Category Archives: Oil spill

CN Rail, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Diluted bitumen (Dilbit), Fire, Oil spill, Soil contamination, Tar sands crude, Tribal lands, Water quality

Ontario derailment: tar-sands crude (diluted bitumen), more pictures

Repost from  CBC News
[Editor: New details: carrying tar-sands dilbit; 15 cars released crude oil and seven caught fire; responders letting it burn itself out; oil pooling at the frozen headwaters of a small creek; nearby Mattagami First Nation concerned; expect all trees in the surrounding area to be coated with toxins, some die-off; soil contamination a long range cleanup.  – RS] 

Gogama oil spill raises concerns about environmental damage

Cleanup continues at the site of a CN train derailment about 30 km northwest of Gogama, Ont.

CBC News, Feb 18, 2015 9:27 AM ET, Updated: Feb 18, 2015 11:57 AM ET
Gogama_derailment_CBC
Derailed tank cars, Gogama, Ontario. (Transportation Safety Board)

While investigators continue to search for the cause of a CN train Saturday near Gogama, Ont., the environmental impact is becoming more apparent.

Black charred oil tankers lie on their sides in snow stained by crude oil.

CN said the derailed train was carrying diluted bitumen from Alberta to eastern Canada.

Laurentian University professor Charles Ramcharan says that’s one of the worst things that can be spilled.

“The trouble is that it’s very toxic, so if you have a spill it causes a lot of damage and because the bitumen is a solid, it stays on the landscape for a very long time.”

The nearby Mattagami First Nation is also concerned.

Oil is pooling at the frozen headwaters of a small creek near the site of the derailment.

Councillor Jennifer Constant said that waterway leads to her community.

“The impacts may be not immediate, but what are the long-term aspects going to be for people who do utilize the lake and go hunting in the area? They’ve used these lands for time immemorial and they’re worried about the impacts of that,” she said.

“Their health or practices have the potential to be affected by this.”

Contamination, die-off

While CN works with partners to clean up the spill, Ramachran said he worries the incident could fall off the radar because of its remote location.

“Just because there are no immediate human health concerns, I do worry that this one will kind of fall off the radar.”

CN says crews are letting a controlled fire burn out at the site.

Once the dillutants burn off, tar will be left to remove, Ramcharan noted.

He predicted all trees in the surrounding area will be coated with toxins, leading to some die-off. He said the soil will be contaminated as well.

A total of 15 cars released crude oil and seven caught fire when the train went off the tracks late Saturday night.

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating a section of broken rail containing a rail joint and a broken wheel.

The director with Transport Action Ontario, an organization that advocates for transportation improvements, said some kind of mechanical failure might be to blame.

“It’s hard to tell,” Dan Hammond said.

“You know, I would like the investigation to take its course on this one. But things like broken wheels, the industry does not like to see.”

CN said both the train and the track passed safety inspections shortly before the derailment.

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Fire, Oil spill, Tar sands crude

Ontario train derailment: still burning 4 days later, first photo

Repost from CBC News, Sudbury
[Editor:  Fires are STILL burning, 4 days later.  The type of crude is not identified, although it is coming from Alberta, which would imply tar-sands.  Finally, a photo!  3 more photos.  – RS]

Gogama train derailment: safety of shipping oil by rail questioned

Reducing our dependence on oil means we won’t have to ship as much, university professor says

CBC News Posted: Feb 17, 2015 8:41 AM ET, Last Updated: Feb 17, 2015 1:16 PM ET
CN says 29 cars carrying crude oil from Alberta jumped the tracks late Saturday.
CN says 29 cars carrying crude oil from Alberta jumped the tracks late Saturday. (Dillon Daveikis)

A crude oil spill near Gogama is again raising questions about the safety of shipping oil by rail.

A CN train hauling 100 cars derailed late Saturday, causing 29 cars to jump the track and seven to catch fire.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

An associate professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury said incidents like this are becoming more common as oil is increasingly shipped by rail.

