The 2016 US DOT Emergency Response Guidebook

Loaded with emergency information, this PDF document shows the diamond-shaped placards that identify contents of tank cars.

High Hazardous Flammable train placards to watch for:  Crude oil carries the number 1267 on the placard, and ethanol can be 1203, 3475, 1987 or 1170, depending whether it is mixed with gasoline and it’s purity.

Crude oil:

Ethanol:

Placard 1203 – Basically gasoline, a blended fuel with up to 10% ethanol.
Placard 3475 – blended fuel with 11% to 94% ethanol.
Placard 1987 – Denatured fuel ethanol, 95% to 99% ethanol .
Placard 1170 – Neat ethanol, 100%.

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Links about Benicia’s Valero Crude By Rail

• How Benicia Valero Crude By Rail was defeated (November 20, 2016)
• SafeBenicia.org, the website for Benicians For a Safe and Healthy Community (BSHC).  Volunteer or order one of their yard signs. 
• Contribute a little or a lot for the BSHC organizing effort – go to their GoFundMe page.  And you can buy a Stop Crude By Rail t-shirt, coffee mug, stickers and other cool stuff to support the cause at cafepress.com/safebenicia.
• BSHC on Facebook: Facebook Stop Crude By Rail
• RESOURCES on How to Read and Comment on Valero’s Draft EIR
• The City of Benicia’s Valero Crude By Rail page – current status on Valero’s proposal
• The Benicia Independent:
  • BACKGROUND
  • ACTION – Eight ways to “derail” Valero’s proposal
  • EVENTS
  • PROJECT DOCUMENTS, official documents submitted by Valero and/or prepared by the City’s consultant
  • PROJECT REVIEW, critical studies of Valero’s Crude by Rail proposal by the Natural Resources Defense Council and comments submitted by YOU, the public, for the record.  See also an impressive subsection of Highly critical reviews at close of public comment period and Letters from California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
  • VIDEO: Community Forum & Update, Jan. 18, 2015 – Speakers Antonia Juhasz, Diane Bailey, Marilyn Bardet, Andrés Soto.  (Many thanks to Constance Beutel!)

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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)

• NRDC Fact Sheet – IT COULD HAPPEN HERE: The Exploding Threat of Crude by Rail in California (PDF)
• NRDC Maps: Crude Oil Train Derailment Risk Zones in California  (Blast Zones)
  • Bakersfield (PDF)
  • Benicia (PDF)
  • Davis (PDF)
  • Martinez (PDF)
  • Pittsburg (PDF)
  • Richmond (PDF)
  • Sacramento (PDF)

Allies / Organizations

• Benicia Independent (Crude by Rail)
• 350.org
• Eyes on Phillips 66 Rodeo (ConocoPhillips)
• Desmog Blog (all issues related to Climate Change)
• SMILE BREAK – Uncovered: The Lost Keystone XL Ads
• Voices Against Oil Trains, an excellent 3½ minute YouTube video by Columbia Riverkeeper
• Sightline – Oil Train Explosions: A Timeline in Pictures – Ten explosions in two years, and no end in sight.
  Posted on 5/6/15 after the Heimdal ND explosion, to be kept current.
• The DOT-111 Reader, News and information about DOT-111 rail tank cars, etc.
• US DOT Emergency Response Guidebook
• Bomb Trains: The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail, a “must see” video documentary by Vice News
• Air Hugger (Global Community Monitor)
• Earthjustice map: Crude-by-rail Across America
• Bomb Trains, a now outdated, but still noteworthy Facebook page detailing recent derailments and explosions  (Editor:  On a sad note, Curtis Hewston, who maintained the Facebook BombTrains page, passed away in September 2014. His detailed logging of hazmat derailments was without an equal. See Sightline above, for a more current listing…)
  • Bomb Trains on Facebook – Notable Crude Oil Train explosions 2013-14, the big blasts through April 30, 2014.
  • Bomb Trains on Facebook – Bomb Train Derailments in 2014, all derailments through August 1, 2014, many without explosions
• An excellent video documentary by VICE News:
  Bomb Trains: The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail
• Benicia songwriter Mark Kennedy: “Bakken the USA”