Canadian Pacific train derails, spills oil in Minnesota

[hue]

Source: Chicago Tribune

(Reuters) - A Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd train hauling crude oil has derailed in western Minnesota, spilling up to 30,000 gallons of oil, Minnesota officials said on Wednesday.

The Otter Tail Sheriff's Department said 14 cars of the 94-car train derailed near Parkers Prairie on Wednesday morning, while officials at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said between 20,000 and 30,000 gallons of crude oil had leaked into a nearby ditch and field.

"It is still leaking right now," Dan Olson, a spokesman for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said.

Olson said three cars were leaking crude, with one having spilled most of its 26,000-gallon load. Two others have tipped over and are leaking. He said he didn't expect the spill to threaten local waterways as the ground at Parkers Prairie, north west of Minneapolis, is frozen.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd said only one car was spilling crude. Railroad spokesman Ed Greenberg said a clean-up operation is underway and the company is investigating the incident.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-oil-train-derailmentbre92q13u-20130327,0,7453875.story

[NickB79]

1. Thanks a lot, North Dakota!

Rail traffic moving crude has gone up greatly in the upper Midwest ever since Bakken started being drilled and pumped.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Railroads emerge as alternative to Keystone XL pipeline for moving oil sands from Canada

http://www.democraticunderground.com/111631689

Railroads emerge as alternative to Keystone XL pipeline for moving oil sands from Canada

[glinda]

3. Lots of rail traffic as well as huge truck cargos on the Highways due to both

Canadian and ND oil production. All fricking pollution any way you frame it.
Saw two huge Semi-loads of "sardine can" small trailer housing being brought to ND also.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Canadian Pacific Boosts Saskatchewan Bakken Crude Shipments

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-07/canadian-pacific-rail-boosts-saskatchewan-bakken-crude-shipments.html

[AverageJoe90]

5. God damn.

Just another reason why I'm not a big fan of even short-term major domestic oil expansion.

[booksenkatz]

6. A "leak" sounds so teeny-tiny, so cute, so harmless! Oopsie! We'll clean it up in a jif! NT

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Diana Furchtgott-Roth: Railroads Bad; Pipelines Good

Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a writer for the soon-to-be-demised Washington Examiner. She was appointed to a position in the Department of Labor by * to make sure that nothing got done. Here, she is shilling for pipelines.

Pipelines are the safest way to transport energy

Commentary: Shipping by rail more damaging to the environment
March 29, 2013|Diana Furchtgott-Roth

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Wednesday’s 714-barrel oil spill in Minnesota came not from oil drilling or hydrofracturing, but from the derailment of a Canadian Pacific Railway train bringing Canadian oil to America.

How odd that those who profess concern for the environment are trying to block construction of oil pipelines, the safest way of transporting oil.