Questions Remain After Massive Oil Train Explosion Forces Town to Evacuate

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/31-10



'Its time to have a conversation' about the dangers of transporting oil by rail

Questions Remain After Massive Oil Train Explosion Forces Town to Evacuate
- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer
Published on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 by Common Dreams

Nearly 24 hours after a massive oil train collision and explosion led to the evacuation of a small North Dakota town, residents are still not allowed to return to their homes and the extent of the damage had not yet been tallied.

"Once I can stand up, look you in the eye and say they're safe to come home, that's exactly what we're going to do. We're just not there yet," Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney told a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

The collision involved a 106-car BNSF Railway Co oil train, which slammed into a derailed grain train on Monday afternoon, setting off large-scale explosions and a plume of toxic smoke that could be seen for 25 miles near the small town of Casselton.

As of Tuesday afternoon, all of the fires had not yet been put out and the majority of residents closest to the accident were told to stay away from their homes.

[madokie]

1. I would say that most of that oil being transported by train

will wind up on foreign markets as either crude or refined products. To me there in lies the problem. Our oil should be used here only for our use.