure that the community’s unique public health, safety and environmental interests are represented,” Mayor David Condon said. “The City Council and I are united in seeking that seat and advocating for the interest of our community.”
Condon noted that Spokane is the only urbanized area the oil trains will enter before they get to Vancouver.
By filing what’s called a petition for intervention, the city joins seven other parties representing an array of interests..... more here
Last month, a similar incident occurred in rural West Virginia when an oil train carrying 70,000 barrels of Bakken oil derailed and exploded, engulfing 19 tanker cars in flames....
....Any one of these incidents could lead to the evacuation of 20,000 people if they happened in downtown Spokane; there’s no telling the extent of the lives lost or property damaged in the city’s core in such a scenario.
Derailments, leaks and explosions of trains carrying crude oil are becoming more common...
...“Those trains will go through the city of Spokane. The petition seeks a seat at the table for Spokane to ensure that the community’s unique public health, safety and environmental interests are represented,” Mayor David Condon said. “The City Council and I are united in seeking that seat and advocating for the interest of our community.”
Condon noted that Spokane is the only urbanized area the oil trains will enter before they get to Vancouver.
By filing what’s called a petition for intervention, the city joins seven other parties representing an array of interests..... more here
EPA: Illinois oil train derailment threatens Mississippi River
By Curtis Tate McClatchy March 7, 2015
WASHINGTON — An oil train derailment and spill in northwest Illinois poses an “imminent and substantial danger” of contaminating the Mississippi River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Saturday.
The spill from the derailment, which occurred Thursday, also threatens the Galena River, a tributary of the Mississippi, and the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, one of the most complex ecosystems in North America.
The EPA said it couldn’t estimate how much oil was spilled, but that the 21 cars of the 105-car BNSF Railway train that derailed contained 630,000 gallons of Bakken crude from North Dakota. Small fires from the wreckage continued to burn Saturday.
Earlier Saturday, another oil train derailed and caught fire near Gogama, Ontario, bringing to five the total number of fiery derailments in the U.S. and Canada in as many weeks.
The safety of trains carrying flammable materials has become an issue as the introduction of new drilling technology has allowed the development of crude oil deposits far from traditional pipelines, particularly in the so-called Bakken formation in North Dakota. Rail has become the preferred way to transport that crude to refineries, with railroads moving about 500,000 carloads of oil last year, according to industry estimates, up from 9,500 in 2008. One tank car holds 30,000 gallons.....
..... recent derailments have cast doubt on the effectiveness of safety efforts and suggest that no tank car currently in service on the North American rail system is tough enough to resist damage in relatively low-speed derailments..... more here
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