Train carrying oil exploded: Downtown on fire

[hobbyguy]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/08/30/quebec-lac-megantic-oil-bakken-north-dakota-explosion.html

More "rats" in this tragic story. This story hints (very speculative) that the shippers knew their cargo was very dangerous. Possible (speculative) fudging of product grading? It will be interesting to see where this speculation leads, if anywhere.

[matai]

Tonight, a special tv show on French CBC, channel 12 with Shaw, at 6:30pm. Preview:

[hobbyguy]

Well, finally some sort of real action: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rail-safety-improvements-announced-by-lisa-raitt-in-wake-of-lac-m%C3%A9gantic-1.2618788

Not very often that Canada gets out in front of the US on such issues.

Do the changes go far enough? Arguable. The primary point being that safety should be first, not "yah, yah, maybe in a few years". When companies I worked for had a serious safety problem, they shut it down until resolved, although they sometimes got temporary permissions based on replacement equipment lead time and that was combined with a whole bunch of restrictions to work around the safety problem.

That's really the part that seems to be missing, or perhaps it is not being fully publicized, but there should be severe restrictions until the cars are fixed.

Plus, no mention of any move on changing the 19th century braking systems on trains... I guess that will never get fixed, because it applies to all rail cars.

[matai]

Nearly one year after the tragedy, Google maps still have an horror image as their satellite view of Lac Megantic:

[matai]

BST Report came out today. The results: Another disaster is most likely to happen again. Details:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014 ... _says.html

[logicalview]

BST Report came out today. The results: Another disaster is most likely to happen again.

Of course its going to happen again. You basically are putting a nuclear bomb on rails. This is why oil should be transported by pipeline, not rail. It's really not that hard to understand. And yet, there's burn-out Neil Young, organizing yet another "anti-Keystone Pipeline" concert in a corn field. What a putz. What happens when a train full of oil derails near Neil's constantly idling tour bus? Or in the middle of his concert? Would he change his mind then? I don't see him doing any concerts in Lac Megantic, that's for sure.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/w ... -1.2740021

[hobbyguy]

LV -the XL pipeline thing has a whole set of different issues that go well beyond the simplistic.

For example:

- families with ranches/farms that have been in their families for generations are being told that the pipeline WILL come through their land, disrupt their ranches/farms/lifestyles and they have little recourse or compensation.

The only "link" between XL pipeline issues and Lac Megantic is industry malfeasance and collusion with government to enable that malfeasance.

Otherwise no, this issue surrounded poor tank car design (long known to be dangerous but allowed by government), gutted regulation/oversight of rail safety, the Bakken shale oil that was being carried - and whether or not its make up was different and more explosive than the producers manifested it as (and therefore possibly outside of regulatory standards).

IF folks trusted that the industry as a whole were "straight shooters" and would live up to their duty to protect the public interest, and were fair and equitable in dealing with land owners etc. - then there would be one heck of a lot less opposition to projects like the XL.

Unfortunately, Lac Megantic has showed quite tragically the results of "industry self regulation" and collusion/corruption of government's role (things like "captive regulation").

Lac Megantic is also a poster child for industry "responsibility". Very early on, one of the first things that happened was MMA declared bankruptcy - thus leaving the public stuck with not only a major tragedy, but the financial costs as well, repeating a pattern seen across industries that pose risks to the public. From coal ash spills to exploding fertilizer plants to Lac Megantic to the 2008 melt down to the recent Mt. Polley tailings dam failure, the public sees corporate interests taking significant risks that have significant public risk - and with no intention or ability to cover the downsides - and seemingly very little care about it either when the "stuff" hits the fan. The comments by the CEO of MMA were basically a bumper sticker for "corporations don't give a rat's".

Quotes from Confucius:

“The proper man understands equity, the small man profits.”

“If your conduct is determined solely by considerations of profit you will arouse great resentment.”

That last one sums up it rather nicely. Old lessons that these industries have forgotten.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lac-m%C3%A9gantic-tsb-finds-company-had-weak-safety-culture-1.2739921

Worth reading the comments from Mayor Roy Laroche. Quite an impressive lady when she speaks.

[GordonH]

Bumped
https://www.castanet.net/news/Canada/21 ... l-disaster

[Omnitheo]

Scared me by bumping this thread. I was thinking “oh no it happened again?!”

Not sure how I feel about that verdict though...

[oneh2obabe]

Residents in Lac-Mégantic, Que., say they support the decision of the jury to acquit three former Montreal, Maine and Atlantic (MMA) railway employees charged with criminal negligence causing 47 deaths in the 2013 rail disaster.

Many in the town say they believe it's not the three accused who deserved to be on trial for their part in the tragedy that killed 47 people, instead pointing the blame at those much higher up the corporate ladder.

The father of victim Kathy Clusiault, Jean Clusiault, was at the courthouse in Sherbrooke, when the verdicts were announced and approved of the acquittals.

Balance of article
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ ... -1.4496062

[Ka-El]

..., instead pointing the blame at those much higher up the corporate ladder.

... who will always be insulated from taking responsibility for the consequences of their reckless decisions.

[oneh2obabe]

^^^Standard CYA in the corporate world.

[lesliepaul]

Glad to see this jury make the right decision. The three men charged made mistakes..........unfortunately, the fire department that attended the engine fire also made a mistake.

[goodswimmer]

Seems like since people are against pipelines now that trains are experiencing a lot of accidents. Go figure!!! Its probably to scare people into allowing those pipelines.