Dramatic Explosion Footage: Warren Buffett-Owned Oil Freight Train Derails, Bursts Into Flames
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/05/2015 21:14 -0500
Back in March 2013 we wrote a post presenting “the new US petroleum pipelines” in which we explained “why crony capitalist #1, the “rustic” Octogenarian of Omaha, and Obama tax advisor #1, Warren Buffett has been aggressively attempting to corner the railroad market, while the administration relentlessly refuses to allow assorted new, and very much competing petroleum pipelines from America’s neighbor to the north to cross through the US.” The answer was shown on the chart below which showed the exponential increase in petroleum rail car loadings.
It also explains why after Buffett’s purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) in 2009, Obama has been so staunchly against allowing the Keystone XL pipeline: because if there is anything that would allow Buffett to preserve the momentum of his soaring oil transit business, it is maintaining a veto on any competing pipelines. A veto which Obama implemented for the latest time just a few days ago.
Of course, it would be uncouth of the US president to say that he is against a pipeline because one of his crony backers, his tax advisor (“push income tax higher all you want, but don’t you dare touch that capital gains and dividend tax”), and perhaps the biggest single beneficiary of the government bailout of Wall Street in 2008, tells him to. So instead Obama, to appease his progressive rank and file, decided to crack down on the “danger” of pipelines – after all, the world is riddled with horror stories about the tens of thousands of miles of US commodity pipelines spontaneously combusting, exploding or otherwise blowing up and destroying the pristine nature all around them.
Maybe not, but that’s where the “unbiased” media comes into play. The same media which we doubt will have much if anything to say about the train derailment, crash and subsequent massive explosion which took place at 1:20 pm in a rural area where the Galena River meets the Mississippi.
The train in question? One of Warren Buffett’s own: a BNSF Railway freight train loaded with crude oil.
BNSF said the train has 105 cars, 103 of which were carrying crude oil. The other two cars were buffer cars loaded with sand. A release from the Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s Department confirmed it was Bakken crude oil.
“The report that came back to me from them is that eight tanker cars had left the track,” Galena City Administrator Mark Moran said. “Two of those were still upright. The other six were not. They observed at least one of those tankers smoking.”
Conley said firefighters had to access the derailment site via a city bike trail. He said two cars were smoking when they arrived on scene and they attempted to fight a small fire among the cars but were unable to stop the flames.
And since they couldn’t reach the train, firefighters “had to pull back for safety reasons and were allowing the fire to burn itself out, Conley said. In addition to Galena firefighters, emergency and hazardous material responders from Iowa and Wisconsin were at the scene.”
A press release from the Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s Department sent just after 6 p.m. said the sheriff’s department was in the process of evacuating homes within one mile of the derailment site.
This derailment, and resultant fireball, takes place just two weeks after another train hauling crude oil derailed and exploded in West Virginia on February 17, displacing up to 1,000 residents and contaminating the local water supply.
Ironically, one can’t blame Buffett for not being honest about the threat that flaming trains post: it was exactly a year ago when he told CNBC that “It’s fair to say that we’ve found in [the] last year or so that it’s more dangerous to move certain types of crude than was thought previously. There’s no question about it.”
There sure isn’t.
And just to help the president with his next veto decision, which we hope will be to ban all oil transit via far more dangerous rail lines, here are some photos of today’s explosion:
Republicans voted for the pipeline. Dimocrats voted against the pipeline. The Republican stance is that the pipeline is a much safer mode of oil transportation. Dimocrats want to continue with rail transportation. Another glaring difference between the two parties. What say you?
Pipelines are safer, but rail tank cars are more flexible. I have not lost much sleep over this issue.
Fracken does not have a bright future presently.
Well well,
trains are disaster, no doubt, but so is pipeline! We don’t want to continue in exponential growth of destruction of our planet, do we? Do you guys pursue the business as usual fossil scenario? Because if so, prepare for… well, utter desctruction like… the one seen in Syria:
“By now, it’s pretty clear that we’re starting to see visible manifestations of climate change beyond far-off melting ice sheets. One of the most terrifying implications is the increasingly real threat of wars sparked in part by global warming. New evidence says that Syria may be one of the first such conflicts.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/03/02/study_climate_change_helped_spark_syrian_civil_war.html
Best,
Alex
Give me a fucking break about pipelines. We already have 55 million miles of existing pipelines.
And one more link:
February is the first month since before months had names to boast carbon dioxide concentrations at 400 parts per million. Such CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have likely not been seen since at least the end of the Oligocene 23 million years ago, an 11-million-year-long epoch of gradual climate cooling that most likely saw CO2 concentrations drop from more than 1,000 ppm. Those of us alive today breathe air never tasted by any of our ancestors in the entire Homo genus.
CO2 Levels for February Eclipsed Prehistoric Highs
Alex
Politics:
On the surface, about “principle.”
Always, in fact and reality, ABOUT THE MONEY.
