Yet Another Oil Train Has Derailed and Caught Fire (103 cars of the shit)

[cali]

Earlier today, yet another massive train carrying crude oil derailed and caught on fire, this time in northern Illinois near the Mississippi River. One-hundred-and-three of the the train's 105 cars were carrying crude oil—from where was not immediately clear—eight of which derailed. Two of the derailed cars have caught on fire, according to BNSF Railway which owns the train, sending plumes of smoke and fire into the sky above Galena, Illinois, a town of just over 3,300.

The image of smoldering oil train cars is now a familiar sight: Incidences of exploding oil trains have been rapidly rising in North America thanks to the fracking boom in North Dakota's Bakken oil fields (Bakken oil is potentially more flammable than normal crude) and the slow transition away from old, unsafe rail cars. Oil-by-rail carloads are up 4000 percent from 2008 in the United States and this is the the third derailment in North America in the last three weeks, including a massive explosion in West Virginia on February 16 that injured one person and spilled oil into the nearby Kanawha River. In fact, a Department of Transportation report predicted trains carrying crude and ethanol would derail an average of 10 times per year in the next two decades. This is bad news for people who live near railways and the ecosystems in which they reside.

People living within a mile radius of today's derailment have begun evacuating, and authorities are monitoring the Mississippi River for leakage. BNSF Railway has not responded to inquiries from Mother Jones about the age of the trains' cars and whether the train was carrying Bakken crude. We will update the post with when we have that information. The Birkshire Hathaway subsidiary did tell Reuters, however, that no injuries had been sustained.

<snip>

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/03/choo-choo-boom-boom

A Lac Megantic disaster is almost certain to happen- sooner rather than later.

[bullwinkle428]

1. This happened not far from my neck of the woods. The story gets worse -

the location of the derailment was along the Mississippi River, rather deep in the river valley surrounded by high hills. The site was inaccessible by road, so fire crews could only proceed down the hill via a bike path that happened to be nearby. As the fire and explosions progressed, the firefighters made the tactical decision to abandon the gear and just let it burn itself out.

There is concern that some of the oil might run into the river, but again, due to the remote nature of the location, it is difficult to assess even that.

K&R, and BTW, nice to see you back, cali.

[cali]

2. thanks, bullwinkle. How far are you from the site? do you know what's happening now?

[bullwinkle428]

6. I'm in Davenport, IA, maybe 70-80 miles from the actual crash site. The latest local

reporting is saying that clean-up crews are on the scene this morning. It's still undetermined as to whether any of the oil reached the river. 6 homes in the area were evacuated out of concern for a propane tank close to the derailment site. I have a link to the local news source with a bit more detail.

http://kwqc.com/2015/03/05/train-derails-south-of-galena-ill/

[Enthusiast]

18. Rachel did a good piece on it last night.

[2naSalit]

7. Casper Bluff

nature and water preserve is where it happened, just south of where the Galena River meets the Mississippi River... which makes it pretty bad in itself along with all the other bad things about it.

[JCMach1]

3. the one reason I was not 100% against Keystone XL was an increase of these types of events...

[snooper2]

4. It's the pipeline with the catchy name, nobody is going after any of the 100's other being built

[cali]

5. same here. it's a catch-22.

that oil will continue to move be it by rail or pipeline. and although pipeline spills are potentially worse environmentally, rail accidents involving oil spills are more life threatening. the amount of oil transported by rail has grown massively over the past few years on infrastructure that is wholly insufficient.

[JCMach1]

11. Yep, 'oil will flow' ... one way or another

AND it will always dirty the place up...

[JCMach1]

12. How about safety over profits: a modest proposal

...The NTSB also noted that it is still waiting for final action from government regulators on new requirements to improve the safety of tank cars used to transport oil. The safety board called for changes in the DOT-111 tank cars, which are used for a variety of flammable liquids, after a 2009 accident in Cherry Valley, Ill. The rules aren't expected to be ready until next year... http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/23/ntsb-oil-train-crash-risks-major-loss-of-life/4804347/

Still waiting...

and waiting

and waiting

[onethatcares]

20. do you have any

idea as to how much it would cost to make those cars safer??? Jeez, it's better we burn down cities everywhere than cut into shareholder profits with that claptrap

[mopinko]

8. it's not "near the mississippi" it is right on the river.

know the area well. that track is probably not 100' from the river.
near the old savannah army depot, right in the river, pretty much.

