Train - hazardous cargo "accident"

[Citydude]

Back in the 80's, it was reported that nuclear missiles with warheads were going to be transported by rail through our small town. (How that information leaked out was a mystery to me) however I don't remember hearing one person complain. The common theme I remember hearing about the event was that "we need these". Some people wanted to know when they are coming through so they could go show support of our nations defensive system.

Well, the times are a changing. There is a growing public sentiment concerning vital materials needed to fuel and power our nation as "planet killers". Rail ways, pipelines and water transportation (shipping) are being targeted as "problems".

I am not going to argue specific areas of the "planet killers or problems". I'm just pointing out there are lots of "we can't do this" public sentiment and not a lot of "let's figure this out" sentiment.

 

[3930dave]

Back in the 80's, it was reported that nuclear missiles with warheads were going to be transported by rail through our small town. (How that information leaked out was a mystery to me) however I don't remember hearing one person complain. The common theme I remember hearing about the event was that "we need these". Some people wanted to know when they are coming through so they could go show support of our nations defensive system.

Well, the times are a changing. There is a growing public sentiment concerning vital materials needed to fuel and power our nation as "planet killers". Rail ways, pipelines and water transportation (shipping) are being targeted as "problems".

I am not going to argue specific areas of the "planet killers or problems". I'm just pointing out there are lots of "we can't do this" public sentiment and not a lot of "let's figure this out" sentiment.

That kind of social cohesion (re. warheads) is often replaced with NIMBY and BANANA blind reactionary responses today... agreed - not too productive.

I put my self in the Figure It Out, and Get it Done camp. Where the NIMBY pressure can be of some use shows in the recent Canadian legislation that finally got moving, towards improving rail safety. It seems pretty clear that the Feds here were not enforcing the old rail legislation effectively, and if Lac Megantic had not happened, would have been content to let Big Rail keep conducting Business As Usual.

Still today, I myself will take a few calculated risks, when Getting Things Done. Personally, and as a society, you can't mitigate all risks down to zero, all the time, and still function.

There are companies at both ends of that rail line that are making big money off that oil moving through small and large cities. It's high time that some of those billions in profit get spent on safety upgrades..... We aren't going to get off Oil in my lifetime, so it's time to get smarter about how oil is going to move.

Rgds, D.

 

[crash325]

ON the news yesterday. 5/10/14
Another train carrying crude oil derailed & spilled 75,000 gallons of crude. I think this train was in motion. News did say none of the crude got into any water ways.

 

[3930dave]

ON the news yesterday. 5/10/14
Another train carrying crude oil derailed & spilled 75,000 gallons of crude. I think this train was in motion. News did say none of the crude got into any water ways.

In many parts of Canada, there aren't may places where you could have a spill that size, and miss water. That was a lucky break.

A high speed crash can probably break just about anything.... I wonder if those tank cars were the old style ones, or the newer upgraded ones ?

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Times like this, I'd like to see the official responsible for the Must-Rehire decision being held personally liable for the consequences....

CPR warns of another Lac Megantic if forced to rehire coke-abusing engineer | Ca

Canadian Pacific Railway is evoking the possibility of another Lac Megantic-like disaster if it is forced to rehire a dishonest, drug-abusing locomotive engineer the company sacked in 2013 after he derailed a train while using cocaine on the job.

The engineer, who has had a history of absenteeism and a gambling addiction, tested positive for cocaine use after he derailed a train in a CPR Montreal yard in 2012, court documents state.

Because the 45-year-old man initially and repeatedly denied using cocaine, the company's lawsuit also cites his "dishonesty and deception" as a reason they don't want him back.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union grieved his termination, calling it "excessive."

Quebec railway labour arbitrator Michel Picher last month ordered CPR to rehire the engineer, a move that stunned the company's senior management.

Picher ruled the locomotive engineer's long-time cocaine addiction -- the man now admits using since 1987 -- was a "disability" for which he had sought treatment and is now doing well. Thus, he deserves another chance, Picher ruled.

A furious CPR has filed court documents in Montreal to overturn the labour arbitrator's ruling, which the railway's lawyers called "manifestly unreasonable and unintelligible."

CPR lawyers note Canadian railways are obliged by federal law to carry hazardous goods, such as ammonia, chlorine and petroleum crude oil in tanker cars.

Because those obligations impose massive risks and liabilities on railways, they must also be free to terminate untrustworthy employees who flout safety rules, CPR lawyers added.

"The lives and safety of CPR's employees and the public at large are at stake ... CPR holds all its employees, including its locomotive engineers, to the highest safety standards," the company's lawsuit states.

"As the Lac Megantic derailment has recently shown, the failure of a locomotive engineer to follow safety guidelines and rules can lead to tragic and catastrophic circumstances."

Let nobody ever question whether or not..... The Inmates are running the Asylum !

Rgds, D.

 

[Dutch445]

and here we go again,
i guess human life, water, wildlife are all taking a back seat to big oil, and these are now just common place occurrences with
nobody in any hurry to stop it from happening.


Train derailment sends oil tanker into West Virginia river | Fox News

"The office of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, which has issued a state of emergency, said the tanker cars were loaded with Bakken crude from North Dakota and headed to Yorktown, Virginia.

All but two of the 109 cars being hauled were tanker cars, officials said.

West Virginia American Water shut down a water treatment plant, located about 3 miles from the derailment, spokeswoman Laura Jordan. Another water plant downstream in the town of Cedar Grove also closed its intake, state health officials said.

The U.S. Transportation Department is weighing tougher safety regulations for rail shipments of crude, which can ignite and result in huge fireballs.

Responding to a series of fiery train crashes, including one this spring in Lynchburg, Virginia, the government proposed rules in July that would phase out tens of thousands of older tank cars that carry increasing quantities of crude oil and other highly flammable liquids. It's not clear how old the tankers were on the derailed train.

The Lynchburg train also was hauling Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to Yorktown, Virginia."

 

[bcp]

And those were the new "safe" cars.

Derailed CSX train in West Virginia hauled newer-model tank cars | Reuters

 

[3930dave]

And those were the new "safe" cars.

Derailed CSX train in West Virginia hauled newer-model tank cars | Reuters

Funny.... you don't hear much from the anti-pipeline folks, at times like these !

Ironic for me... I had to read your post, to find out about the CNR derailment in Northen Ontario Feb 14. Not much coverage this end of the province.

The newest rail-cars don't appear to be adequate for hauling Bakken, given how volatile it is. There is some contention that Bakken is still not being classified (dangerous goods wise) correctly.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

To recap

Boom: North America's Explosive Oil-By-Rail Problem - YouTube

Pipelines ? Nah, we don't need no pipelines......

TransCanada abandons Energy East, Eastern Mainline projects - BBC News

Rgds, D.

 

[Mace Canute]

To recap

Boom: North America's Explosive Oil-By-Rail Problem - YouTube

Pipelines ? Nah, we don't need no pipelines......

TransCanada abandons Energy East, Eastern Mainline projects - BBC News

Rgds, D.

Ain't it great that the province who will receive over $11 billion dollars in equalization payments in the 2017-2018 year is also the province whose citizens were responsible for shutting down a pipeline that would increase revenue for the provinces whose taxes generate a great deal of that $11 billion? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you...