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Post Info TOPIC: ‘Coming crisis’: more trains carrying coal and oil


The Forum Celestial Advisor

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‘Coming crisis’: more trains carrying coal and oil
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Yes this is crisis already here. I've lived in Snohomish

County longer than anywhere else in my life with

Bellingham a close second. So I'm very aware of the

"boom" in rail traffic going the BNSF Bellingham Sub

today. It would seem if your are the BNSF and have a

mainline in excellent condition from Everett to Vancouver

BC that you want to get more business and more trains

running daily. Well the BNSF got their wish but some

big problems with all the cities that the BNSF Bham Sub

passes through not ready for primetime railroad traffic

in 2014. Marysville Wa is going to be a challenge of the

unpresidented to figure out a way to allow 30-35 trains

pass through town every day and not screw up traffic

going from one side to other of this city of 75k people.

Mount Vernon-Burlington WA is divided in half by the BNSF

Bham Sub but not quite the cross-traffic like Marysville.

Bellingham has many ways to get across town without

waiting at a grade crossing. Marysville is going to have to

get used to the extra trains and maybe plan your way

around town without the  crossing of the tracks.

 



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Professional Asshole

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Apparently not carrying enough coal...


Minnesota Power to idle four coal-fired electrical generation units
By News Tribune, Wisconsin Public Radio Today at 5:36 a.m.
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Minnesota Power is idling four of its coal-fired electrical generating units for the next several months because of trouble getting enough coal by railroad.

This is the worst Ive seen it in my 18 years with the utility, Al Rudeck, Minnesota Powers vice president of strategy and planning, told the News Tribune on Wednesday, referring to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railways ability to transport coal from mines in Montana and Wyoming to the Northland. BNSF just hasnt delivered. Were very, very frustrated.

Its taking BNSF two to three times longer than usual to get shipments of coal to the Northland, Rudeck said. The utilitys coal stockpiles are less than half of where they should be.

The units affected include the two at Laskin Energy Center in Hoyt Lakes, and two of the three units at Taconite Harbor Energy Center on the North Shore. No one will be laid off, Rudeck said; workers affected by the idling will focus on maintenance projects.

Pat Mullen, Minnesota Powers vice president of marketing and corporate communications, told Wisconsin Public Radio that this is the first time the utility has had to idle plants because of coal shipping problems.

BNSF officials have told Minnesota Power that the delays are because of weather and system congestion, Rudeck said.

Railroads have been struggling in recent months to juggle grain and coal shipments while also handling an increasing amount of oil from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota. Rail shipping delays have been the subject of a number of federal hearings, including one held by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board in Fargo last week, and one held by the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington on Wednesday.

Certainly the way that the rail capacity is being used out in the Bakken area has really constrained the system, Mullen said. It wasnt that long ago that if we needed additional coal it was just a matter of picking up the phone and more cars came. There was just a capacity where you had that flexibility to really manage your business appropriately.

He and Rudeck said BNSF did work to catch up to its contractual obligations with Minnesota Power last spring, and Rudeck said the utility got back to its normal coal inventory by early summer. But the shipping backlogs have since resurfaced, he said.

Theyre choosing other business over ours, Rudeck said, noting the decades-old relationship between Minnesota Power and BNSF. I think theyre trying hard but they need to do better.

For its part, BNSF has said it is working to expand its shipping capacity.

BNSF has been working with our freight customers on an individual basis to address their most critical service issues while we continue to execute our short and long-term efforts to improve service across our network, BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said Wednesday.

Rudeck said the coal-fired units are slated to be idled for about three months. Minnesota Power made the decision to idle the four units now to save its limited stockpiles of coal for the winter months, when the regions electricity demand and coal prices increase.



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It's obvious the departure of one well known slacker made no difference in the service.

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Uke


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Uke is happy to have parted company with 2LARRCO, and Uncle Warren (Who never even hinted at a bonus...) The good news? Uncle's railroad continues moving plenty oil trains! The men and women running the trains help with the good ol' "Uke Retirement Fund"!

 

Report: More needed to improve oil train safety in Seattle

Report: More needed to improve oil train safety in Seattle

A long line of rail cars containing oil sit on tracks south of Seattle, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. In a report to the Seattle City Council, city emergency planners say more must be done to lower the risk of a possible oil train accident and improve the city's ability to respond. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

SEATTLE (AP) - With increasing numbers of volatile crude oil trains moving through Seattle's "antiquated" downtown rail tunnel, city emergency planners say more must be done to lower the risk of an oil train accident and improve the city's ability to respond.

In a report to the Seattle City Council, emergency managers warned that an oil train accident resulting in fire, explosion or spill "would be a catastrophe for our community in terms of risk to life, property and environment."

BNSF Railway can make immediate safety improvements in the mile-long 100-year-old rail tunnel that runs under downtown Seattle, including installing radio communication, a fire suppression system to release water and foam, and a permanent ventilation system, according to the report written by Barb Graff, who directs the city's office of emergency management, and Seattle assistant fire chief A.D. Vickery.

