Repost from KRON4 NEWS
Category Archives: Environmental Impacts
KCBS Radio report on Valero meeting
Repost from KCBS Radio 740AM, 106.9FM
Valero Confirms Plans For Crude Oil By Rail At Benicia Community Meeting
March 25, 2014 1:14 PM
The Valero refinery in Benicia. (James Irwin/CBS)
BENICIA (KCBS) – On the day a Bay Area state senator was voicing concerns over the transport of crude oil by rail, the Valero refinery in Benicia has announced at a community meeting it wants to do just that.
There was standing room only where about 200 people showed up for the meeting on Monday night at the Ironworkers Union Local 378 hall to hear Valero outline its crude-by-rail project.
[Audio with interview of Jan Cox-Golovich and others.]Many who attended were skeptical of the plan which critics claim will result with two trains a day made up of 50 tanker cars each.
“It’s been proven that Bakken crude is a lot lighter and it’s very volatile and there’s been explosions and derailments and spills,” Jan Cox Golovich, a member of Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community.
But another attendee, Frank Sykes, said that using railcars would avoid a Cosco Busan or Exxon Valdez accident and that it would bring hundreds of jobs.
“I believe in Murphy’s Law—if it can happen, it will happen—but can’t live your life like that because nothing will ever get done,” he said. “If something was to happen out in the water ways, there’s a lot more damage that could be done.”
Environmentalists, however, point out that many rails lines traverse along the state’s rivers.
The meeting was peaceful but it was clear Valero has a long way to go to placate community members. Valero spokesman Chris Howe said the company understands there is opposition but said everyone will get a chance to weigh in.
“The environmental impact report is due out in the early part of next month, we’re expecting; the city will have a comment period,” he said
“It’s clear that the opponents of our project have a view; we scheduled this meeting tonight to bring some credentials experts.”
SF Chron: flood of oil tank cars “potential environmental disasters on wheels”
Repost from The San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate.com
Lots of oil in rail tank cars about to be coming to Bay Area
Phillip Matier And Andrew Ross
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Oil is flooding into the Bay Area – in rail tank cars that amount to potential environmental disasters on wheels.
In 2011, about 9,000 tank cars filled with crude oil were shipped into California by rail. In the next two years, thanks to the oil boom in North Dakota and Canada, the number is expected to jump to more than 200,000, according to the California Energy Commission.
About 10 percent of the oil will be headed to the five Bay Area refineries, which means traveling through Contra Costa and Solano counties. The question is, are we prepared to handle the spills or fires if there is a derailment?
“No,” said state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, after listening to 2 1/2 hours of testimony from emergency responders the other day at a hearing in Sacramento.
In a nutshell, the state has plenty of money for responding to waterborne accidents like the Cosco Busan oil spill in the bay in 2007 – but virtually nothing for handling spills on land.
“It’s not that crude oil is any more dangerous than ethanol or other products that we currently see on the rails,” said Chief Jeff Carman of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. “It’s just that with the sheer volume that will be coming in, we are going to see more accidents.”
First on the scene of any accident is likely to be the local fire department – but in Contra Costa and Solano, some agencies have closed fire stations in recent years or reduced the number of personnel per shift to deal with budget cuts.
Contra Costa Fire, for example, is down to 75 on-duty firefighters a day to cover 400 square miles and 600,000 people, compared with the 90 firefighters a day just two years ago.
To give an idea of the potential scale of an accident, the amount of oil that spilled from the Cosco Busan equals about 1 1/2 tank cars of crude. A full train could carry 60 times that amount.
“There is a potential for very serious problems and very disastrous problems,” Hill said.
San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.Pipeline spill in Ohio, 10,000 gallons in wetland
Repost from WLWT.com Cincinnati
5-inch break in pipe responsible for 10k gallon leak
Crews formulating plan to fix pipe
UPDATED 8:39 PM EDT Mar 20, 2014
COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio —Thousands of gallons of oil have been recovered from the pipeline leak in Colerain Township, and repair efforts can start because the break in the pipe has been found.
Crews continued their efforts to clean up the mess and minimize the environmental effects Thursday.
The work reached a milestone Monday night, as crews discovered the site of the leak. A 5-inch crack on the underside of the pipe caused approximately 10,000 gallons of oil to leak.
Officials said they cannot tell how long the leak had been going on, but residents said that they had been smelling oil since late February.
With the exact break site located, crews are working to make repairs, but that could take some time.
Colerian Township Fire Captain Steve Conn said the repair crews have formulated a plan and will submit it for approved.
“Once it gets approved, then they can start the repairs,” Conn said.
The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency must weigh in on the repair plan.
“It could be anywhere from a day or a couple days before they get the plan resolved and ready to be implemented,” Conn said.
Crews have been working around the clock to remove the oil, which covers about an acre of wetland, officials said.
About 3,800 gallons of an oil-water mixture has been recovered by skimming a nearby pond. The work at that pond is ongoing.
There are concerns about the impact on wildlife, too.
Traps have been set to try to capture salamanders that migrate through the area, so they can be relocated away from the oil.
Conn said it shows the care that crews are taking in the cleanup effort.
“They’re paying attention trying to get this taken care of as quickly and cleanly as possible and try to get this area back to better shape than it was to begin with,” Conn said.
Officials said late Thursday night that cisterns used for drinking water by residents in the area were not contaminated and safe from which to drink.
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