Oil Train

Burning Truth: Oil Train Fire Could Not Be Put Out

June 5, 2016 Matt Krogh, www.stand.earth Educate! Oil & Gas, Oil Train

By Matt Krogh for Stand. In the year since five fiery oil train disasters in the US and Canada brought national attention to the threat from trains hauling explosive crude oil, the rail industry has embarked on a high profile public relations exercise to reassure the public that deadly disasters can be averted by emergency responders. In fact, the reality of oil train accidents -- and the unanimous opinion of fire officials and federal rail safety experts -- proves that there is no fighting an oil train derailment and fire. The scene of a crude oil derailment and fire is an uncontrollable fire. All firefighters can do is evacuate the area and wait for the fire to burn itself out.

Heimdal, North Dakota Evacuated After Train Derailment

May 7, 2015 Valley News Live, www.valleynewslive.com Educate! Environment, North Dakota, Oil Train

Another train derailment, another city and another group of residents displaced. "You have to evacuate right now and I said 'what about my dog' and they said he would be fine, so I hope he's doing okay," explains rural Heimdal resident Linda Georgeson. The town of Heimdal, North Dakota, was evacuated after an oil train went off the tracks about 1.5 miles from the town and started on fire around 7:30 a.m. Heimdal is in between Harvey and New Rockford, North Dakota. "A big plume, I thought it was a tornado, the way it looked it was just going swirly," said rural Heimdal resident Arden Georgeson. BNSF said in a statement the train was carrying crude oil. No injuries have been reported. Ten tankers started on fire. All but two of the 109 cars on that train carried crude oil.

Oil Train Derails, Leaks Into Waterway

March 10, 2015 Jeffrey Hodgson, www.dispatch.com Educate! Canada, Environment, Oil & Gas, Oil Train

A Canadian National Railway train carrying crude oil derailed near the northern Ontario community of Gogama, with multiple cars on fire and some oil leaking into a waterway, the company said yesterday. There were no injuries reported from the derailment, Canadian National’s second in the region in just three days and third in less than a month. The railway said a bridge over a waterway had been damaged and five tank cars had landed in the water, with some on fire. “CN emergency responders are acquiring booms to contain crude-oil movements in the waterway,” CN spokesman Mark Hallman said in an email, adding that initial indications were that the waterway does not supply drinking water to Gogama.

Next Stop For Oil Bomb Trains: Baltimore?

February 20, 2015 Laurel Peltier, www.baltimorefishbowl.com Educate! Baltimore, Environment, Oil Train

With millions of gallons of U.S. oil needing to find refineries, Targa Resources, a huge Texas-based pipeline and storage company, is just one of many looking to build out oil storage and shipping facilities. Targa has received preliminary “air pollution” approval from the Maryland Department of the Environment to convert its Curtis Bay facility to an oil storage facility. Targa’s plan is for up to 9 million barrels of oil a year, most likely Bakken fracked oil, to travel by train right through downtown Baltimore, past Camden Yards on to Targa’s tanks in Curtis Bay. The non-profit ForestEthics has created this Oil Train Blast Zoneto help citizens learn if their home or workplace resides in a potential oil kaboom zone.

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