Category Archives: Derailment

Alberta Canada, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Keeping Watch on Earth News

Sturgeon County Canada: neighborhoods evacuated after train carrying crude oil derails

Repost from CBC News

Sturgeon County neighbourhoods evacuated after train carrying crude oil derails

12 cars overturned on the railway in Sturgeon County northwest of Edmonton
CBC News, Oct 22, 2017 9:32 PM MT
RCMP asked residents in River’s Edge and Noroncal to evacuate their homes as a precaution after a train derailed Sunday afternoon.
RCMP asked residents in River’s Edge and Noroncal to evacuate their homes as a precaution after a train derailed Sunday afternoon. (Teri Gosselin)

Residents of two neighbourhoods in Sturgeon County, Alta., were allowed to return home Sunday evening after their homes were evacuated in the aftermath of a train derailment Sunday afternoon, county officials say.

At about 1:45 p.m., 12 cars overturned on the railway northwest of Edmonton.

The rail cars were carrying crude oil and two of them leaked, releasing about 30 to 50 litres, said Sheila Moore, communications officer for Sturgeon County.

Those leaks have been stopped, CN spokesperson Patrick Waldron said in a statement Sunday evening.

‘Pretty unsettling’

A resident of River’s Edge Place, Teri Gosselin, heard the clatter Sunday she described as the “craziest noise” she’d ever heard.

“Just the loudest kind of metal-on-metal noise you could ever imagine,” she told CBC News.

“Pretty unsettling.”

Gosselin ​and one of her roommates went to check out what happened, when a CN crew member told them to step back because there was hazardous material on the ground.

“You couldn’t quite smell the oil but you could see the sheen of oil or some sort of fuel on the cars,” she said. “Train parts everywhere.”

No danger detected

Residents were given the green light to return home after CN personnel assessed the area and determined there was no apparent danger, Moore said.

RCMP had asked residents in the River’s Edge and Noroncal neighbourhoods to evacuate as a precaution, although police didn’t believe there was a danger to the public, Const. Kathleen Sossen told CBC News.

The evacuation affected approximately 46 homes in the Sturgeon Valley area.

Sturgeon County officials say it will take a couple of days to clean up after a CN train derailed Sunday afternoon. (Teri Gosselin)

The county had set up a reception centre at Namao Hall on Hwy 37 for evacuees.

No injuries or property damage have been reported, Moore said.

Waldron said the company has activated its emergency response plan and environmental teams are on scene to start cleaning up.

“We continue to work alongside local emergency responders,” Waldron said. The cause of the incident is under investigation, he said.

Moore said the county expected clean up efforts to continue over the next couple of days.

Baltimore MD, Clean Water Action, Crude By Rail, Crude Oil, Derailment, Explosion, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Local land use authority, Local Regulation, Oil refineries

Baltimore council members propose ban on new crude oil facilities

From an email by Jennifer Kunze, Maryland Program Organizer, 
Clean Water Action
[See also the Baltimore Sun story, below]

Thu, Oct 19, 2017

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share the exciting news that the Baltimore zoning code change to prohibit new or expanded crude oil terminals has been officially introduced!  You can download the bill here, and here is some coverage of it in the Baltimore Sun and our local NPR station.  Taylor and I would be happy to answer any questions about it!

Have a great day,

Jennifer Kunze
Maryland Program Organizer
Clean Water Action
Website – Facebook – Twitter

Repost from The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore council members propose ban on new crude oil facilities

By Ian Duncan, October 16, 2017

Two members of the Baltimore City Council want to ban new crude oil terminals from the city as part of an effort to limit the number of oil trains traveling through the area.

Council members Mary Pat Clarke and Ed Reisinger introduced a proposed change to the city’s zoning laws Monday that would add the oil terminals to a list of banned facilities, ranking them alongside nuclear power plants and incinerators.

“Crude oil shipments are potential hazards to residents and entire neighborhoods,” Reisinger said in a statement.

