Another oil train Derails - Doon Iowa

[Bob]

Due to flooding eroding train trestles and supports which made it seem like they were a low bridge (see drone footage) from the Little Rock River a massive derailment happened with about 230,000 gallons leaking into the river..

(Haven't we been told never to drive through standing water of unknown depth? Possibly the train engineers weren't informed that the track that they were about to travel on was weakened and possibly submerged..)

Drone footage, about 2 min:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=K0kZscpiJcw

The river has been flooding due to extreme storms in the area over the week. Some pro-big-oil leaders are saying "only 100,0000" gallons have been contained from the 230,000 gallons leaked.

A disaster proclamation was issued by Gov. Kim Reynolds for Lyon and three other counties placed the blame on rain-fueled flooding. Reynolds visited the derailment site Saturday afternoon as part of a tour of areas hit by recent flooding.

Some officials have speculated that floodwaters eroded soil beneath the train track.

The nearby Little Rock River rose rapidly after heavy rain Wednesday and Thursday.

A major part of the cleanup work includes building a temporary road parallel to the tracks to allow in cranes that can remove the derailed and partially-submerged oil cars.

[Bob]

Water Protectors ?

The train was carrying tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to Stroud, Oklahoma, for ConocoPhillips. ConocoPhillips spokesman Daren Beaudo said each tanker can hold more than 25,000 gallons (20,817 imperial gallons) of oil.

Beaudo said Saturday that the derailed oil cars were a model known as DOT117Rs, indicating they were newer or had been retrofitted to be safer and help prevent leaks in the event of an accident.

The derailment also caused concern downstream, including as far south as Omaha, Nebraska, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from the derailment site. The spill reached the Rock River, which joins the Big Sioux River before merging into the Missouri River at Sioux City.

Omaha’s public water utility – Metropolitan Utilities District – said it was monitoring pumps it uses to pull drinking water from the Missouri River.

Rock Valley, Iowa, just southwest of the derailment, shut off its water wells within hours of the accident.

Officials said that they have plans to drain and clean its wells and use a rural water system until testing shows its water is safe. (No idea how long that will be).

by the way...



The Rock River has already carried some oil to Rock Valley, nearly 5 miles southwest of the derailment, said Ken Hessenius with the Iowa Natural Resources Department. State crews are trying to determine how fast the oil was traveling south. The Rock River joins the Big Sioux River before merging into the Missouri River at Sioux City.

The task difficulty is compounded by the spreading floodwater, he said.

"The river, instead of being 100 yards wide, is now maybe a half-mile wide" in spots, Hessenius said.

"Our first major concerns are public water supplies," he said, adding that several towns that draw water from shallow wells near the Rock River have been alerted about possible contamination.

Doon is about 40 miles southeast of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where several rain-swollen rivers overflowed Thursday. The National Weather Service has forecast flooding in the area into the weekend.

[Bob]

Understanding what tar sands oil contains - toxins and poisons

This should not ever be dumped into the water supply:

Crude oil is dangerous because it typically contains more than 1,000 chemicals. A large majority of these chemicals are hazardous to humans, such as benzene. Small traces of benzene are found in the air due to car exhaust and cigarette smoke, but increased exposure to benzene can result in leukemia and neurological problems. Undeterred by the harm that these chemicals can cause, there are no clear federal guidelines for the chemical exposure at oil spills and there are no long term studies to show the damage these chemicals can cause to human health (Inside Climate News).

“A single sample of tar sands oil included chemicals that cause cancer in humans and produce serious and permanent birth defects in children,” said EWG’s director of research, Renée Sharp.

A person’s health can be affected when touching or breathing oil products. Consuming fish or shellfish that is contaminated with oil can pose a serious negative effect on human health. However, fish and shellfish that is tainted with oil usually tastes very bad and thus will generally be avoided by consumers (Global Marine Oil Pollution Information Gateway).

