North Dakota oil car explosions

[DKS]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/30/us-northdakota-collision-idUSBRE9BT0OV20131230

[Scottl]

Bad news and Lac Megantic comes immediately to mind.   Hopefully this will  be away from populated areas.

[DKS]

Scary sh!t...

[Smike]

Holly crap

And the number of Bakken Oil unit trains running over NS Pensy mainline across PA into the Philadelphia metro area is becoming staggering.

[GaryHinshaw]

Those mushroom clouds got DOT's attention.

[lock4244]

This.

Is why I'll never live all that close to a railroad. The Bakken trains run right through the uptown heart of Toronto on CP, but I'm a little under a mile from their main in Agincourt, so I've not much to worry about.

Every train that explodes is another victory for the anti-pipeline crowd.

[garethashenden]

Every train that explodes is another victory for the anti-pipeline crowd.

It is? Isn't it a victory for the pipeline crowd?

[C855B]

It is? Isn't it a victory for the pipeline crowd?

No, it's like Mike said. The train disasters are underscoring how dangerous it is to transport this stuff regardless of method. I'm actually a little surprised how volatile this unrefined product is proving to be. There are multiple pipeline incidents such as San Bernardino and San Bruno that can be thumped to underscore that pipelines are not only just as dangerous, the danger is frequently hidden from view as residential areas encroach on the right-of-ways.

[peteski]

I'm actually a little surprised how volatile this unrefined product is proving to be.

That is a big surprise to me too.  I thought that crude oil, while flammable, would burn rather slowly.

[Scottl]

I disagree- accident rates are much higher for railways- it is nuts to be moving all of this oil via rail through cities and towns with limited capacity to deal with these accidents, but the politics of pipelines are toxic now so the oil moves this way until the regulations can catch up.

My guess is that the oil flash point is altered by dillutants used for fracking and/or for distribution, or the dissolved gas loads in the oil are higher.  If it is due to additives, seems to me like there is some liability that will go around.

[lock4244]

Makes for some great consists through Toronto, though 

[Scottl]

In Kingston too!  Just glad I live and work away from the tracks these days.

[John]

Just build a refinery up in the Baaken area

[peteski]

Just build a refinery up in the Baaken area

...and then use tank cars to transport the really highly volatile distillates (like gasoline or naphtha).   

[Dave Schneider]

Just build a refinery up in the Baaken area

If the crude is refined into gasoline you still have a potential transport problem.

Interesting story on the flash point issue.
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/01/02/bakken-oil-more-flammable-than-traditional-oil

Best wishes, Dave