In September, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration announced a Proposed Rule to Prevent Unintended Movement of Trains. Something as simple as making sure trains full of explosive oil have to be secured is still in the proposed rule stage.
That means it will not be part of the new regulations that are supposed to be out on January 15. It also means that lobbyists will be able to schedule private meetings with the regulators at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for the next several months to influence any final new regulations on securing trains, just like they did this year when they worked against any new oil-by-rail regulations.
One other safety factor not addressed in the new regulations is the actual oil and how it is more explosive than traditional crude oil.
After the Lac-Megantic disaster tests showed that the oil—which was from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota—was as explosive as gasoline, something that is not true about most crude oils but that is a characteristic of oil obtained by fracking tight shale formations like the Bakken. And that explained why downtown Lac-Megantic was consumed by explosions and fire.
After the new proposed federal regulations completely failed to address the issue of the Bakken oil’s volatility, there was still hope that North Dakota regulators would require the oil to be stabilized prior to shipment in rail cars.
Those hopes were dashed last month when North Dakota regulators released new “standards” allowing oil significantly more volatile and dangerous than the oil involved in the Lac-Megantic accident.
So when the oil trains return to Lac-Megantic in 2016, they can still carry the same dangerous oil they did in 2013—in the same unsafe rail cars. No executives of any rail or oil corporation will have been charged with any wrongdoing.
Just as BP is currently promoting that it’s “back to work in the Gulf of Mexico”, the future is indeed bright for the oil and rail companies who will be running oil trains through Lac-Megantic.
The same can’t be said for the 25 million people who, like the people of Lac-Megantic, continue to live in the blast zones of the bomb trains.
We don't read the vast amount of words you cut'n'paste here. If you quoted selectively I would pay more attention.Graeme wrote:Did your read the last few paragraphs of the article I posted in my previous post?
We don't read the vast amount of words you cut'n'paste here. If you quoted selectively I would pay more attention.
Those hopes were dashed last month when North Dakota regulators released new “standards” allowing oil significantly more volatile and dangerous than the oil involved in the Lac-Megantic accident.
Graeme wrote:I expect there will be "anti-rail" groups too;
But here in southern Washington, some environmental groups are
quietly pushing a builder to move even faster with a $1.3 billion real estate
project along the Columbia River that includes office buildings, shops and
towers with 3,300 apartments.
The reason is oil.
Two miles west of the 32acre project, called the Waterfront, one of the
biggest proposed oil terminals in the country is going through an
environmental review, with plans to transfer North Dakota crude from rail
cars to barges. Up to four trains, carrying 360,000 barrels of oil, would pass
every day through this city’s downtown, only a few hundred feet from the
Waterfront’s towers, westbound from the Bakken shale oil fields..
“We have a very large project that is directly pitted against the oil
terminal,” said Brett VandenHeuvel, the executive director of Columbia
Riverkeeper, a watchdog group for the river, and an opponent of the oil
terminal.
The result is a sort of race to the crossing: If the Waterfront can get its
bricks and mortar in the ground before the terminal is approved — possibly
late next year, with litigation likely to follow — more people would be living and working near the oiltrain line. Compounding what opponents, led by the city, say are the dangers of spills or derailments, would make the
terminal’s path to approval steeper.
The surge of fossil fuels delivered by rail that is wending its way across
many corners of America is hitting the Pacific Northwest — the closest
straight line from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean — with a fury, and a
complex new calculation of strategy for both sides.
2 km east of here (close to the coal train wreck a few years ago). No stopping allowed so I didn't get photos. CP already has lots of equipment and truckloads of track.A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying crude oil derailed in southwestern Alberta earlier today.
CP says the 12-car train was travelling westbound. All but two of the cars remained upright.
The Transportation Safety Board says there are no reports of leaks or injuries at the site near the community of Frank, in the Crowsnest Pass.
A spokesperson with TSB says the incident was first reported at 4:30 a.m.
CP is investigating.
Another train carrying crude oil derailed and caught fire in Canada early Sunday, potentially putting pressure on the White House to accelerate its review of new regulations intended to improve the safety of hazardous rail shipments throughout North America.
The 100-car Canadian National train left the tracks in a remote part of Northern Ontario around midnight, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported Sunday. Of the 29 cars that derailed, at least seven were on fire, the newspaper reported.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is sending investigators to the scene, but they likely will face difficulties assessing the damage because the area is not easily accessible, and the temperatures are well below zero.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/02/15/2 ... nites.html
A Canadian National Railway train carrying crude oil has derailed near Gogama, Ont., forcing the closure of Highway 144.
