Major fire, explosion after train derails in Lynchburg, Virginia

[undeterred]

Source: NYDailyNews

It's not immediately clear if there are any injuries after the horrific crash first reported around 2 p.m. EST. One witness described the derailed train as carrying tank cars. The city is advising residents to stay out of the downtown area.

A train has derailed and crashed in downtown Lynchburg, Va. leading an immediate evacuation of the downtown area.

At this time it's not immediately clear if there are any injuries after the crash first reported around 2 p.m. EST.

Lynchburg police and fire personnel are actively at the scene, the city assured in a statement. They are advising residents to stay out of the downtown area.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/train-derails-lynchburg-va-creating-massive-fire-smoke-article-1.1774353

---

pictures and video at link

Train was carrying crude oil. WDBJ reports that the train is a CSX train and that at least three of 13 or 14 tanker cars ruptured.

[Blue Owl]

1. Shit, right next to a river again

Damn those sloppy, safety-corner-cutting big oil industries...

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. Some of the blame may also lay at the feet of poorly maintained infrastructure.

Railroad track, like highways, bridges, and roads need proper maintenance.

[Blue Owl]

4. True dat

Could be several reasons/factors involved.

But my immediate suspicion these days tends to be that a safety corner was cut somewhere in the name of profit margins...

[Blue_Tires]

13. fwiw, vandalism could also be a cause...

From an earlier incident:

http://www.wvec.com/news/REPORT--Train-derailment-that-injured-two-caused-by-vandalism-236595721.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Oh man..a CSX oil train crosses a trestle over the road 1/2 mile from my house.

and I notice that since they announced they will be moving oil, an increase in the number of trains going by.
One is a 10 pm train.

[deafskeptic]

15. That is my thought as well. n/t

[greiner3]

2. Isn't that where Liberty University is located.

Then I'm not worried about the town as the fire will be 'prayed' away, well, at least Liberty University's campus anyway.

[Leontius]

7. Classy real classy

[FreedRadical]

6. That was my first thought.

We will be seeing a spike in these oil tanker explosions. They have been trying to cover up how dangerous these tankers are. Then they want to run them right through the centers of towns and cities.

Now I admit I don't know what this train was carrying. Let see if my suspicion prove true.

[Blue_Tires]

11. Did they ever determine a final cause for that Canadian disaster last year?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

28. The investigation is still listed as "active."

Railway Investigation R13D0054 - Major rail accident in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. Oil train derailed and on fire in Lynchburg, Virginia

Last edited Thu May 1, 2014, 03:11 PM - Edit history (4)

OIL Train derailed and on fire in Lynchburg VA

Date: 04/30/14 11:26
OIL Train derailed and on fire in Lynchburg VA
Author: emd_mrs1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/train-derails-in-downtown-lynchburg/article_a28bf610-d092-11e3-b96d-001a4bcf6878.html

It is said (confirmed) to be an oil train headed for Yorktown VA. Big cloud of black smoke. More to come....

Picture

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/train-derails-in-downtown-lynchburg/article_a28bf610-d092-11e3-b96d-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=image&photo=0

BIG fire picture, includes riverbank brush.



Train info:
"There was a crude oil train on duty at 0915 out of Clifton Forge..."

Burning oil is flowing in the James River too.

Live coverage (for now) http://www.wset.com/story/25392359/train-has-derailed-in-lynchburg

Appears under control 3pm.

Michael

Later posts show that it had the symbol KO82.

For those of you who are not train enthusiasts, a train with the symbol "KO82" is an eastbound train on CSX carrying oil from Cicero, Illinois, to Yorktown, Virginia, where there had been a refinery owned by Amoco. The facility now handles barge loading, and it is owned and operated by Plains All American Pipeline LP.

CSX K Series: Bulk Commodity unit trains

This train was travelling on the old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway James River line, which follows the James River all the way from just outside Clifton Forge, Virginia, to the Chesapeake Bay. These tracks are right down by the river. They run in an east-west direction. Lynchburg is also served by Norfolk Southern, but that carrier is not involved.

Train carrying crude oil derails in downtown Lynchburg

I can't tell from the pictures whether the tank cars were of the DOT-111 design. That design was the subject of much discussion in last week's hearings at the National Transportation Safety Board.

Train derails in downtown Lynchburg

Oil train accidents were the topic of National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman last week at a two-day safety forum in Washington.

Hersman said the Obama administration needed to take steps immediately to protect the public from potentially catastrophic oil train accidents even if it means using emergency authority.

[dgibby]

27. I live in Clifton Forge.

We have the largest railroad expansion bridge in the world. Tracks run between Main St and the Jackson River, which is one of 2 rivers that form the headwaters of the James River approximately 2 miles out of town.

We have 2 lines running out of Clifton Forge. One is the Mountain Line that goes through Charlottsville, then on to Washington. The other is the River line that runs all the way to the CSX shipyards in Newport News, Va. The trains on the river line follow the James River all the way across the state, and engines are not needed to pull the trains as they are traveling down grade all the way. The engines are used to control the speed. My BIL was an engineer for C&O, then CSX and Amtrack before retiring. It's not unusual to see all kinds of oil, chemical, and coal trains passing through town 24/7. I worry that what happened in Lynchburg could happen here. Since the town is only about a mile square, I'm guessing we'd all have to be evacuated in the event of an oil or chem spill.

