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

[cali]

8. that is interesting. Of course, I don't know enough to know if something like that is viable

Maybe this is silly but I wonder if they could be lined?

And yes, Lac Megantic, a lovely town that I have had the pleasure of visiting is destroyed. In addition to the toxins in the ground, a lot of crude spilled into what was the very clean waters of the Chaudiere River which flows from Lac Megantic and which provided drinking water for a number of people.

The Chaudière River (French for "Cauldron" or "Boiler River&quot is a 185 kilometres (115 mi) long river with its source near the Town of Lac-Mégantic, in southeast Quebec, Canada. From its source Lake Megantic in the Estrie region, it runs northwards to flow into the St. Lawrence River opposite Quebec City. The river's drainage area is 6682 square kilometres, initially in the Appalachian Mountains, then in the low-lands of the St. Lawrence, and include 236 lakes covering 62 square kilometres and approximately 180,000 inhabitants. Its annual medium flow at the station of Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon is 114 m³/s, varying from 11 m³/s (low water) to 470 m³/s (spring high water), with historical maximum of 1760 m³/s.

<snip>

The river's basin has nearly 50% of the faunal richness of Quebec, namely 330 out of 653 vertebrate species known in the province can be found here.

The river, and the 40 metres (130 ft) high Chaudière Falls which it passes over en route, are popular outdoor recreation areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaudi%C3%A8re_River

We don't know yet whether this was tar sand oil.