Photos showing clouds of black smoke have been posted on social media, but officials have not released any details on the severity or cause of the derailment.
Two members of the Crowsnest Pass Fire/Rescue Department are heading to Pueblo, Colorado from March 16 to 18 for oil-by-rail firefighting training.
“This was in the works long before the train derailment,” said Stevens regarding the Feb. 14 derailment of 12 carloads of crude oil in Frank.
Deputy fire chief Curtis Stevens and Fire/Rescue member Daryl Johnson will be completing the three-day course along with many other firefighters from communities across Canada.
As a result of increasing volumes of crude oil shipments, the rail industry in North America developed a training program to prepare emergency responders in the event of an incident. The training costs between $4,000 and $5,000 per individual.
“The industry has decided to help fund the training because smaller municipal and volunteer fire services do not have the financial means to send individuals to this type of specialized program,” said Canadian Pacific Railway spokesperson Salem Woodrow
The course is called Crude by Rail Emergency Response. It covers the chemical and physical properties of different types of crude oil, tactical product control methods and environmental impacts. It then culminates in a full-scale derailment simulation.
When crude oil is burned it emits chemicals that can affect human health. These include lead, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds.
In 2014 CP sent 188 firefighters to the Security and Emergency Response Training Centre (SERTC) in Pueblo and plans to send another 120 in 2015. The SERTC is a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads.
Train derailments, including the recent one in the Crowsnest Pass, have turned the spotlight on rail transportation with respect to rail safety, emergency response planning and training of emergency responders.
Two officers of from our Crowsnest Pass Fire Rescue Department have recently returned from a course hosted at the Security and Emergency Response Center (affiliated with the Amercian Association of Railroads which CP Rail is a member) to better prepare our department for the future.
Deputy Chief Curtis Stevens and Captain Darryl Johnson recently returned from this three-day course in Pueblo, Colorado, which focused on dealing with crude oil transported by train.
"The name of the course was Crude by Rail," Stevens said of the course, which was paid for by CP. "It was an amazing course. CP Rail is committed to supporting the training of rural fire departments, on dealing with crude-rail derailments."
"We are very fortunate to have received the full support of CP Rail in sponsoring us to attend this course, said Johnson. "Our municipality did not have to cover any expenses directly related to the course."
Stevens said the course focused on the chemical makeup of the different kinds of crude oil and how to properly deal with them in case there is ever a rail accident here.
"H2S (hydrogen sulphide) is big risk, because there is H2S in it all the time. The course also covered the design of the tank cars so we can easily identify a crude tank car and understand the appropriate actions that need to be taken."
The practical component also dealt with Hazmat Hazardous Materials response and how to contain and respond to any leakage from tank cars.
"The course focused on the fundamentals of dealing with a crude oil tank car derailment and the initial things we can do before the CP Hazmat crew gets there."
"The course was a valuable opportunity to learn the technical and operational elements of emergency response (spills and fires) related to crude oil transport via rail," said Johnson. "Transport of crude oil by rail is nearly an everyday occurrence for us here in Crowsnest Pass. Being trained, and now able to train others in the Fire/Rescue Department, is an important part of our Municipal Emergency Response Plan."
There have been a number of derailments in the news recently, Stevens noted this could be directly related to an increase in train traffic and train size.
And as for the recent derailment here.
"It would have prepared us better to deal with that incident … completing the initial assessment, relaying appropriate information to CP Rail dispatchers as the ‘first responders’ to the accident scene, and of course setting up the scene response activities safely," said Stevens.
"Based on the training we have now received, our assessment of our response actions at the time were appropriate and were done safely. We had the right people in place and set up our scene operations effectively."
Plantagenet wrote:In fact, extending the railroad system eastward has already begun in Alaska
northern rail expansion---phase one
New Alaska RR bridge now being built to extend Alaska RR to the east.
------------
Alaskans have long wanted a rail link to Canada and the lower 48. The possibility of shipping Canadian oil to Asia through Alaska is just another component in the planning for such a rail link.
The first part is easy to answer: the Rockman (just like 99% of the US oil patch) is firmly opposed to oil sands production. And the motivation is simply a matter of self interest: the Canadian oil imports hurts our profits. As to why the "environmentalists" joined in with the "smoke screen" effort I still really don't have a good theory.}
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