Category Archives: Lac-Mégantic

Blast zone, Bomb Trains, Common Carrier Obligation, Crude By Rail, Derailment, DOT-111, Emergency Readiness & Response, Explosion, Federal Regulation (U.S.), Lac-Mégantic, Stop Oil Trains Week of Action #StopOilTrains

The Bomb Train Next Door: Part II

Repost from Nyack News & Views
[Editor:  An excellent guide for those living in or near a bomb train blast zone.  See also The Bomb Train Next Door, Part I, with helpful bullet-points summarizing five primary crude-by-rail issues.  – RS]

The Bomb Train Next Door: Part II

By Susan Hellauer, July 6, 2015

Just before last week’s Independence Day holiday weekend, more than 5,000 residents living near Maryville, TN were evacuated after a CSX tanker car derailed and caught fire on July 2. The tanker car was carrying Acrylonitrile, a highly flammable and toxic gas which can cause membrane irritation, headaches, nausea and kidney irritation if inhaled in high concentrations. Ten officers and 30 first responders were hospitalized with inhalation injuries following the incident, where authorities established a two mile evacuation zone near the derailment site.

The July 2013 explosion of a Bakken crude train at Lac-Megantic, Quebec that resulted in 47 fatalities got the immediate attention of first responders, lawmakers and local officials wherever freight lines carry crude oil “bomb trains.” Environmental watchdog groups have publicized the danger of crude by rail and have also taken legal action in an attempt to halt or change practices they deem unsafe.

Want to make your own voice heard?

If you are concerned about the hazards of crude by rail in Rockland County, let your village, town and county officials know how you feel. Write or call your representatives in Albany and Washington. Write a letter to the editor.

You can also stay in touch with groups like the Sierra Club, Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson and Forest Ethics. You can subscribe to the DOT-111 reader, a private website that tracks media reports about accidents and regulation changes involving rail tanker cars.

The people at the FRA, the NTSB and PHMSA are tasked with protecting us all from transport and materials hazards. Visit their websites, write or call them. They work for you.

Just say no?

Local officials are limited in what they can do to stop hazardous cargo like crude oil from being transported through their communities. There is a Common Carrier Obligation of railroads to transport hazardous materials. As long as those materials comply with government standards, railroads can’t pick and choose what to carry or where to carry it. Federal law stands between local governments and the rail operators in the interest of interstate commerce.

Federal agencies

In addition to issuing  and enforcing safety regulations, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) does research on behalf of the railroad industry. In May 2015 it issued new guidelines for the gradual replacement of the outdated DOT-111 tanker car and set mandatory speed limits for oil tanker trains. Oil companies are threatening legal action against these new rules.

Another USDOT agency, The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), has an interest in freight train safety. The NTSB analyzes mishaps, finds transportation hazards and recommends solutions. Rail tanker safety is high on its list of “most wanted” improvements, and it’s pushing for more immediate remedies than the FRA has specified. The USDOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration(PHMSA) is also actively monitoring oil train safety, with a mission to “protect people and the environment from the risks of hazardous materials transportation.” It tracks HAZMAT accidents and recommends regulatory changes.

New York State

Oil train traffic in New York State has increased dramatically in the last three years, during which time oil and freight rail companies have spent almost $1 million lobbying in Albany. Meanwhile, NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered and carried out several inspections of freight rail infrastructure throughout the state and has uncovered numerous hazards. CSX has responded to reports from these inspections with assurances that all will be addressed.

Protect yourself and your family

Know where you are in relation to hazardous freight trains. Study the CSX System Map to know where oil trains run, especially in relation to your home, your kids’ schools, where you work, shop and play. You can also use the Blast Zone Interactive Map from ForestEthics. Trains have derailed, exploded and burned at low speeds and high speeds, in remote areas, and in the middle of a town. There is no discernible pattern to these accidents, according to PHMSA, so don’t assume it won’t happen near you.

ForestEthicsRocklandTrainMap

Sign up your landline or cellphone number for emergency notification through NY-Alert. If you are already signed up, check your information to make sure it is up to date.

In the event of a spill, explosion or fire, officials will use reverse 911 and NY Alerts to let you know whether to evacuate, how far to go, where to shelter, and when you can return. Disabled and senior citizens who might need help in an emergency should register with the Rockland County Access and Functional Needs Registry and with local police, so that first responders are aware.

Clarkstown residents can sign up for the town alert system, Ready Clarkstown, on the town of Clarkstown website.

Congress

Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded quickly to the USDOT’s May 2015 oil train safety plan. He proposed federal legislation to shorten the upgrade schedule and to impose even stricter speed limits on oil trains. In a May 4 press release, Schumer stated that “allowing these outdated oil cars to continue rolling through our communities for another eight years is a reckless gamble we can’t afford to make.”

At a May 6 press conference in West Nyack, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY representing Rockland County) proposed legislation that would ban interstate shipment of high-volatility crude oil via rail. Citing her many constituents who live near freight lines, she said that her “proposal would immediately ban interstate shipment of the most volatile forms of crude oil so that we can prevent the next tragic crude oil event.” Shipping of Bakken crude that has been processed to reduce its volatility before shipment would still be permitted.

