So who is derailing the trains, folks?
"Mayor in N.D. seeks change in how oil is shipped" by Dave Kolpack | Associated Press, January 01, 2014
CASSELTON, N.D. — A North Dakota town narrowly escaped tragedy when a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded nearby, the mayor said Tuesday, calling for changes in how the fuel is transported across the United States.
No one was hurt in Monday’s derailment of the mile-long train that sent a great fireball and plumes of black smoke skyward about a mile from the small town of Casselton. The fire had been so intense as darkness fell that investigators could not get close enough to count the burning cars.
I'm sure all that steel melted, right?
Worries about the smoke plume prompted officials to ask Casselton’s 2,400 residents to voluntarily evacuate Monday evening, and most did. The recommendation was lifted Tuesday afternoon, but officials urged residents south of the derailment to remain vigilant about changing conditions, Cass County Commissioner Ken Pawluk said.
Residents said the blasts continued for hours, shaking their homes and businesses….
A train carrying crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch crashed in Quebec last summer, bursting into flames and killing 47 people.
Related: Canadian Pile Up
Needed to cover things up.
Shipping oil by pipeline has to be safer, Mayor Ed McConnell said.
North Dakota is the number two oil-producing state in the United States, trailing only Texas. The state’s top oil regulator said earlier this month that he expected as much as 90 percent of North Dakota’s oil to be carried by train in 2014.
North Dakota oil drillers increasingly use trains to ship crude to locations not served by pipelines, in part because of the difficulty in securing permits for the structures….
Well, they will just have to fast track those permits, huh?
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"US warns about oil rail shipments" by Matthew Brown and James MacPherson | Associated Press, January 03, 2014
BILLINGS, Mont. — Following a string of explosive accidents, federal officials said Thursday that crude oil being shipped by rail from the Northern Plains across the United States and Canada may be more flammable than traditional forms of oil.
A safety alert issued by the Department of Transportation warns the public, emergency responders, and shippers about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch. The sprawling oil shale reserve is fueling the surging industry in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, which is now one of the nation’s largest oil producers.
See: Sunday Globe Special: Montana's Oil Boom
Thursday’s announcement declares that the Bakken’s light, sweet crude oil may be different from traditional heavy crudes because it is prone to ignite at a lower temperature. Experts say lighter crudes, which contain more natural gas, have a much lower ‘‘flash point’’ — the temperature at which vapors given off by the oil can ignite.
The government’s warning comes after a huge explosion on Monday caused by a crude train derailment near Casselton, N.D. No one was hurt, but worries about toxic fumes prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents from the small eastern North Dakota town.
That's a cause for suspicion right there.
So how long until the Keystone pipeline is approved?
The oil boom in the Bakken has reduced the nation’s reliance on imported oil and brought thousands of jobs to the region. But as companies increasingly rely on trains instead of pipelines to get that oil to lucrative coastal markets, public safety in communities bisected by rail lines has become a major concern.
More concerned about that than they are the radiated Pacific and the Corexit-saturated Gulf.
In July, 47 people were killed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, when a train carrying Bakken crude derailed. Another oil train from North Dakota derailed and exploded in Alabama in November, causing no deaths but releasing an estimated 749,000 gallons of oil from 26 tanker cars.
Also see: Fires still burning at site of freight train derailment
Make sure you go through each car to see why you can no longer believe anything authority or their agenda-pu$hing mouthpiece say anymore.
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"Senators call for action after oil blasts" by Matthew Daly | Associated Press, January 10, 2014
WASHINGTON — The chairmen of the Senate energy and transportation committees on Thursday urged the Obama administration to take ‘‘prompt and decisive’’ action following several train derailments involving crude oil shipments, including a fiery blast in North Dakota last month and an explosion that killed 47 people in Canada last year.
Democratic Senators Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Ron Wyden of Oregon called the derailments alarming and said the administration should evaluate whether federal rules adequately address the risks of carrying crude oil by rail.
The oil boom in the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana has reduced the nation’s reliance on imported oil and brought thousands of jobs. But as companies increasingly rely on trains instead of pipelines to get that oil to refineries in coastal markets, public safety in communities bisected by rail lines has become a concern.
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And remember when they told you cheap natural gas was the solution to everything (and the bloggers said just wait, you are going to get $crewed)?
"Natural gas prices in region spike" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff, January 10, 2014
Limited pipeline capacity, combined with frigid temperatures, has sent demand for heat and electricity soaring this winter, leading to spikes in the wholesale price of natural gas in New England.
The sharp increases in the cost of power have forced paper mills in Maine and New Hampshire to cut operations or shutter temporarily, and could potentially mean higher prices for consumers. Nearly three-fourths of Massachusetts’ electricity, and half of New England’s, comes from natural gas, according to Energy Department data. Roughly half of Massachusetts homes also heat with natural gas.
“Price spikes don’t have an immediate effect on our customers thanks to long-term contracts and local supplies that we purchase in the off season,” said Caroline Pretyman, a spokeswoman for Northeast Utilities, the parent company of NStar and Western Massachusetts Electric Co. “But if prices stay high for an extended period of time, then we could potentially see rates go up.”
Pipeline capacity long has been a concern for New England, but the situation has become more acute in recent years as the region has become increasingly dependent on natural gas. ISO New England, the region’s power grid operator, has repeatedly warned that a lack of capacity on local pipelines would cause supply shortages during periods of extreme weather and high demand — such as this past week.
This is the excuse they came up with for price-gouging?
Those shortages could not only increase prices in the long run, but also threaten the reliability of the power system, the ISO has said.
Although this winter is only a few weeks old, the region has already seen some startling price spikes in wholesale energy markets, such as in mid-December, when temperatures fell below freezing….
The issue in New England is exacerbated by the pipeline issues in this region that prevent it from taking full advantage of cheap, plentiful natural gas.
I can't breathe anymore because of this rank fart mi$t.
The constraints, she said, make it difficult to get natural gas even from places like Pennsylvania, where technology has helped unlock vast gas reserves.
“It’s the ultimate irony: record supply so close,” said Samantha Santa Maria, managing editor of North American natural gas at Platts, a provider of energy information, “but you guys can’t access that.”
Yeah, the poor frackers poisoning the water need more pipelines.
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Senator Edward Markey, a Malden Democrat, also supports more pipeline capacity….
And he is supposed to be about as green as you can get.
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Related:
Sunday Globe Special: Portland's Pipeline
Louisiana Site of Latest Train Crash
Also see: Small earthquake strikes near New Bedford
Fracking causes that but it couldn't have in New Bedford.
Even con$ervation programs are riddled with rot, and despite the safety concerns the Globe tells me nuclear is just fine (with no word again regarding the disaster enveloping the planet do to the continuing crisis at Fukushima), but hey, at least you can have an abortion and visit Lawrence Welk's house when in North Dakota.