It’s always, always, always about the money. Only stupid people are induced to climb on political bandwagons because of the top line slogans. “Save the planet,” “save the whales,” stamp out drug addiction,” “stamp out child abuse,” etc., etc.,
When I see someone wearing a T-shirt or marching in a “protest” over such stuff, I know I’m looking at an IMBECILE.
Oh, I forgot “global warming.”
Idiots.
Or people profiting from the narrative.
Our interstate pipeline system is old, much of it needing replaced and or rehabbed. Pipelines have a shelf life, Electrolysis eats them alive literally ( google it ). I was in the cross country pipeline biz until I was 42 years old. I know just a little something about it.
True, there is fucking lot of existing pipelines. So maybe the new (fracking) fields are elswhere and not usable (?) A am not the one proposing new pipelines, so why is the train oil transport increasing?
Alex
Much of our large diameter pipelines were installed in the 50, 60 and early 70’s Here’s what internal corrosion looks like. If anyone would like to get into a discussion on Smart Pig technology and why the older lines will not accommodate the device I will participate.
Internal corrosion
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Smart pig
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@T4C: Oh no, not THAT again! Abiotic oil? Really?
Abiotic oil is a theory that predates the discovery of plate tectonics. It was given a new round of promotion in the months before the 2004 “election” to distract from understanding the motivations of the Bush/Cheney regime in seizing Middle East oil fields. that has been revived to discredit conclusions that 9/11 was permitted partly to prepare the US for Peak Oil (to get the pretext to seize the Middle East oil fields and to impose a domestic “Homeland Security” police state to muzzle dissent). Some of the people promoting abiotic oil are among those pushing some of the other fake issues of 9/11 complicity.
Abiotic oil disinformation distracts from the connections between 9/11 and Peak Oil. The “debate” is used to keep the public from insisting the remaining oil be used to benefit as many people as possible through global relocalization of production and manufacture of renewable energy equipment. The debate about how to use the remaining oil for the transition toward a sustainable civilization.
http://www.oilempire.us/abiotic.html
“Give me a fucking break about pipelines.”
In the summer of 2010, Enbridge Inc. (a Canadian company) was responsible for the largest and costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history. A pipeline ruptured and sent over a million gallons of tar sands into the Kalamazoo River system poisoning people and wildlife for miles around. This disaster underscored the weakness of state and federal safety regulations, but also showed how unprepared the industry is to respond to a toxic spill: almost five years later, the river remains polluted despite Enbridge spending $1.21 billion on the cleanup.
The disaster in the Kalamazoo River was of the largest tar sands oil spills ever in the Midwest, and one of many pipeline accidents in Michigan. Enbridge pipelines have been responsible for hundreds of oil spills in the last decade.
“Give me a fucking break about pipelines.”
And then there’s this little gem surrounding the Enbridge pipeline spill.
“In Mich. Cleanup, a Missed Opportunity for Local Workers and Abuse of Undocumented Ones.”
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2010/09/07/mich-cleanup-missed-opportunity-local-workers-and-abuse-undocumented-ones
Fire Burns After Another Oil Freight Train Derails, This Time In Canada
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2015 09:48 -0500
In the early hours of this morning, yet another oil-carrying freight train derailed. Canadian National Railways says a fire continues to burn after a train carrying crude oil derailed in Northern Ontario (near Gogama). As yet no injuries have been rported and a team of specialists are on the scene. This is the fourth derailment for CN Rail in Northern Ontario this year.
As CP24 reports,
CN Rail says crews reported the derailment near Gogama, Ontario, about two-and-a half hours north of Sudbury, around 2:45 a.m.
No one was injured in the derailment, CN said.
The company said a number of teams, including senior operations, engineering, dangerous goods and environment officers were responding to the scene.
Ontario Provincial Police said Highway 144 between Highway 560 (Watershed) and Mattagami Reserve Road near the site of the derailment will be shut down for between 24 and 36 hours due to safety concerns.
As CN states:
Train U70451-02 derailed along the Ruel subdivision of the CN main line, near Gogama, ON. The incident, which occurred at 0246hrs EST on Saturday, March 07, is currently impacting rail traffic running between Toronto, ON, and Winnipeg, MB.
CN crews are responding to the site in order to undertake the necessary repairs. Both westbound and eastbound traffic scheduled to cross the affected area is currently obstructed, and may be delayed by 24 hours or more. Every measure is being taken in order to reduce the impact to customer shipments.
We are following the situation very closely and will post further updates on this web page as they become available.
* * *
Nothing like the smell of an oil fire in the morning. I think we are getting a derailment per week. How many pipeline disasters have we had?
T4C
I think if one takes a serious look at the Abiotic oil theory, it makes a lot of sense. Perhaps there is truth in that oil forms in the Earth in both ways but I come down on the side side of Abiotic process.
According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, (PHMSA) U.S. pipelines spill three times as much crude oil as trains.
Data: Oil Trains Spill More Often, But Pipelines Spill Bigger
“A lot of people argue that transporting oil via pipelines is safer than rail. And that’s true, if your idea of safety is defined by the frequency of accidents, regardless of how large the accidents are. If, however, you think massive releases of oil into the environment pose a greater risk to human health, then pipelines are the greater evil.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/18/3624116/how-would-you-like-your-oil-spilled-today-sir/
The transport of oil by train has gone up by 1000% in the last three years. Therefore, the derailment amounts will far outweigh the pipeline leaks in the coming years. Your data is old. Keep trying. You lose again.