“You know, we had a spill in Richmond Hill not that long ago, another one in Mississauga,” Charles Ramcharan said.

“So it’s happening even in areas that are heavily populated. It’s only a matter of time before we have a disaster.”

CN said the rail spill is contained on a frozen, snow covered surface, but it’s not yet clear what kind of crude oil was spilled. The train was carrying fuel from Alberta.

‘In the back of their minds’

The secretary of the local services board in Gogama said he can’t help but wonder what might have happened if the train had derailed closer to home.

The rail line runs right through town, Gerry Talbot said.

“I think everybody’s got it in the back of their minds and you sort of try to block it out. We know that the possibility is always there because we did have a derailment right in town back in the ’60’s. So we know that it’s there and that it could happen to us.”

And, he continued, “We’re a lot more conscious of it now, especially since what happened in Quebec [Lac Megantic].”

Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravel raised the issue in the House of Commons on Monday. He said it’s a good thing the frigid weather is keeping the oil from running.

“If this would’ve happened in July, it would’ve been, probably, a total disaster.”

Reduce dependence on oil

With the amount of oil shipped by rail increasing, Ramcharan is convinced that another disaster is possible. The only solution is to reduce our dependence on oil, he said.

“This sort of thing is going to keep happening with increasing frequency, as long as we continue our reliance on these fuels.”

Talbot said the residents in his community are “a lot more conscious of what could happen.”

“I think it’s made us more ready. I think there’s more of a good knowledge that it could happen so there’s less hesitancy from the residents [to escape or take a derailment seriously].”

A spokesperson with CN’s public affairs department says CN’s environmental team continues to work closely with the Ontario Ministry of Environment in the remote, densely wooded area.

Clean up crews are also working with Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board “to extinguish the fire, remove all the rail cars, repair the track, conduct a full investigation into the incident and move forward with a comprehensive environmental clean-up.”

The Transportation Safety Board said crews are working to reopen the rail line.

“I would expect that once the site is safe and the fire is under control that they will move ahead with trying to get that line open,” Rob Johnston, a spokesperson with the TSB said.

A spokesperson with the Ministry of the Environment says they have requested CN keep nearby First Nations updated. Health Canada and Environment Canada are have been informed as well, Kate Jordan said in an email.

Ministry staff are attending the command post set up by CN and will be meeting with company response teams for further updates.

“Nearby waterways in the area are frozen over, but we will ensure there are no concerns for environmental impacts off site of the derailment,” she said.

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Fire, Oil spill, Rivers

Derailed oil train burns for second day in W.Va.

Repost from USA Today

Derailed oil train burns for second day in W.Va.

By Michael Winter, February 17, 2015

Thick, black smoke rose for a second day Tuesday from a train hauling North Dakota crude oil that derailed Monday along a snowy West Virginia river.

The derailment ignited several tank cars, burning down a house and prompting water-treatment plants to shut down, authorities said.

About, 2,400 residents around Adena Village, near Mount Carbon, were evacuated as a precaution, Fayette County deputies told WCHS-TV. Emergency shelters were set up at a local school and recreation center.

One person was treated for possible breathing problems, but no other injuries were reported. Officials said they would let the fires burn themselves out, WCHS-TV reported.

At least one tanker from the 109-car CSX train tumbled into the Kanawha River south of Charleston and was leaking Bakken shale oil, which was headed to a refinery in Yorktown, Va., Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s office told the Charleston Gazette. WSAZ-TV, citing emergency dispatchers, said several of the 33,000- gallon cars were in the river, and some were leaking.

Two water-treatment plants downstream closed intakes and halted operations as a precaution, and residents were urged to conserve water. One of the plants resumed normal operations Tuesday.

Tomblin declared a state of emergency in Kanawha and Fayette counties.

