Repost from KTVU
[Editor: first reports were of a propane leak. Later … “They ran a test and it came back to be lubricating oil which is not hazardous in this kind of quantity….” Apologies for the commercial ad in the video. – RS]
PITTSBURG, Calif. (KTVU) – A possible leak from a Union Pacific rail car led to the evacuation of six homes in Pittsburg Wednesday night.
Repost from WXOW News19, La Crosse, Wisconsin
[Editor: At least the local officials in La Crosse didn’t issue the usual dum-de-dum-we-are-all-so-safe review like the ones following an event here in Benicia. See the Benicia Herald’s two part series on last October’s emergency training at Valero (click HERE and HERE), and my own view on our local heros’ dilemma. Apologies for the commercial ad in the video. – RS]
La Crosse, WI (WXOW) – La Crosse Emergency Management is reflecting on a training exercise they completed in October.
The goal was to develop response in the event of a crude oil spill.
The hypothetical scenario, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train derailment carrying 150 thousand gallons of Bakken crude oil dumping directly into the Mississippi.
The 3-day simulation included rehabilitation drills for wildlife covered in oil along with communication drills for emergency responders.
Part of the goal was to learn more about the nature of crude oil and damage it can cause.
The take-away after the exercise was that emergency responders still have a lot of work to be prepared for a catastrophic spill.
“No community is every really going to be fully prepared for a massive catastrophic train derailment with a million gallons of crude oil spilling or igniting or getting into the sewers and streams, you just can’t be. But there are things that you can be doing to get yourself better prepared to take care of people and get them out of harms way,” Keith Butler, Emergency Management Coordinator said.
Butler said still have a long way but emergency training is constantly improving.
The next exercise drill will focus on evacuation plans.
Th biggest issue, he said, is communicating across the river.
[Editor: apologies for the commercial advertisement preceding the video far below. – RS]
Sacramento Bee: Train cars derail in Antelope; none hurt
Follow-up story on Sacramento Bee: Number of train cars derailed in Antelope now set at 7
Daily Journal: Nobody hurt when 3 Union Pacific freight train cars derail near Sacramento
KCRA.com: Officials investigate train derailment in Antelope, incident cleared
CBS Sacramento: No Official Cause Released In Antelope Freight Train Derailment (Video)
Repost from ABC News
[Editor: Significant quote: “…even with oil prices falling off a cliff, industry analysts and railroad executives point out that crude shipments still make up just a sliver of the overall freight delivered by rail. What’s more, because fuel is such a huge cost in the industry, railroads are a direct beneficiary of those falling prices.” – RS]
The stunning collapse in oil prices over the past several months won’t derail the railroads’ profit engine even if it does slow the tremendous growth in crude shipments seen in recent years.
Carloads of crude oil spiked well over 4000 percent between 2008 and last year — from 9,500 carloads to 435,560 — as production boomed and the cost for a barrel of oil soared into the triple digits.
Those prices have tumbled severely, to just above $50 per barrel Friday, and that has rattled some of the investors who have plowed money into companies like Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and CSX.
All three of those companies have seen their stock prices slip over the past month, along with major U.S. stock markets.
But even with oil prices falling off a cliff, industry analysts and railroad executives point out that crude shipments still make up just a sliver of the overall freight delivered by rail. What’s more, because fuel is such a huge cost in the industry, railroads are a direct beneficiary of those falling prices.
Crude oil shipments remain less than 2 percent of all the carloads major U.S. railroads deliver. Sub-$60 oil might force producers to rein in spending but railroads ? which spend hundreds of million of dollars every quarter on fuel? will see their costs fall away.
Those falling energy prices have also proven to be the equivalent of a massive tax cut for both consumers and businesses, and railroads stand to benefit from that as well.
Fueled by a rebounding employment as well as rising consumer and business confidence, U.S. economic growth reached a sizzling 5 percent annual rate last quarter, the government reported this month. The rebounding economy is likely to drive even greater demand for shipping.
Edward Jones analyst Logan Purk says the importance of crude oil shipments by rail seems to have been inflated by investors.
“It seems like whatever loss in business they see will be offset by the drop in fuel costs,” Purk said.
The crude oil business has provided a nice boost for railroads at a time when coal shipments were declining. Profits at the major U.S. railroads have been improving steadily along with the economy, reaching $13.4 billion in 2013, up from $11.9 billion in 2012 and $10.9 billion in 2011.
Officials from Union Pacific Corp, Norfolk Southern Corp., CSX Corp. and Canadian Pacific all tried to reassure investors about crude oil shipments during their latest investment conferences.
“I don’t think that we are going to see any knee-jerk reaction. I don’t think we are going to see anything stopped in the Bakken,” said Canadian Pacific CEO Hunter Harrison said of the massive oil and gas fields that stretch from North Dakota and Montana into Canada.
The Bakken region is one of the places where railroads are hauling the majority of the oil because pipeline capacity hasn’t been able to keep up with production.
Through the fall, North Dakota oil drillers remained on pace to set a sixth consecutive annual record for crude oil production.
Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, said the lower prices will prompt oil companies to look for ways to reduce costs, but he’s not yet sure how much of an effect it will have on production in the region.
“It’s still a little early to make any firm assessments,” Kringstad said.