Monthly Archives: November 2014

Oil Industry, Tar sands crude, Transport Canada

TransCanada drops Edelman as PR firm after strategy leak

Repost from The Montreal Gazette
[Editor: For background read “Edelman’s TransCanada Astroturf Documents Expose Oil Industry’s Broad Attack on Public Interest, DeSmogBlog”.  – RS

TransCanada drops Edelman as PR firm after strategy leak

Roberto Rocha, November 26, 2014
Rail cars arrive in Milton, N.D., loaded with pipe for TransCanada's Keystone Pipeline project in this Feb. 28, 2008 file photo. The fate of the contentious Keystone XL pipeline is still up in the air.
Rail cars arrive in Milton, N.D., loaded with pipe for TransCanada’s Keystone Pipeline project in this Feb. 28, 2008 file photo. The fate of the contentious Keystone XL pipeline is still up in the air. | Eric Hylden / CP File Photo

Oil giant TransCanada will not renew its contract with PR firm Edelman after its communications strategy was leaked last week, sparking controversy.

The Calgary-based pipeline maker wants to build a new 4,600-kilometre, $12 billion network through Quebec and New Brunswick. This project, called Energy East, has received substantial resistance in the province. To counter this pushback, Edelman devised a plan to win over critics.

Related: Quebec won’t be influenced by TransCanada’s tactics: Arcand

“We will work with third parties and arm them with the information they need to pressure opponents and distract them from their mission,” the document, leaked by Greenpeace Canada, said.

“The conversation about Energy East has turned into a debate about our choice of agency partner,” the company’s spokesperson, Tim Duboyce, wrote in a statement. “We need to get back to a conversation about the project itself and as a result we have agreed that it is in the best interests of the project that we do not extend our contract with Edelman.”

The company said it will “start a fresh conversation with shareholders,” but did not mention specifics.

The pipeline would carry up to 1.1 million barrels of crude from the Alberta oilsands to terminals in Quebec and New Brunswick.

Crude By Rail, Environmental Impacts, First Nation treaty rights, Fish and wildlife, Massive increase in crude-by-rail, Water quality

Washington tribal leaders, commissioner warn of oil train dangers

Repost from Stanwood Camano News
[Editor: This article refers to a Seattle Times opinion piece, “Crude By Rail: Too Much, Too Soon”.  – RS]

Tribal leaders, commissioner warn of oil train dangers

November 25, 2014

Increased oil train traffic on Washington’s aging rail system puts the state’s people and ecosystems at risk, according to an opinion piece by 10 tribal leaders and the Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark, published Thursday in the Seattle Times.

“Crude By Rail: Too Much, Too Soon” calls for federal regulators to improve safety protocols and equipment standards on Washington rail lines to deal with a 40-fold increase in oil train traffic since 2008. Trains carrying crude oil are highly combustible and, if derailed, present serious threats to public safety and environmental health, according Goldmark.

Herman Williams Sr., chairman of the Tulalip Tribes; Tim Ballew II, chairman of the Lummi Nation; Jim Boyd, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; Brian “Spee~Pots” Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community; and other tribes, joined Commissioner Goldmark in urging policymakers to address critical issues around the increase of oil train traffic through the state.

“The Northwest has suffered from a pollution-based economy,” said Cladoosby in a statement. “We are the first peoples of this great region, and it is our responsibility to ensure that our ancestral fishing, hunting and gathering grounds are not reduced to a glorified highway for industry. Our great teacher, Billy Frank, Jr., taught us that we are the voices of the Salish Sea and salmon, and we must speak to protect them. If we cannot restore the health of the region from past and present pollution, how can we possibly think we can restore and pay for the impact of this new and unknown resource?

“We are invested in a healthy economy, but not an economy that will destroy our way of life. We will not profit from this new industry, but rather, we as citizens of the Northwest will pay, one way or another, for the mess it will leave behind in our backyard. We will stand with Commissioner Goldmark and our fellow citizens and do what we need so those who call this great state home will live a healthy, safe and prosperous life,” said Cladoosby.

 For Tulalip chairman Herman Williams, Sr., endangerment of fish runs by oil train pollution is a key concern.

“For generations we have witnessed the destruction of our way of life, our fishing areas, and the resources we hold dear,” said Williams in a statement. “The Boldt decision very clearly interpreted the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott to reserve 50 percent of the salmon and management to the tribes. The federal government must now partner with tribes to protect the 50 percent of what remains of our fishing rights. The Tulalip Tribes will not allow our children’s future to be taken away for a dollar today. Our treaty rights are not for sale,” said Williams.

According to Commissioner Goldmark, tribal leadership on the oil train issue is essential.

“Tribal leaders bring unique perspective and concern about threats to our treasured landscapes,” said Goldmark. “It’s an honor to join them in this important message about the growth of oil train traffic in our state and the threat it poses to public safety, environmental sustainability, and our quality of life.”

Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Federal Regulation (U.S.), Fire, Massive increase in crude-by-rail, Oil spill, Train length, Train weight, Water quality

Petition Seeks to Limit Length, Weight of Oil and Hazardous Material Trains to Prevent More Derailments

Repost from The Center For Biological Diversity
[Editor: Download the 11-page petition here.  – RS]

Center for Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, November 25, 2014
Contact: Jared Margolis, Center for Biological Diversity, (971) 717-6404, JMargolis@biologicaldiversity.org
Leah Rae, Riverkeeper, (914) 478-4501 x 238, LRae@riverkeeper.org

  Petition Seeks to Limit Length, Weight of Oil and
Hazardous Material Trains to Prevent More Derailments

Existing Federal Proposals Fail to Sufficiently Protect Public, Environment From “Bomb Trains”

PORTLAND, Ore.— In the face of a dramatic rise in trains carrying explosive crude oil and derailing in a series of devastating accidents, the Center for Biological Diversity and Riverkeeper, Inc. today petitioned the Obama administration to protect the public and environment by significantly reducing the risk of oil train derailments by limiting the length and weight of trains hauling oil and other hazardous liquids.

Federal regulators have acknowledged that the weight and length of oil trains has contributed to derailments and spills in recent years, and that, in all cases, the size of a train compounds the potential significance of a disaster. But agencies have not proposed any solutions to address this concern. In fact the latest federal proposal aimed at improving tanker car safety admits the rule could result in longer, heavier trains.

“One of the quickest ways to make these oil trains safer is limiting how much of this volatile crude oil they can carry,” said Jared Margolis, an attorney at the Center who focuses on the impacts of energy development on endangered species. “The government has acknowledged the dangers of these massive trains — now it needs to take action to protect people and wildlife from spills and derailments.”

Today’s petition calls for oil trains to be limited to 4,000 tons, which is the weight the American Association of Railroads has determined to be a “no problem” train, meaning there would be significantly less risk of derailment. This would limit oil trains to 30 cars. Most oil trains today include about 100 cars — well beyond what the industry has determined to be truly safe.

“Federal regulators have admitted these oil trains pose a significant risk to life, property and the environment, and granting our petition would significantly reduce those risks,” said Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River Program Director for Riverkeeper. “The government, to date, has left the lid off this explosive industry — setting a cap on train length and weight is a necessary, logical, safety step that is one of the simplest ways to reduce the risks that our communities, first responders and ecosystems are confronted with on a daily basis.”

Oil transport, especially by rail, has dramatically increased in recent years, growing from virtually nothing in 2008 to more than 400,000 rail cars of oil in 2013. Billions of gallons of oil pass through towns and cities ill equipped to respond to the kinds of explosions and spills that have been occurring. A series of fiery oil-train derailments in the United States and Canada has resulted in life-threatening explosions and hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil being spilled into waterways.

The worst was a derailment in Quebec that killed 47 people, forced the evacuation of 2,000 people, and incinerated portions of a popular tourist town. The most recent explosive derailment occurred in April in downtown Lynchburg, Va., resulting in crude oil leaking out of punctured tank cars, setting the James River on fire and putting habitat and drinking water supplies at risk.

Without regulations that will effectively prevent derailments, oil trains will continue to threaten people, drinking water supplies and wildlife, including endangered species.

“This petition directly tackles one of the root causes of these dangerous, unnecessary oil train derailments,” said Margolis. “We’ll continue to push regulators until they step up and ensure the safety of people, wildlife and the environment we all share.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 800,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Riverkeeper is a member-supported environmental watchdog organization dedicated to defending the Hudson River and its tributaries and to protecting the drinking water supply of nine million New York City and Hudson Valley residents.

Derailment, Feather River Canyon, Union Pacific Railroad

LATEST DERAILMENT: Feather River Canyon, California

Repost from Action News Now, Chico, CA
[Editor: See also KRCR News, News10 Sacramento (excellent photos), KCRA Sacramento, and Chico Enterprise-Record.  – RS]

Train derailment in Feather River Canyon

By News staff, 11/25/2014

A Union Pacific train traveling through the Feather River Canyon Tuesday morning has derailed, officials confirmed.

According to the Office of Environmental Health, the train derailed around 3:00 a.m. near Virgilia in Plumas County across from Highway 70 mile marker 19.

The train was carrying corn grain. Officials say 11 cars derailed and slid down a large embankment, a significant amount of corn grain is in the river, but all the cars are on land.

No injuries have been reported and officials with the OES, Fish and Wildlife, and Union Pacific are on the scene conducting an investigation. The cause of the incident is unknown at this time.

Train traffic through the area is being routed around the canyon and Union Pacific officials say they do not have estimated time the derailment will be cleared.