Would you rather have a pipeline spill or a train derailment?

[Savannahmann]

6. I once read a piece, and I wish I could remember where.

The idea was to build berms around the pipeline, a channel to catch any spilled oil. This way, the spill would be localized, and contained before the people got there to begin clean up.

Yes, the spill would still be bad, but it would be localized to the area immediately surrounding the break in the pipeline. Also, since we have multiple hulls on our tankers now, why not double pipelines? A pipe within a larger pipe, that way if the interior one breaks, the oil is contained within the second pipe until it could be depressurized, drained, and repaired.

A lot of options on one hand. Trains on the other hand have the laws of physics to contend with. If a car derails, it could take a mile before the train is stopped. That means a mile worth of cars will be an accident in an accident. We've seen how tragic those can be, and you're right, they go through population centers, no chance to create containment berms or other containment efforts.

A town destroyed, and people dead. I say town destroyed, because there is little chance that the toxins will ever be leached out of the ground in our lifetimes.