About one or two mile-long trains a day carrying shipments of crude oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota, Montana and Canada through the city of about 630,000 residents.

Several refineries in the state are receiving shipments of crude oil, and the others are upgrading facilities to accept oil trains. Once refineries are able to accommodate additional shipments, three or more trains could pass through Seattle each day, the city report said.

Oil trains currently enter Washington state near Spokane, and travel through the Tri-Cities and along the Columbia River before traversing Seattle to refineries to the north. In the state, as many as 17 trains carry about 1 million gallons of crude oil a week through several counties, including Spokane, Benton and Clark, BNSF reported to the state in July.

"We know they can explode. We've seen the tragedy in Canada. We know they can derail. That happened two months ago in our own city," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien, whose committee scheduled a special meeting Tuesday night to discuss the report. "We have to treat this as a real threat."

Derailments of oil trains have caused explosions in North Dakota, Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Quebec, where 47 people were killed when a runaway train exploded in the city of Lac-Megantic in July 2013.

Two months ago in Seattle, three tanker cars in an oil train bound for a refinery in Anacortes derailed as it pulled out of a rail yard in Seattle. BNSF officials noted at the time that nothing spilled and a hazardous material crew was on the scene in 5 minutes, but the incident raised new concerns.

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the railway has made improvements to tracks and roadbed to ensure that trains travel safely the tunnel. He said the concrete-lined tunnel is inspected regularly and is "structurally safe."

"We'll review the (city) report further," Melonas said. "We take safety extremely seriously and the operation of trains is a top priority, and we'll continue to enhance our safety process."

The railway is planning to locate a safety trailer with foam equipment and extinguishers in the Seattle area, and plans to continue to train Seattle firefighters and responders.

Seattle's report notes that oil trains travel through three zones in Seattle: passing within blocks of two stadiums, through the downtown tunnel, and along the north end which has limited access because of high banks along the waterfront.

"The tunnel runs under all of downtown. What happens if something goes wrong there?" O'Brien said. "We've heard the fire department say we aren't sure we can send firefighter to fight if it's too dangerous."

Oil trains typically move about 10 mph through the tunnel but less than the maximum speed of 20 mph, and do not operate in the tunnel at the same time as a passenger train, BNSF's Melonas said.

A derailment and fire involving Bakken oil tank cares could stress fire department resources, the report said. It recommends limiting track speeds in high-density urban areas, and that the railroad company help pay for specialized training, sponsor annual drills to respond to tank car emergencies and provide a foam response vehicle to use in case of an oil train accident.

Eric de Place, policy director for Sightline Institute, an environmental think tank, said other local governments should be doing similar reviews.

"Railroads don't carry near the rail insurance they need," he said. "If there's a meaningful risk, the railroads should have to be insured against it and they should have to find private insurance."


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Uke


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It's the oil folks, that's the real problem. Not the coal as previously thought! Coal is relatively inert when spilled... But burn that shit, then it becomes problematic. Burning coal degrades everything! Coal is nasty shit! The dust kills children, old people, harms animals, trees, water...everything!

Oil? Man there's bad shit, just watch this clip from the local TV news:

http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2014/09/17/seattle-oil-train-safety/15768437/

BJ.com apologizes for the inane commercial! Our staphph editor claims he couldn't 'erase it' since the clip was stole... Never mind. Just watch!



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Barely a pulse...

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Now they are arresting oil train protesters, eh. Shades of the 60's in 2014. 



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The Forum Celestial Advisor

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I'm still trying to remember where I saw it tonight that
coal trains originating out of the Powder River Basin
today arent flowing as usual today thanks to all the
oil trains taking up space today. It seems the loaded
oil train is now a high priority train and those oil trains
have changed everything in how the BNSF runs trains
today. First thing would be that Amtrak had to alter
their schedule/timetable for the Empire Builder for the
first time in 40-50 years by departing Seattle each day
"3-hours earlier". The westbound Empire Builder gets in
when it gets in which could be 4-8hrs late. Many times
Number 8 has to wait for Number 7 to arrive. While I
cant detect any slowdown in coal trains going through
Seattle and the Bham Sub to Canada, it is going on
around the BNSF System as coal plants arent getting
the steady diet of coal at their doorstep they are used
to. Some power plants say their stockpile is about 60%
of normal. Plenty of coal available to ship as always
but BNSF has a capacity issue currently and coal trains
are being placed as a second fiddle now. Think the BNSF
can make coal trains a priority whenever it wants to keep
the power plants going so the
railroad has to play it like this for now.

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The Krink wrote:

I'm still trying to remember where I saw it tonight that
coal trains originating out of the Powder River Basin
today arent flowing as usual today thanks to all the
oil trains taking up space today.


 Yesterday, on NPR: http://www.npr.org/2014/09/23/350946899/stockpiling-coal-for-winter-proves-problematic-for-power-plants



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