James River on fire!! Train details (oil) Lynchburg. Richmond alternate water supply

[underpants]

elleng's thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/111651700#post4

[Blue_Tires]

1. what...the hell....?

And why is that posted in the "Economy" forum?

[underpants]

4. Richmond Times-Dispatch actually is doing some good reporting on this

http://m.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/train-carrying-crude-oil-derails-in-downtown-lynchburg/article_ca91041c-d096-11e3-ae9b-0017a43b2370.html?mode=jqm

[villager]

2. Just remember, nothing need be done, as long as the 1% have *their* water

Shame about the spilled oil cutting into profits, though

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. Fun fact: Opposition to pipelines means more rail accidents involving oil tanker cars.

The oil's going to move somehow, and in the absence of pipelines? It moves by train. In 2013? Total number of gallons of oil spilled in rail transport accidents exceeded the total for the previous 37 years from 1975 to 2012: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/business/energy-environment/accidents-surge-as-oil-industry-takes-the-train.html

[The Straight Story]

5. Interesting. I'll still take the trains over the pipelines (nt)

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. Average volume of spill in rail incidents is 5x that from pipelines.

See here: http://globalnews.ca/news/1069624/how-do-crude-spills-compare-by-rail-truck-pipeline-you-may-be-surprised/

[The Straight Story]

8. Difference being though

Is size of spills and contain-ability.

From the link: But most of the 1,556 accidents in this time period happened while the vehicle was being loaded or unloaded; 645, or 41 per cent, happened in transit.

Add in pipelines underground running through the water tables and I will take surface transport.

No method is perfect and one has the potential for a lot larger impact even if being safer over time in quantities of accidents; although I would suspect that a lot of accidents are either not reported or left out of aggregation - train accidents are really hard to miss.

Case in point:
292 Unreported Oil Pipeline Leaks in North Dakota in less than 2 Years
http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/292-unreported-oil-pipeline-leaks-in-north-dakota-in-less-than-2-years-131027?news=851496

[The Straight Story]

6. Pic of it:

news.com.au ?@newscomauHQ 1m

An oil tanker train has burst in flames after derailing in Lynchburg, Virginia http://bit.ly/1nJoWcp (via @ABC) pic.twitter.com/kXhBCjzFbR