Oil harms wildlife through toxic contamination or physical contact. Toxic contamination usually occurs when an animal ingests or inhales oil. This can lead to reproductive problems, trouble digesting, and damage to the central nervous system, liver, and lungs. Physical contact is when oil come in contact with an animal’s fur or feathers. When physical contact occurs with a bird’s feathers, it destroys the protective layer and can also clog the feathers, making it impossible for the bird to fly or float. Even a small amount of oil on a bird’s feathers can kill it. Physical contact with oil can also have a deadly effect on mammals. Oil affects mammal’s ability to insulate themselves, which can lead to hyperthermia and death. Any animal can be affected by breathing in the dangerous hydrocarbons left on the water’s surface from the oil (Global Marine Oil Pollution Information Gateway).

Other chemicals found by laboratory researchers looking at the contents of the tar sands oil :

· Toluene – toxic to the nervous system and kidneys and can cause birth defects if pregnant women are exposed to elevated levels.

· Ethylbenzene – listed as a carcinogen in California’s Proposition 65 inventory of toxic chemicals; animal studies suggest that it may also be toxic to the nervous system, cause developmental harm and damage hearing and the kidneys.

· 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene – a volatile chemical that can irritate the skin and respiratory system; exposure to high levels may cause adverse central nervous system effects such as drowsiness and headache; animal experiments show that it can have toxic effects on development.

Transported bitumen requires that SOLVENTS be added to the crude, to make it pumpable - the name of the final product is called DILBIT (Diluted Bitumen)

The exact composition of these chemicals, collectively called diluents, is considered a trade secret. The diluents vary depending on the particular type of dilbit being produced. The mixture often includes benzene, a known human carcinogen.

During a spill hiding the constituents of the spill should be considered CRIMINAL since putting poison into drinking water is a tantamount offence against society.

Oil of such a nature also SINKS, and surface booms won't contain the bitumen. Such hidden oil could then remain within the water/river system for years.

[Bob]

The freight train was a BNSF Railroad (Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad) freightrain, owned and operated by holding company Berkshire Hathaway, of none other than Warren Buffett.

Transporting DilBit by RAIL-TANKER-CAR allows the special tax which is set aside for spill cleanup to be waved.

In the November/December 2008 edition of BNSF’s employee magazine, “Railway,” BNSF produced a piece titled, “Alberta oil Sands: No sour deal.”

The article reveals the exact role BNSF plays in the oil sands procurement process:

Before bitumen can move through a pipeline to its destination, it must be blended with diluents (diluting agents) such as natural gasoline (not natural gas, which is a gaseous fuel) or butane, which are composed of lighter weight hydrocarbons.

For the last two years, BNSF has been moving single carloads of diluents from U.S.refineries to the Canadian border (at Superior,Wis., Noyes, N.D., Sweetgrass, Mont., and New West minster, B.C.). The inbounds are then interchanged with Canadian railroads, then moved to Edmonton, with the final move to the oil sands’ processing center via pipeline.

Last year, BNSF moved about 9,000 carloads of diluents for the project, with the majority of loads originating from the Gulf Coast,California and Kansas. This year, about 12,000 carloads are anticipated to move.

BNSF is eager to haul anything and everything it can. “Whatever people bring to us, we're ready to haul [and if KXL] doesn't happen, we're here to haul.” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for BNSF said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Buffett’s financial interests in the tar sands, though, go far beyond the Keystone XL saga, and into the development of the tar sands more generally, through Berkshire Hathaway’s extensive stock holdings in ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and General Electric. All three corporations are big league financial players in this game.

Berkshire Hathaway, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and General Electric

An August 2011 Fox Business story revealed Buffett owns 29.1 million shares of stock in ConocoPhillips, 421,800 shares of stock in ExxonMobil, and 7.777 million shares of stock in General Electric. All three of these corporations are deeply tied to the Alberta tar sands.

excerpts from: https://www.desmogblog.com/warren-bu...-and-tar-sands