Tag Archives: explosion

Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Government regulation, Massive increase in crude-by-rail, Oil Industry, Rail industry

Oil Trains: The Industry Speaks for Itself – a record of denial and deceit, in photos

Repost from Sightline Daily
[Editor: These images would be great for posters  (see below) – and the author speaks for me when he writes, “Government regulators have been slow to act, their responses painfully milquetoast. As a result, much of what I do involves research into the often-complex details of federal rulemaking procedures, rail car design standards, insurance policies, and the like—all the issues that Sightline is shining a light on….Yet on some level it’s not about any of that. It’s about a reckless and unaccountable oil industry that—in the most literal and obvious way—profits by putting our lives at risk. Every time I hear one of their accountability-shirking lines, I can’t help recalling images from those tragedies and near-tragedies.”  – RS]

Oil Trains: The Industry Speaks for Itself – a record of denial and deceit, in photos

By Eric de Place and Keiko Budech, December 30, 2014

A year and a half after an oil train inferno ended 47 lives in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, the crude-by-rail industry rolls on, virtually unimpeded. It’s hard not to feel horrified when, one after another, we register the place names of oil train explosions—Aliceville, Alabama; Casselton, View PostNorth Dakota; Lynchburg, Virginia—as grim warnings of what could happen in so many other North American communities.

Government regulators have been slow to act, their responses painfully milquetoast. As a result, much of what I do involves research into the often-complex details of federal rulemaking procedures, rail car design standards, insurance policies, and the like—all the issues that Sightline is shining a light on.

Yet on some level it’s not about any of that. It’s about a reckless and unaccountable oil industry that—in the most literal and obvious way—profits by putting our lives at risk. Every time I hear one of their accountability-shirking lines, I can’t help recalling images from those tragedies and near-tragedies. The juxtaposition is startling that we decided to undertake a small photo project to capture it. We hope that you’ll find the following useful in your own work, and if so, that you’ll share the images with your own networks.

It’s a practically a given that we’ll hear more empty reassurances and lies from oil and rail executives in the new year, and as growing numbers of oil trains crisscross the continent, there’s every likelihood we’ll have another catastrophe to catalog. To grasp the magnitude of the oil industry’s cynicism, it’s best to hear them in their own words.

Lynchburg, VA, Derailment by LuAnn Hunt
Lynchburg, VA, Derailment by LuAnn Hunt
Aliceville, AL, Derailment, by John Wathen
Aliceville, AL, Derailment, by John Wathen
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by TSB Canada
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by TSB Canada
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by TSB Canada
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by TSB Canada
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by David Charron
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by David Charron
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by TSB Canada
Lac-Mégantic Derailment by TSB Canada
Lynchburg, VA, Derailment by Michael Cover
Lynchburg, VA, Derailment by Michael Cover
Explosion, Fire, Rail tank cars

Fire and explosion with injuries at Atchison, Kansas rail yard

Repost from NewsPressNOW.com, St. Joseph, MO
[Editor: original news reports said that the tank car exploded.  Now officials are calling it a fire and “over-pressure” in the building.  Raw news video footage shows fire emerging at the top of a tank car, so it is clear that the tank car was involved.  KSHB Kansas City reported that the building is used to prepare railcar services for painting.  As of today, no one is reporting whether the tank car was a DOT-111, and no one has disclosed the nature of the burning fuel.   – RS]

Explosion near Atchison deemed accident

Two injured employees upgraded to fair condition
By Jeremy Lyons FOX 26 KNPN, December 12, 2014

An explosion at a railroad contracting company just south of Atchison, Kan., has been deemed an accident.

“The fire marshal’s office did do a complete investigation of the building and they have determined there is nothing criminal in the building,” Atchison County Sheriff Jack Laurie said. “So they have released the building back to GBW, and whether or not any other investigators will be coming in or not, we do not know that at this point.”

The explosion Thursday afternoon at GBW Rail Services, which sent nine employees to the hospital, proved not to be in a rail car, as previously reported by authorities.

The accident occurred inside of the building. However, the contents inside the rail car have not been ruled out as a contributing factor.

“The actual rail car itself did not explode. There was an explosion inside the building and I was corrected on ‘explosion’ as well, as it was an over-pressure is what they called it,” Mr. Laurie said. “The over-pressure meaning that the building expanded to some type.”