Facts are a bitch when you have a storyline to sell.
yourmotherdroppedyouonyourhead quotes the liberal rag think progress with his spew.
I guess you think Al Gore invented the internet too.
It is so easy to discredit morons with a false storyline.
How many barrels of abiotic have been produced since 1859 when crude oil was first discovered at Titusville PA ?
Anyone who believes in abiotic oil has a screw loose. No oil well has ever refilled after being depleted.
“Facts are a bitch when you have a storyline to sell.”
So true.
Fact: U.S. pipelines spill three times as much crude oil as trains.
“Therefore, the derailment amounts will far outweigh the pipeline leaks.
I’m sure you’re hoping so. Time will tell.
“The most recent data available indicate that railroads consistently
spill less crude oil per ton-mile transported than other modes of land transportation.” Source: Congressional Research Service, December 4, 2014.
BTW…Why does the Administrator engage in childish bouts of name calling???
yourmotherworearmyboots seems to be missing a comprehension gene or chooses not to understand the chart provided. He blathers about pipelines versus rail derailments based upon past history when even a numbskull like himself can see the exponential increase in oil transported by rail in the last year, which is not factored in his little bits of liberal propaganda.
Idiot greenie nazis like himself don’t give a fuck about the environment. It’s whatever ridiculous cause they are fighting for this week.
Shouldn’t you be blathering about elephants? Isn’t that the new liberal bullshit cause this week.
If Keystone was Buffett’s baby, I wouldn’t believe of a second that you (Administrator) would be in favor if it.
This is pure politics for you… isn’t it.
You actually hope rail spills will surpass pipeline spills… don’t you.
Has NTSB determined why all of a sudden these derailments have been occurring almost on a daily/weekly basis. This is highly unusual frequency of derailments.
Hey Admin:
When I comment on so called “conservative” sites such as yours, I am often labeled a “moron”/libtard.
Proof: See Administrators comments.
When I make the same comments on so called “liberal” sites, I’m labeled a “Teabagger.”
With, and within your infinite wisdom, can you please explain this dichotomy to me?
How can I be a communist/socialists and a rightwing fascist at the same time?
I know the answer.
Do you?
yourmothershouldhavehadanabortion
The reason you are scorned on all websites is because you are dumber than a sack of hammers.
It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt.
Yourmotherhadclap – because everyone, left or right or centrist, can spot crazy. Might as well get it tattooed on your forehead to save everyone some time.
Lipoh says:
“because everyone, left or right or centrist, can spot crazy.”
Q: Where does Lipoh fall in this continuum?
A: “Might as well get it tattooed on your forehead to save everyone some time.”
Good advice.
Administrator says:
“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt.”
LOL…
It would appear the “voters” don’t agree!
Have you figured out where the post went you dumbass.
Did I delete it in an attempt to silence your brilliance?
Conspiracy theorist a lot? LOL
Did you get all the members of your gay bath house to boost your ego by voting for your nonsensical drivel.
Administrator says:
“Have you figured out where the post went you dumbass.”
Yes. A page went missing from your log.
It reappeared later.
Why? You tell me!
yourmotherwasaconspiracytheorist
Yes. I disappeared the page to throw you into a tizzy.
You are a nutjob.
Aren’t you late for your fry cook job at the local Battle Creek McDs?
Mother is rigging the votes.
Administrator says:
“Yes. I disappeared the page to throw you into a tizzy.
You are a nutjob.”
“Aren’t you late for your fry cook job at the local Battle Creek McDs?”
You are a class act Admin.
Keep up the good work.
Lipoh says:
“Mother is rigging the votes.”
LOL… How???
Your mother – don’t know how dont care.
But been here too long not to know. Admin never gets thumbed down for blasting a fuckwit. Never
And the only fuckwit that gets a preponderance of up bites is you, and you are the only one interested in them. So, QED, it is you gaming the vote.
So, adding everything together, I suspect you are some pimple faced little geek trolling around. Probably still in your teens, spanking you’re monkey thinking you are able to get off the porch and run with adults.
Jim, put this back up front. This is funny
It seems to me that if “peak oil” was declared in the summer of 2006, then TPTB are not very worried about it and why is that? Why has the US tasked the Saudis to ramp up production and flood the market with oil to try and crash the Russians? Why has the US plunged into conflict/war after war since 2006? War and military in general use massive amounts of oil.
It appears that we are on a fast track to a third world war that would consume oil on a level never before seen. So what is it, is peak oil a lie or are we sitting on enough oil to last another hundred or hundreds of year? Could it be that oil is from both biological and abiotic sources?
Admin says that anyone who believes in abiotic oil has a screw loose. Well that may be but he offered no real proof for his statement and I would like to know why he thinks we have the luxury of using oil as though it were a renewable resource.