In April, the Rockland County Legislature passed a resolution urging the USDOT to immediately enact rules to reduce the volatility of Bakken crude oil traveling by rail through Rockland County in support of the 2015 “Crude by Rail Safety Act” (H.R. 1804/S. 859).

First Responders

In December 2013, a car carrier and a 99-car oil tanker train collided at the Pineview crossing in West Nyack only 100 feet from the Lake DeForest water main that serves lower Rockland and Bergen County. The incident got the attention of Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco near whose home the accident occurred. Because the tankers were empty damage was limited, but it served as a wakeup call for the Sheriff’s Department and Rockland Fire and EMS to get real-time hazardous cargo information from CSX to Rockland’s first responders.

CSX and other freight haulers of hazardous materials cite commercial interests and terror concerns for their reluctance to disclose the exact location and contents of trains. Falco says CSX now has a phone app for first responders that provides near-real-time information in the event of disaster.  The issue of transparency and oil trains, however, is far from solved: rail freight companies in several states are being pressed to provide more real-time information, and they are fighting back with lawsuits.

The Rockland County Sheriff’s Department is now also monitoring oil train speed with radar guns. Falco says trains have been staying under the 50 mph limit, but immediate improvements to Rockland’s grade crossings are still needed.

Along with the Sheriff’s Department and the Town Police Departments on the River Line, evacuation and response plans are being developed by the Rockland County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. They run training sessions and drills to keep volunteer first responders prepared in the case of an incident, and also work with CSX on training, communication and response. CSX also positions supplies of fire-suppression foam along the River Line for use in a HAZMAT incident.

CSX will participate in a full scale derailment drill for Police, Fire and EMS in Orangetown that is planned for July 23.

If it happens…

If you are within a half mile of the incident, get yourself and your family away quickly. If in doubt, don’t wait for a call: just go.

The USDOT recommends one-half mile as a safe zone, but you may receive an alert advising otherwise.

Leaving the area quickly also allows emergency responders the time and space to stage and work.

“Time and distance are your friends,” says  Rockland Fire and Emergency Deputy Director Dan Greeley.

Environmental groups

The Hudson Valley Sierra Club, Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson (among others) have been active and vocal in publicizing the oil train hazard in the Hudson Valley, as well as the dangers of light and heavy crude transport on the Hudson River. These groups are also monitoring a proposed crude oil pipeline (the Pilgrim Pipeline) along the New York State Thruway right of way.

A consortium of environmental groups is sponsoring a Stop Oil Trains Week of Action beginning July 6 (the anniversary of the Lac-Megantic disaster). Demonstrations and other events are planned in areas where oil is shipped by rail, to raise awareness and put pressure on government officials and agencies.

Susan Hellauer is a Bronx native and Nyack resident. She has been a volunteer with Nyack Community Ambulance Corps since 2001, and now serves as board member and Corps secretary. She teaches music and writing at Queens College and is a member of the vocal ensemble Anonymous 4.

See also:

Benicia-Martinez rail bridge, Crude By Rail, Lac-Mégantic, Public Health, Public Safety, Stop Oil Trains Week of Action #StopOilTrains, Take Action

Four arrested after midair oil-train protest at Benicia Bridge

Repost from SFGate.com
[Editor:  Finally the names of those arrested: Janine Carmona, Charles Furman, Emily Heffling, and our friend Ethan Buckner.  See also Ethan Buckner’s personal account.  – RS]

4 arrested after midair oil-train protest at Benicia Bridge

By Jenna Lyons, July 6, 2015, 6:55 pm
Emily Heffling, of Oakland, was arrested during a protest at the Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge on July 6, 2015.
Emily Heffling, of Oakland, was arrested during a protest at the Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge on July 6, 2015.

Police arrested four Bay Area activists Monday morning after they suspended themselves from the Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge to hang a banner protesting oil trains, the California Highway Patrol said.

Emily Heffling, of Oakland, was arrested during a protest at the Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge on July 6, 2015. Photo: Courtesy Of Jasmin Vargas
Emily Heffling, of Oakland, was arrested during a protest at the Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge on July 6, 2015. Photo: Courtesy Of Jasmin Vargas

About 7:50 a.m., some of the activists suspended themselves from the bridge with cords as they tried to display a banner that read, “Stop Oil Trains Now: Are You in the Blast-Zone.org.”

Jasmin Vargas, associate director of the nonprofit Communities for a Better Environment, said the activists were protesting in affiliation with her organization as well as ForestEthics and APEN, all environmental groups fighting the oil industry.

“We’re calling out and asking for an end to oil trains in our communities,” she said. “We don’t deserve to live in a blast zone.”

Vargas said the activists chose the Benicia bridge because it crosses the Carquinez Strait near several oil refineries and is a potential site for derailments and explosions as oil is transported on the tracks.

