Hard Look at Oil on Rail Tanker Cars

[Panich52]

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Fracking has caused a 4000% increase in crude-by-rail transport. And 85% of the railcars the industry uses are outdated and unsafe DOT-111’s that cause the lighter, more volatile fracked Bakken crude oil to explode and burn in an accident.

Adding to this growing threat is the fact that the rail industry is looking to double the speed at which these trains travel, from 30 mph to 60 mph. But the train that derailed, exploded, and spilled thousands of gallons of oil into Virginia’s James River was only traveling at 24 mph!

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While the 'bomb trains' are a definite hazard, I still prefer them to pipelines -- tho leaving the damn oil in the ground is the ideal solution. Pipe leaks are quiet and often continue for days before being reported upon (providing it's noticed at all). Resulting toxic soil and water are only noticed much farther down the line, sometimes not for years when cancer rates start to climb. Train derailments and the frequent fires & explosions draw immediate attention. The hazards of an oil-based energy policy is forefront in everyone's mind.

As long as we decide we need to ship oil from one place to another, I prefer the visible. And infrastructure repairs/upgrades would make that transport at least somewhat safer. Of course, add upgrades to the cars that carry the oil. Both mean more jobs, improvements to roads & rails that benefit many more than just oil execs, industry jobs (the cars, rails, etc) and safety.

Don't let the fear and danger of 'bomb trains' further the cause of pipelines. Fix the rails, fix the cars, demand more stringent regulations. (ND's Bakken tar sands are very volitile -- as WV explosion proves -- but oil companies there do not bother to 'skim off' the more volitile constituents because of added expense.)

Until we stop extracting oil, don't let them conceal its toxicity by hiding it in environmental-disasters-waiting-to-happen pipelines. Demand safety regulations for transport we can keep eyes on.