[greatlaurel]

9. The train cars explode due to negligence by the oil companies not removing the oil before shipping.

This issue needs much more attention. This is not a pipeline vs train issue, but deliberate negligence on the part of the oil companies.
"As federal regulators continue investigating why tank cars on three trains carrying North Dakota crude oil have exploded in the past eight months, energy experts say part of the problem might be that some producers are deliberately leaving too much liquid propane in their product, making the oil riskier to transport by rail.

Sweet light crude from the Bakken Shale formation straddling North Dakota and Montana has long been known to be especially rich in volatile natural gas liquids like propane. Much of the oil is being shipped in railcars designed in the 1960s and identified in 1991 by the National Transportation Safety Board as having a dangerous penchant to rupture during derailments or other accidents.

While there's no way to completely eliminate natural gas liquids from crude, well operators are supposed to use separators at the wellhead to strip out methane, ethane, propane and butane before shipping the oil. A simple adjustment of the pressure setting on the separator allows operators to calibrate how much of these volatile gases are removed.."

Bold phrases were for emphasis.

This information is not new, but receives no attention in the MSM. These articles are from 2014.

http://journalstar.com/business/local/propane-suspended-in-oil-may-have-caused-rail-car-explosions/article_1cb101c5-2f1b-5298-8de0-01fd15f3b1be.html

Here is a link to a Mother Jones article about this issue as well
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/oil-tank-trains-bakken-crude-accidents

[Savannahmann]

10. Not a big deal

First, BNSF is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, which is owned and managed by Warren Buffett. This by the way is the main reason that the Democratic Party is opposed to the Keystone XL Pipeline. By keeping the oil flowing through our companies, we make sure that their companies are harmed. Fuck the Koch Brothers.

While this is certainly lamentable, there is no reason we should look any closer at the policy of shipping flammable liquids in train cars that are little more than zippo lighters at the first minor ding on the route.

So now people can quit commenting on this story, there is nothing to see here, and nothing that can be done because of these unexplainable accidents that are totally not the fault of the extremely conscientious train companies and their parent corporations.

Nothing to see here. Please disperse.



Please, there is nothing to see here.

[greatlaurel]

19. The tankers are exploding because the oil companies are not removing the propane from the oil.

Many of the rail tankers are old tankers that are not as safe as should be required. But the main issue is the negligence of the oil companies refusing to take the time to properly process the oil to remove the propane contaminants from the Bakken oil before shipping it out. We do not need more oil pipelines. We need to invest in renewables asap. Proper regulation at the facilities loading the oil on the tankers would solve this problem a lot quicker than building polluting and destructive pipelines. Pipelines are not benign installations.

[Greybnk48]

13. Why are there so many derailments all of a sudden?

Is it to convince us we need a pipeline?

[Roland99]

14. I had that EXACT SAME thought this morning!

But, less conspiratorially speaking, could it be related to the cold weather we've been having affecting the tracks?

[cali]

17. no. it's because the number of trains carrying oil has increased 400%

over the past few years and it's carried in tank cars that aren't safe. There is little regulation of transporting oil. Btw, there are many pipelines extant and many currently under construction other than the KSXL.

[Peregrine Took]

15. The fire is still burning as of 11:30 this morning.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/nationworld/7/71/419555/galena-oil-train-derailment-involved-safer-tank-cars-fire-still-burns

[Peregrine Took]

16. King Bruce (Rauner) plans steep cuts to the very agency he is taking credit for calling on for help.

See comment at bottom of article before comments.

http://capitolfax.com/2015/03/06/oil-train-derails-near-river-confluence/