Read this New York Times article by Deborah Sontag that Bruce Cates called, "An interesting read."
"After an unusual land deal, a giant spill and a tanker-train explosion, anxiety began to ripple across the North Dakota prairie."
Read this New York Times article by Deborah Sontag that Bruce Cates called, "An interesting read."
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Phil Matier of channel 5, KPIX, talks with state senator Jerry Hill who believes that Bay Area emergency crews are not properly prepared to handle the hundreds of tanker trains bringing shale crude oil from the Dakotas to local refineries. (11/23/14)
Oil trains in San Jose: Phillips 66 refinery expansion could imperil downtown For generations of Americans, the rhythmic sound of a distant freight train has inspired dreams of freedom and possibility. But the trains rolling through Northern California communities may soon carry massive charges of highly toxic tar sands crude. Rather than hopeful dreams, these trains could bring nightmarish catastrophes to the heart of San Jose's downtown neighborhoods. Oil giant Phillips 66 is agitating to upgrade its Santa Maria refinery near San Luis Obispo to build a rail spur that will enable it to begin receiving oil trains carrying massive loads of noxious tar sands crude. If approved, these oil trains will roll through thousands of California communities, including downtown San Jose, threatening our safety, air, water and climate. Even Phillips 66 admits transporting this oil will result in "significant and unavoidable" levels of toxic air pollution to the towns along the route. The mile-long trains transport millions of gallons of volatile oil in unsafe tank cars that are prone to derailing and exploding. California's railways weren't built to transport this noxious oil. If you think oil spills can't happen in San Jose, consider that more rail-transported oil spilled in 2013 than in the four prior decades. Or ask relatives of the 47 people who were incinerated when an oil train exploded in Quebec in July 2013.
California used to receive all of its crude oil imports by ship and pipeline, but trains loaded with tanker cars full of oil are rolling through Bay Area neighborhoods with increasing frequency. And it's a growing safety concern among experts who say rail imports will become much more common in the next few years, bringing millions of gallons of crude to local refineries. Much of that crude is a more volatile type of oil that has been linked to multiple derailments, fires, and deadly accidents.
2 Investigates followed trains rolling through neighborhoods in Richmond carrying millions of gallons of crude oil, in tanker cars that have been deemed unsafe by the federal government. And the railroad is not required to tell local officials how many of those cars are carrying a more volatile oil from the Bakken shale formation, which stretches from North Dakota and Montana into Canada. Are the North State’s and other railway communities prepared for the hazards posed by millions of barrels of explosive oil heading into California? North America’s gradual shift toward oil independence could come with a hefty price tag as more and more crude oil from production sites in Canada and North Dakota enters California by rail. Much of the combustible cargo is arriving via the Feather River Canyon tracks, with some through the Interstate 5-Sacramento River corridor, and the concern about accidents, spills and disasters is spurring warnings from environmentalists and leaders and is already moving officials expecting the worst into precautionary action.
Read more here. From the Sacramento Bee:
For more than a century, California has relied on assurances from railroad companies that thousands of rail bridges across the state, from spindly trestles in remote canyons to iron workhorses in urban areas, are safe and well-maintained to handle heavy freight traffic. That era of trust is over. Concerned about the growing number of trains traversing the state filled with crude oil and other hazardous materials, the California Public Utilities Commission is launching its first railroad bridge inspection program this fall. Federal officials say it will be the first state-run review of privately owned rail bridges in the country. Read more here. One icy morning in February 2012, Hillary Clinton’s plane touched down in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, which was just digging out from a fierce blizzard. Wrapped in a thick coat, the secretary of state descended the stairs to the snow-covered tarmac, where she and her aides piled into a motorcade bound for the presidential palace. That afternoon, they huddled with Bulgarian leaders, including Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, discussing everything from Syria’s bloody civil war to their joint search for loose nukes. But the focus of the talks was fracking. The previous year, Bulgaria had signed a five-year, $68 million deal, granting U.S. oil giant Chevron millions of acres in shale gas concessions. Bulgarians were outraged. Shortly before Clinton arrived, tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets carrying placards that read “Stop fracking with our water” and “Chevron go home.” Bulgaria’s parliament responded by voting overwhelmingly for a fracking moratorium.
Clinton urged Bulgarian officials to give fracking another chance. According to Borissov, she agreed to help fly in the “best specialists on these new technologies to present the benefits to the Bulgarian people.” But resistance only grew. The following month in neighboring Romania, thousands of people gathered to protest another Chevron fracking project, and Romania’s parliament began weighing its own shale gas moratorium. Again Clinton intervened, dispatching her special envoy for energy in Eurasia, Richard Morningstar, to push back against the fracking bans. The State Department’s lobbying effort culminated in late May 2012, when Morningstar held a series of meetings on fracking with top Bulgarian and Romanian officials. He also touted the technology in an interview on Bulgarian national radio, saying it could lead to a fivefold drop in the price of natural gas. A few weeks later, Romania’s parliament voted down its proposed fracking ban and Bulgaria’s eased its moratorium. On Friday, October 3, 2014, in front of a live audience, the Commonwealth Club of California (as part of their Climate One program) held a panel discussing crude oil being transported on trains to East Bay refineries at an increasing rate. They sought to answer the question, How can local communities safeguard themselves against potential disaster?
Speakers: John Avalos, Member, Bay Area Air Quality Management District and San Francisco Board of Supervisors Jess Dervin-Ackerman, Conservation Program Coordinator, Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter Molly Samuel, Reporter, KQED Science; Tupper Hull, Vice President, Strategic Communications Western States Petroleum Association; Greg Dalton, Host and Founder, Climate One – Moderator |
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