[Divernan]

9. Burning oil flowing into James River! Obama needs to take emergency action on this issue.

These trains go through or next to all major cities, and a lot of smaller towns too. The ones going through Pittsburgh go along the Allegheny River, and less than a mile from my house.

Oil train accidents were the topic of National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman last week at a two-day safety forum in Washington.

Hersman said the Obama administration needed to take steps immediately to protect the public from potentially catastrophic oil train accidents even if it means using emergency authority.

The Transportation Department was in the midst of drafting regulations to toughen standards for tank cars used to transport oil and ethanol, as well as other steps prevent or mitigate accidents. But there isn't time to wait for the cumbersome federal rulemaking process - which often takes many years to complete - to run its normal course, Hersman said.

"We are very clear that this issue needs to be acted on very quickly," she told reporters at the conclusion of a two-day forum the board held on the rail transport of oil and ethanol. "There is a very high risk here that hasn't been addressed."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRAIN_DERAILMENT_VIRGINIA_VAOL-?SITE=VALYD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

[Submariner]

19. Burning slick on the water

[Divernan]

21. At least 4 cars completely in river; at least 3 of those split open

not just slowly leaking - split open. If it's crude bitumen, it does not float - it sinks to the bottom and into the sediment - has proven impossible to clean up in other spills into waterways.

[undeterred]

23. I was hoping it would burn up, but I guess not.

[Crabby Appleton]

26. Impressive fire. nt

[DeSwiss]

10. K&R

[undeterred]

12. Richmond stops withdrawing from James River following Lynchburg derailment

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) -
As a precaution following the train derailment in Lynchburg this afternoon, a spokesman for the Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) confirmed that the city will stop taking water from the James River, which may have been contaminated following the train accident.
DPU's spokesman Angela Fountain said the city will instead take water from the canal until the safety of the James River water supply can be assured.

DPU has scheduled a press conference at 4:30 today about the water supply. Stay with NBC12 for continuing coverage.

http://www.nbc12.com/story/25393766/richmond-stops-withdrawing-from-james-river-following-lynchburg-derailment

[deafskeptic]

17. Well I guess I will have to buy bottled water. I live a mile away from explosion. n/t

[PeoViejo]

14. If the Keystone Pipeline is approved, the derailings will stop.

Big Oil is just trying to make a very visible point that carrying Oil by Rail Tanker is More dangerous than a pipeline. Derailings in the boonies just weren't getting the attention that was needed to convince Congress.

[BlueEye]

18. I don't know, that's a seriously "tin-hat" suggestion.

I mean, do you disagree that transporting oil by rail is less safe? If Canadian oil *must* come to the United States, pipeline is safer.

[Divernan]

22. Pipelines=Cheap steel prone to cracking,bad welds,sloppy concrete jobs,fudged pressure testing

Google Keystone Pipeline & leaks/cracks, etc. Here's one example:
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/aswifttranscanadas_record_presents_a.html

Keystone I, a pipeline moving primarily tar sands from Alberta to the Midwest and Oklahoma, was TransCanada’s first crude oil pipeline. TransCanada pitched it as a state-of-the-art pipeline which would “meet or exceed world-class safety and environmental standards.” In its environmental risks assessment, the company forecast that Keystone I would leak no more than 1.4 times a decade and noted that it had agreed to 51 special conditions that would increase its safety.

When construction on the project began in 2008, reality began to sharply diverge from TransCanada’s rhetoric. As the Keystone I was being built, a pipeline inspector working for a TransCanada contractor, was alarmed by what he saw – cheap steel prone to cracking, bad welds, sloppy concrete jobs, poorly spaced rebar, and fudged pressure testing. When he reported these issues to TransCanada, he was ignored and ultimately fired.

Keystone I started having problems as soon as it commenced operations in 2010. In its first year, the pipeline leaked 14 times, with the largest spill exceeding 21,000 gallons. Federal pipeline regulators were forced to intervene, issuing a Corrective Action Order (CAO) temporarily shutting the pipeline down as an imminent threat to life, safety and the environment. Keystone I became the newest pipeline in U.S. history to receive such an order – the previous contender was a 25 year old pipeline.

Most leaks are eventually discovered by land owners, not the Frackers with their "state of the art" pressure detectors. Then the frackers immediately make false claims about how small an amount leaked and how they have the leak totally repaired.

[BlueEye]

25. Fair enough, shame on TransCanada for being dishonest.

I would prefer neither expanded rail usage nor the pipeline. But the possibility is real that this administration will have to choose the lesser of two evils. And in terms of human life, these trains are basically bombs on wheels. This incident today was nothing compared to the incident in Montreal that wiped out a town last summer. The pipeline is probably worse for the environment, but it does not possess the ability to kill that the trains have.

Pick your poison I suppose. The climate is totally screwed either way.

[greyl]

16. K&R nt

[VA_Jill]

20. Right after

Bob McDonnell is announced as a faculty member at Liberty University, which is, of course, in Lynchburg. Reckon there is any connection between the two happenstances? Nah, couldn't be.

[undeterred]

24. What exactly are you suggesting?

He's the former governor.