Officers arrested Oakland residents Janine Carmona, 29, and Charles Furman, 27, on suspicion of maintaining public nuisance and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Emily Heffling, 25, of Oakland and Ethan Buckner, 24, of Berkeley were arrested on suspicion of the same crimes as well as climbing or trespassing on a bridge and resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

 

Climate Change, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Fire, Lac-Mégantic, Rail Safety, Stop Oil Trains Week of Action #StopOilTrains

Blocking the Bomb Trains: Nationwide Protests On Lac-Megantic Anniversary

Repost from DeSmogBlog
[Editor:  See also video coverage of the Portland vigil on WMTW8 ABC TV.  – RS]

Blocking the Bomb Trains: Nationwide Protests On Lac-Megantic Anniversary

By Justin Mikulka, July 6, 2015 – 16:35
Portland Climate Action Coalition Blocks Rail Tracks on Anniversary of Lac Mégantic Disaster

“It’s corporate greed versus the common good, whether it’s rail safety or climate change.”

Those were the words of Lowen Berman, a Portland activist involved in a blockade of oil train tracks to mark the second anniversary of the Lac-Megantic oil train disaster.

Berman and 60 other activists protested in Portland today as part of a national Oil Train Week of Protests led by 350.org and ForestEthics.

A Portland, OR, memorial to the 47 people incinerated by a bomb train in Lac Megantic. photo courtesy of Climate Action Coalition

Portland’s Climate Action Coalition sponsored the blockade at Arc Logistics for a memorial service on the two-year anniversary of the oil train derailment that killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.

While activists in Portland were protesting against the danger of bomb trains on the anniversary of the disaster in Lac-Megantic, activists in Lac-Megantic were also marching.

“Emotions and politics are tied together in this, unfortunately,” Jonathan Santerre, an activist and founder of the Carré bleu Lac-Mégantic citizens’ group told the Montreal Gazette. “It’s shocking that after everything that happened, people’s lives still come second to money.”

Santerre has a point. As detailed on DeSmogBlog, the events in Lac-Megantic can be directly attributed to corporate cost cutting.

In Portland, the activists were blockading tracks where oil trains travel weekly through North Portland. The Climate Action Coalition is calling for an end to fossil fuel development and an immediate transition to a renewable energy.

At the same time, a new report by the Sightline Institute predicts that if all of the currently planned projects for oil-by-rail infrastructure in the Northwest are completed, they would require more than 100 loaded mile-long trains per week to traverse the Northwest’s railway system.

And residents along the tracks are becoming increasingly aware of the threats. In addition to the protests in Portland, activists were arrested in Benicia, California today protesting the oil trains.

In Albany, New York — the largest distribution hub on the East coast for oil trains, earning it the nickname Houston on the Hudson — there was another protest.

There is much to fear among residents living near the tracks within the blast zone, and you certainly don’t have to be an environmentalist to care about this public safety threat. Sadly, The Hill suggests that this whole week will be marked by protests by “greens.”

There is no doubt that there is increased awareness and efforts to try to protect the millions of people who live near the tracks carrying dangerous oil trains. However, as we wrote over a year ago here at DeSmog, the people of Lac-Megantic still want the executives at the top to be held accountable. As one local said at that time as they arrested the train engineer and other low level employees involved in the Lac-Megantic disaster, “It’s not them we want.”

With the new rail regulations doing little to protect people, and the CEOs of rail and oil companies supporting lawsuits challenging the new weak regulations, it is unlikely things will change. As the Portland activist said today, “It’s corporate greed versus the common good.”

Lac-Megantic is a stark example of how corporate greed is winning.

 

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Federal Regulation (U.S.), Lac-Mégantic, State regulation, Take Action

Albany NY: Rally on Lac Megantic disaster anniversary

Repost from the Albany Times Union

Rally on Lac Megantic disaster anniversary in Albany

By Eric Anderson, July 6, 2015
Oil train opponents rally in front of the Governor's Mansion in Albany Monday.
Oil train opponents rally in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Albany Monday.

Between 80 and 100 people, many affiliated with People of Albany United for Safe Energy, rallied in front of the Governor’s Mansion on Eagle Street in Albany at noon Monday, calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ban oil train traffic in the state.

The rally also marked the second anniversary of the Lac Megantic oil train derailment and explosion that killed 47 people and destroyed the center of the small Quebec town.

That train’s destination was the Irving Oil Co. refinery in St. John, New Brunswick, where it was to unload its cargo of fracked crude from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota.

The Port of Albany has become a major transshipment point for Bakken crude to refineries up and down the East Coast, with at least some of that oil also destined for the Irving Oil refinery.

Several speakers at Monday’s event called for a shift to renewable energy sources from fossil fuels.

“We have to transition our economy completely off fossil fuels,” said one speaker, Neely Kelley, lead organizer of Mothers Out Front, which seeks to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change.

“Governor Cuomo, you have a moral imperative to take the climate seriously,” said Peter Iwanowicz, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York.

PAUSE has sought to have oil trains, some of which are parked next to the backyards of residents of Ezra Prentice apartments in Albany, prohibited. State officials have said they haven’t the power to regulate railroads, that it’s a federal responsibility.

But activists have said that state officials could declare the oil trains an “imminent hazard” and ban them.

Whether Gov. Cuomo heard the protesters’ message Monday wasn’t clear. The governor was in New York City.