The sheriff couldn’t comment on exactly what over-pressurization was and the fire investigators could not be reached for comment.

Two men who were admitted to the University of Kansas Hospital in critical condition were upgraded to fair condition Friday, but their names have not been released.

“There’s a lot of debris, insulation, just a lot of materials inside there,” he said. “When walking out of that scene, it’s hard to believe that everybody actually did walk out of that area.”

All other employees inside the building at the time were accounted for. Most were treated and released.

Casselton ND, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Oil conditioning, Oil stabilization

NPR: Casselton, one year later

Repost from National Public Radio (NPR)
[Editor: This NPR report mentions that recent new North Dakota regulations require “conditioning” the oil.  Note that the new rules fall short of calling for “stabilization” of the oil.  See Ron Schalow’s comment, including “This conditioning lowers the ignition temperature of crude oil—but not by much. It leaves in solution most of the culprit gases, including butane and propane….The only solution for safety is stabilization, which evaporates and re-liquefies nearly all of the petroleum gases for separate delivery to refiners. Stabilization is voluntarily and uniformly practiced in the Eagle Ford formation in Texas…” – RS]

Fiery Accident Spurs Safer Rail Transport For Crude Oil

Morning Edition, December 30, 2014

It’s been one year since an oil train derailment outside Casselton, N.D. Since then, state and federal regulators have taken steps to make it safer to transport crude by rail.

Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Lac-Mégantic

Canada Lac-Megantic Rail Disaster: Musi-Café Reopens

Repost from International Business Times
[Editor: More on this story at The Globe and Mail, and CBC News.  – RS]

Canada Lac-Megantic Rail Disaster: Musi-Café Reopens

By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | December 16, 2014

Musi-Café, the business establishment that figured directly in the July 2013 Lac-Megantic rail disaster in Canada, has finally reopened. The restaurant-bar quietly opened its doors to the public on Monday 400 metres away from ground zero.

Firefighters look at a train wagon on fire at Lac Megantic, Quebec, July 6, 2013. Canadian police expect the death toll from a fatal fuel train blast in a small Quebec town to be more than the one person confirmed dead so far, a spokesman said on Saturday. The driverless train and 72 tankers of crude oil jumped the tracks in the small town of Lac-Megantic early in the morning and exploded in a massive fireball. REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger

Yannick Gagne, Musi-Café owner, still vividly remembers how it all happened a year ago. “The sky, everything inside, outside became orange,” CBC News quoted Gagne, who shared the memory as if it only happened yesterday. “I felt the heat coming to the window, blowing heat. I saw a wall, a big wall of fire 300, 400 feet high.”

To say that the bar’s reopening is a testament of hope would be an understatement. The train derailment and explosion killed 47 people in Quebec. It took for months, the area endured painful and difficult memories.

Gagne was lucky to have left the bar 40 minutes before tragedy hit. It wasn’t the same for two of his employees as well as to some 28 others who were there at the time. He said until now, he still has nightmares of being trapped inside with them. In those, he saw how the people tried hard to escape.

On Monday’s reopening, only three of the original employees came back to work with him. One of those was the chef, a girl who had worked for him for three or four years and another good friend. The latter, identified as Karine Blanchette, will handle all the artists who will come to the resto-bar.

Forty-seven people were killed in Lac-Megantic when a train of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada, carrying 72 tankers full of crude oil, derailed and exploded in the town. It had been earlier parked uphill from Lac-Megantic, unattended, when it started its descent into the town. A gigantic explosion ensued, destroying 40 buildings and ripping a large area of Lac-Megantic. About 2,000 residents were forced to flee their homes.

Gagne almost left town because he felt people blamed him for the death of the 47. He said there were some who will look away when they see him coming nearby. “I know it’s normal, but it puts a lot of pressure … I’m not the devil, I didn’t put the train inside the Musi-Café.”

Yet there were also other people who pushed and motivated him to rebuild the café as a sign of healing and closure as well. Christian Lafontaine, a survivor, was one of them. He told him they needed the café to heal, and to move on. “All the people of Mégantic … they haven’t healed yet. They suffer still,” Lafontaine said.

Gagne said the new restaurant-bar will cost $1.5 million. He said the provincial government has provided a loan, “a financial bridge.” The federal government had likewise extended help. Musi-Café will have an official “red carpet and champagne” opening in February.