• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 43 mins GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 1 hour How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 3 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 4 days Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 5 days The European Union is exceptional in its political divide. Examples are apparent in Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belarus, Ireland, etc.
  • 16 hours Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
  • 4 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)
OPEC Remains Upbeat About Oil Demand

OPEC Remains Upbeat About Oil Demand

OPEC remains optimistic that the…

State Of Emergency In West Virginia Following Oil Train Explosion

WestVirginiaTrainExplosion

At least 14 rail cars of crude oil from a train owned by CSX Corp. are on fire in West Virginia.

Credit: CBS NEWS/Screenshot

Crude oil is pouring into a river that supplies drinking water and approximately 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes due to an oil train derailment and explosion in southern West Virginia on Monday, according to media reports.

The train, owned by CSX Corp., was carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil from the Bakken shale in North Dakota when it derailed at about 1:30 p.m., the L.A. Times reported. Officials estimated that approximately 14 of those tankers were involved in the derailment and subsequent fire, which as of 9 p.m. was still raging. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency at around 5:40 p.m.

One home has so far been confirmed destroyed, and at least one person has been sent to the hospital for inhaling smoke. CSX put out a statement Monday night saying it would provide hotel rooms for displaced residents.

Related: Train Carrying Volatile Bakken Crude Derails In Canada

Concerns have also been raised about the potential contamination of local water-treatment facilities, after officials noted that at least one of the derailed tanker cars fell into the Kanawha River. The area is about 30 miles from the location where 10,000 gallons of a coal industry chemical called crude MCHM spilled and tainted the drinking water supply a little over one year ago.

Response efforts have so far been hampered by heavy snow. The area has been under a winter storm warning, according to the Associated Press, and is expected to get anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of snow tonight.

The derailment in West Virginia was the second major oil train mishap this weekend. Late Saturday night, a train carrying Bakken crude oil derailed in northern Ontario, Canada, spilling oil and causing a fire. In that incident, 29 of the 100 cars on the train went off the track near Timmins, Ontario. An “unknown amount” of oil was spilled.

Some research has suggested that Bakken shale crude oil is more prone to catching fire and exploding than other types of crude. According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s the most explosive type compared to oil from 86 other locations worldwide, and The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has confirmed that it can catch fire at lower temperatures than heavier oil.

Related: Yet More BP Oil Found At Bottom Of Gulf

Allegations were raised about the volatility of Bakken shale light crude oil after a number of high-profile train derailments and subsequent explosions, most famously including the deadly Lac-Mégantic, Canada disaster, which killed 47 people. Officials at PHMSA have speculated that the oil’s explosive nature could be because of the particular properties of the oil, or the added chemicals from fracking, the primary technique used to extract it in North Dakota.

Though much of the political discussion over fossil fuels has recently focused on Canadian tar sands oil and a certain proposed pipeline that would carry it, it’s worth noting that Bakken shale oil is primarily shipped by rail. Indeed, up to 90 percent of the North Dakota’s oil was expected to be shipped by rail, rather than pipeline, in 2014.

ADVERTISEMENT

The U.S. Transportation Department is currently considering whether to implement tougher safety regulations for rail shipments of crude oil.

By Emily Atkin of http://thinkprogress.org/ 

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News