Residents said they heard several explosions and saw flames nearly 300 feet tall. CSX said “at least one rail car appears to have ruptured and caught fire.”

One evacuation shelter was set up. CSX said it was “working with the Red Cross and other relief organizations to address residents’ needs, taking into account winter storm conditions.”

Todd Wagner, his wife and their 10-month-old daughter fled their home in Boomer Bottom.

“We’ve been in a rush,” he told the Gazette. “We had to grab a few things quickly.”

He said they “heard a big bang,” noting that they sometimes hear similar noises from a nearby factory.

In April 2014, another Virginia-bound train carrying North Dakota shale oil derailed in Lynchburg, Va.

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Explosion, Fire, Oil spill, Rivers, Water quality

West Virginia derailment: eyewitness account, pictures

Repost from Metro News, the Voice of West Virginia
[Editor: Go to the website for audio eyewitness account and additional pictures.  Check out this amazing photo on the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.  Also see the massive explosion on this 1-minute video on Facebook.  Later details in this live WOWK TV Charleston report. – RS]

Train derailment sends crude oil cars into Kanawha River; explosions erupt

By Jeff Jenkins in News | February 16, 2015

Boomer_WV_CSX_derailmentMOUNT CARBON, W.Va. — Multiple tanker rail cars carrying crude oil derailed Monday afternoon in Fayette County, triggering explosions and a 100-yard-high flames as several cars rolled through a residential subdivision and into the Kanawha River.  CSX officials say “at least one rail car appears to have ruptured and caught fire.”

At least one house was destroyed, but police have found no evidence of fatalities.  CSX says one person was treated for potential inhalation (of fumes).

CSX says its teams “are working with first responders to address the fire, to determine how many rail cars derailed and to deploy environmental protective and monitoring measures on land, air and in the nearby Kanawha River.

The an undetermined number of cars of the CSX train jumped the tracks at about 1:20 p.m. Eyewitness Randy Fitzwater of Boomer said he thought a plane had crashed.

“I heard this loud noise. It sounded like a jet airplane flew over my house and then I heard an explosion,” Fitzwater told Metronews.  “I looked across the river and I could see this big ball of flame.”  (Listen to Fitzwater’s full interview above.)

Another eyewitness, who declined to give her name, told Metronews “the flames were going at least 300 feet in the air … black smoke everywhere.” She reported hearing several explosions “that shook my whole house. I could feel the heat through my door.”

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s office said the tanker cars were carrying highly flammable Bakken crude from North Dakota to Yorktown, Va. Governor’s spokesman Chris Stadleman said it was unclear what caused the derailment or how many cars tumbled into the river.

State Public Safety spokesman Larry Messina said first responders had trouble reaching the scene because of road conditions from the snowstorm and the derailment itself.

Mount Carbon residents in the Adena Village area, which is just a few miles from Montgomery on state Route 61, were being evacuated. Residents across the river in Boomer also were told to leave their homes.

An evacuation shelter was set up at Valley Elementary School in Smithers, W.Va.  CSX said it is working with the Red Cross and other relief organizations to address residents’ needs, taking into account winter storm conditions.

With water intakes at Montgomery and Cedar Grove closed, residents were asked to conserve water.

West Virginia American Water reported the intake for the Montgomery water treatment plant, which draws water from the Kanawha River a few miles downstream from the derailment, was shut down by 2:30 p.m. Spokeswoman Laura Jordan said the Montgomery treatment plant “was shut down before anything could reach the intake.”

CSX says “The train consisted of two locomotives and 109 rail cars and was traveling from North Dakota to Yorktown, Va.”  Governor Tomblin’s office said the train was hauling Bakken crude.

Bakken crude produced in the booming regions of Montana and North Dakota could be more flammable and more dangerous to ship by train than crude from other areas, U.S. regulators announced in January. A four-month study by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration could force more rigid labeling of contents and require petroleum to be shipped in stronger rail cars.