Aging rail bridges and gaps in oversight put cities, towns at risk from crude-by-rail

Trains plus crude oil equals trouble down the track

By Curtis Tate  McClatchy DC

 

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Every day, strings of black tank cars filled with crude oil roll slowly across a long wooden railroad bridge over the Black Warrior River.

Curtis Tate / McClatchy

Decaying track and bridge conditions on the Alabama southern railroad could pose a risk to Tuscaloosa, Ala., population 95,000. [At site], video of trains crossing the bridge.

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.

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.

And it shows why communities nationwide are in danger.

“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....

.... McClatchy has identified other gaps in the oversight of crude by rail:.....   read more here

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/static/features/Trains+Oil/Trouble-down-the-track.html?brand=mcd#storylink=cpy...

The Alhambra Trestle in Martinez. (Jeffrey Schaub/CBS)

Emergency Plans Stall Out For Trains Transporting Bakken Crude Oil In The Bay Area, Part 3

CBS SF Bay Area - 12/31/14      audio report at site     Hear the entire three-part cover story series.

KCBS reporter Jeffrey Shaub and producer Giancarlo Rulli investigate the Bay Area's aging railway bridges that will carry increasing loads of highly volatile Bakken crude oil from North Dakota in this three-part KCBS Cover Story Special. MARTINEZ (KCBS) ...   more here

Minnesota rail safety upgrades pegged at $243M - Washington Times

Alberta doctor tells U.S.: Canada is ‘lying’ about tar sands’ health effects

American Senators told that oil sands are linked to a huge spike in cancer, despite Canadian government claims

Mychaylo Prystupa     Feb 27th, 2014   Vancouver Observer      h/t CCH

A northern Alberta doctor warned U.S. Senators on what he says have been the devastating health impacts of the tar sands on families – effects, he says, that have been willfully “ignored” by the Canadian and Alberta governments.

“I appeal to you to keep up the pressure – this is an ongoing tragedy.  A total disgrace,” said Dr. John O’Connor, Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

He sighted statistics for rare cancers – of the bile duct for example – that have shot up 400 times for what is considered normal for a tiny community, such as Fort Chipewyan – which is downstream, to the north of the oil sands.

“These are published, peer-reviewed studies that indicate that the government of Alberta and Canada have been lying, misrepresenting the impact of industry on the environment,” said O’Connor.....  more here

      

*** 'not true' says this article :  here          you decide-