Bakken Oil By Rail

  I attended a forum on the topic of Bakken oil trains last night at the local library. Turns out Albany NY is now a major hub for these oil trains. The oil is stored at the port of Albany on the Hudson River and then put into tankers that take it down the Hudson and out to sea. Needless to say I was brought up to speed on this recent uptick in activity and in that process I am very concerned about the dangers of this activity. This is a big deal. Because there has been well over a 1,000% uptick in oil by rail from the Bakken preserve, there's also been an equivalent uptick in accidents, accidents that have literally wiped out areas and towns. If a fire accident were to occur at the port of Albany or as it is being transported there, the consequences would be beyond shocking to put it mildly. Bakken oil has a higher proportion of propane in its composition and is more volatile than ordinary crude. Also the train cars that it is shipped in are not adequate for this type of oil. This is really a mess.

AlterNet: Playing With Fire: U.S. Regulators Resort to Weak Voluntary Measures For Oil-By-Rail Safety - Until now, efforts by the oil and rail industry to help first responders be prepared for an oil-by-rail accident have been only voluntary.