W. Va. oil train explosion has N.J. raising concerns over rail safety

[mahatmakanejeeves]

ETA: full disclosure: I own shares of stock in rail companies, including CSX.

Hat tip, Trainorders: New Jersey article on oil trains

W. Va. oil train explosion has N.J. raising concerns over rail safety

An oil train hauling more than 100 tank cars crosses Upper Newark Bay (S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author: [email protected] | Follow on Twitter
on February 19, 2015 at 6:20 AM, updated February 19, 2015 at 12:53 PM

Each day, long trains trailing hundreds of matte-black tank cars filled with highly flammable crude oil snake along the rails through New Jersey to a refinery in Linden.

On one stretch through Edison and Metuchen, the tracks weave through backyards of tree-lined residential neighborhoods. There, the mile-long trains pass within a few hundred yards of a parochial school, a public high school and an elementary school— carrying the same volatile liquid cargo that so spectacularly exploded in West Virginia earlier this week, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

The rail accident on Monday, along with a deadly 2013 incident in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, where 47 people were killed by an explosive oil train derailment, are among a string of mishaps in recent months that have raised growing new concerns over the safety of crude oil shipments by rail—both here in New Jersey, and nationally. Federal regulators are now looking at tougher rules to increase safety standards, including stronger tank cars.

The major worry over rail safety that suddenly has everyone's attention is the highly volatile crude now coming out of the Bakken shale oil fields of northwest North Dakota and northeastern Montana, which have sparked a huge increase in the number of tank car shipments. The Bakken oil, more flammable than traditional heavy crude, is being shipped across the country mostly by rail.

[elleng]

1. NJ SHOULD be concerned.

[woodsprite]

2. Should raise concern in DE as well.

Especially since places like Newark aren't keeping appropriate firefighting supplies on hand. They intend to have them delivered from Delaware City if an event occurs.

[Stargazer99]

3. Any one here thinks the pipe line through 4 states auqifer is safer?

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Generally speaking,

Crude by Tanker Train is very safe. Where the concern is the total lack of workers to maintain these railroads. When you see stories about BNSF short some five thousand people nation wide,ouch. UP Rail short some five thousand plus people. CSX is a nightmare,worst track maintenance of any class 1 rail. This not the only wreck for these guys this month involving a Crude Train. Running Trains faster than track conditions warrant is just a disaster in waiting. But,what the hey,we tax payers pick up tab for any cleanup and cost of replacing equipment as well as the product being hauled.

[In_The_Wind]

5. Tanker cars travel under classrooms at West Point in New York.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2014/11/23/crude-oil-trains-near-school-districts/19462913/

[tazkcmo]

6. Screw em

They're just veterans. Disposable.