Wednesday, May 07, 2014

This is the reality of the USA infrastructure across the country. There is no room for explosive railcars with problems this profound.

I don't have to look any further than the color of the land and realize there is a lot of sand in this soil. There is nothing that can be changed here. Soil is soil. If it fails, it fails. This collapse of American soils is happening all over the country.

Naphtha is the problem with the explosions. Canadian crud is the problem. It is not safe. If is not safe for use period. It is not safe for the environment or human life. It should not be transported by any means. 

Trucks transporting paint thinner are labeled with codes to indicate what they are carrying and there is some infrastructure like tunnels where they are not allowed to go. I doubt seriously large quantities of naphtha travels across the USA in trucks. The only commodity one will find of naphtha in trucks or rail cars is that of packaged containers and not large qualities  How many explosions does the American consumer hear about regarding paint thinner? 

A warehouse fire.


By Amy McConnell Schaarsmith Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An industrial building in Mount Pleasant (click here) is fully engulfed in fire that is causing multiple cans of paint thinner housed inside to explode, according to Westmoreland County safety officials.
The building, which is owned by sheet metal manufacturer EHC Industries, is located at 319 Westec Dr., according to county public safety spokesman Dan Stevens.

When fire crews from Mount Pleasant, Hempfield, East Huntington and the Westmoreland County Hazardous Materials team arrived shortly after the fire was called in about 4 p.m., the building was already consumed by heavy fire, Mr. Stevens said....

The statistics indicate there are deaths due to fire and explosions, but, they are not necessarily related to naphtha either. But, rail explosions are related directly to naphtha.

The statistics show (click here) that there are over 15,000 people injured each year from fires and explosions and there are more than 3,000 people that lose their lives as a result. Tim Caress and Caress Law Group have extensive experience in handling cases involving fires and explosions, and we fully understand the complexities and challenges that these cases present.
The statistics also show that 81 percent of fire deaths are due to residential fires and this is also the leading cause of fire injuries. The numbers further show that as many as 23 percent of fire injuries happen when people are trying to get out of a house that has caught on fire. This is because in a structure fire it can be as little as 60 seconds that you have to be able to evacuate safely. There are an estimated 39 percent of injuries that occur while people are trying to put out residential fires or control them....

The problem with rail car explosions across the USA is naphtha. That does not exonerate pipelines. Large quantities of naphtha are  dangerous. Naphtha is corrosive to metal and pipes. 

, Volume 337, Issue 4, pp 382-388
J. Garcia-Anton, J. Monzo, J. L. Guinon, D. Gomez, J. Costa

Corrosion in heat-engines (click here) has been attributed to some undesirable sulfur compounds present in petroleum naphthas, fuel-oils or gasolines. The corrosivity of these petroleum products is measured by means of the ASTM D-130 copper strip test, which is based on discoloration of a standard copper strip immersed into the petroleum products at 50°C for 3 h...

Who is to say the naphtha in the rail cars isn't eroding the pipes of the car and causing leaks. Or is naphtha eroding the seams of the tank? The answer is probably yes to both of that possibility.

August 2006
The article reports (click here) that British Petroleum (BP) has closed its Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska after monitoring techniques discovered that corrosion reduced pipeline wall thickness by 70 percent in some places. The inspection also discovered a five-barrel oil leak on the same line. Because of the facility shutdown, BP faces pipeline supply problems and lack of skilled workers to do the installation.

Corroded pipelines shut down Prudoe Bay. The oil at Prudoe Bay wasn't Canadian Tar Sands crud, it was crude oil. Crude oil contains naphtha, but, in far less percentage than the Tar Sands mixture. About two thirds less.

What are corrosion pits? (click here)
Corrosion pits are very localized corrosion defects, or small ‘pits’ in the metal of the pipe. Pitting corrosion, unchecked, can result in a pipeline leaking. Operators have criteria to assess pits. Canadian codes require pits to be repaired when they reach 80% of the wall thickness. European codes allow up to 85%. In-line inspection tools (known as intelligent pigs-see below) are used to detect pits and/or cracks.

The industry knows and Canada knows the corrosive and explosive PROPERTIES of crude oil and that of the higher percent mixture of Canadian tar crud. This is not new. This is not a discovery now that rail cars are exploding. The industry knows all this. 

There are books written about it.  (click here) Corrosion eats away at profits, too. Does anyone think the petroleum industry doesn't understand it's product? How many decades has this industry been punching holes in the ground? A long time. I am quite sure they know all about the problems in those rail cars, pipelines and trucks. Ask if they care.

Baltimore, MD--May 1, 2014--This is the scene, photographed from the St. Paul Street side, of the aftermath of a landslide which occurred Wednesday on 26th street between St. Paul and Charles Streets. Crews are on the scene removing debris and vehicles from the site. staff photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor (Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun)

May 05, 2014
By Kevin Rector
The Baltimore Sun 

The initial cleanup of a landslide that spilled half a city block  onto CSX Transportation tracks in Charles Village last week was paid for by the railroad. The city, meanwhile, issued hotel and grocery vouchers to displaced residents and began processing claims for damaged property, including the eight parked vehicles damaged in the wall collapse.

The petroleum industry knows it is pushing the USA and Canadian infrastructure to breaking. They know it. They don't care. People have died. They don't care. They continue to push the infrastructure to breaking. If they continue to push the infrastructure to breaking they impress on the people and electorate they have to surrender to the demands of the petroleum industry. But, that won't stop it. Building another pipeline is not going to stop the abuse. 

Baltimore City Transportation Director William Johnson discussing the results of sonar tests conducted on North Charles and St. Paul Streets around the area of the street collapse on East 26th Street.
Credit P. Kenneth Burns / WYPR

Engineers (click here) hired by Baltimore City officials found there were no major defects beneath Charles and St. Paul Streets near 26th Street after parts of that street collapsed onto CSX tracks.
Results of sonar tests were released Wednesday afternoon by the city Department of Transportation.
Transportation Director William Johnson said the tests discovered minor anomalies on North Charles Street at 26th Street. He described them as shallow pooling of water below the street surface.
“It’s probably going to be a future pothole unless the water gets out of there before it freezes and thaws,” said Johnson....

Does the petroleum industry care about your drinking water? No. That is the responsibility of a citizen's government. Does the petroleum industry care about the safety of the public? No. That is responsibility of the citizen's government. What has the government done to tort law? Now. Who has the government in their back pocket, the petroleum industry or the American people? 

Why should the petroleum industry care about anything except profits and greed. The Canadian Tar Sands is not about NEED; it is about greed.