The council members said they were turning to the zoning code because federal law stops city authorities from directly regulating rail. They hope limiting the terminal capacity will mean there will be less interest in sending oil trains to Baltimore.

Two existing facilities in Baltimore would be allowed to stay but could not expand in any way under the proposal.

For years environmental activists have been sounding the alarm about crude oil that is transported by rail, which can lead to deadly explosions in the case of an accident. In 2013, 47 people died when a train carrying crude oil exploded in Canada.

Precise details of the shipments are scarce, but with the price of oil low, the practice is widely believed to currently be at a low ebb. Rob Doolittle, a spokesman for CSX Transportation, said no oil trains have operated in Baltimore or anywhere else on the company’s network for months. Doolittle also said the company has never run dedicated oil trains through the city, but had moved small amounts of crude on mixed trains.

Clarke said the dip in the market meant it was the right time for the council to take up the proposed restrictions.

“It doesn’t put jobs in jeopardy,” she said. “We don’t know when the marketplace may change. If it does we want to have already capped out the capacity of Baltimore facilities.”

The operator of one of the existing terminals declined to comment; the other did not respond to questions.

Environmental groups say there’s reason to think that if the price of oil picks up again, companies would seek to expand the number of terminals in Baltimore. That’s what happened during the last boom several years ago, but the plans were blocked.

Jennifer Kunze, an organizer with Clean Water Action, said it makes sense to put limits in place now.

“This is really a preventative measure,” she said.

Benicia Industrial Park, Derailment, Petroleum Coke (Petcoke)

Six Benicia derailments in last five years – Union Pacific investigating

Repost from the Benicia Herald
[Editor: For background on the 6 derailments in the Benicia Industrial Park over the last 5 years, see my recent article, Train cars come off the tracks in Benicia Industrial Park – again…  – RS]

Union Pacific still investigating cause of derailment Saturday

By George Johnston, September 29, 2017

A Union Pacific Railroad train derailed in Benicia on Saturday afternoon [September 23, 2017].

The train, consisting of nine hopper cars, derailed near Bayshore Road in the Benicia Industrial Park around 3:40 p.m. No injuries were reported from the incident, and no hazardous materials were spilled. Union Pacific Railroad is currently investigating the situation, representatives for the company said.

Since 2013, at least six train derailments have been reported in the Industrial Park. The most recent prior to Saturday’s accident included two over the course of a week last October. In all instances, no injuries or spillages were reported.

Benicia Industrial Park, Derailment

Train cars come off the tracks in Benicia Industrial Park – again…

(Note dates of 6 derailments 2013-2017 and links to each below …)
(See also update on 9/29/17, “Six Benicia derailments in last five years – Union Pacific investigating”)

Sixth derailment in five years

Derailment in Benicia Industrial Park, 09-23-17

On Saturday September 23, 2017, several train cars derailed in Benicia’s Industrial Park. A local eyewitness reported passing by the scene at around 11:30pm on the 23rd. He saw ten covered gray hopper cars off the tracks, and rails torn apart, showing damage for about a tenth of a mile.

Youtube video, Constance Beutel, 9/24/17

By midday Sunday, the area was still closed to auto traffic. Local videographer Constance Beutel couldn’t see much, but surveyed the scene from a distance, and posted the result to YouTube.

A quick look back shows that there have been six such incidents in the Benicia Industrial Park in less than five years. *

I wrote to Beutel, indicating that we have a derailment like this on average of more than once a year. She wrote back, “Surely your data is wrong?  Didn’t the Valero Crude By Rail draft EIR clearly state that a derailment, given the data, would happen once in 111 years?  smile emoticon “

Well, not quite. The prediction was actually that there would be a crude oil release once every 111 years.  But given all the catastrophic derailments and explosions during those years, everyone knew that was just an industry snow job.

Thank goodness Valero’s dirty and dangerous proposal was stopped in its tracks!

* Background on the 6 derailments in Benicia 2013-2017: