Blogs Apr 21, 2014 at 1:20 pm

Environmental Group Places Ad on Metro Buses Featuring Deadly Fireball from Crashed Oil Train

Ansel Herz
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Comments

1
So tell Obama to let them fucking build Keystone fucking now.
You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on April 21, 2014 at 1:38 PM Report this
2
We already have oil trains and coal trains. Why are those ok but new ones aren't?
on April 21, 2014 at 1:53 PM Report this
3
Flour is combustible, ergo ... WE MUST GET RID OF EVERY KITCHEN IN THE CITY!!
Kinison on April 21, 2014 at 1:56 PM Report this
4
@You_Gotta...

Why is building keystone helpful to this situation? So that a pipeline leaks oil all over Nebraska and the heartland instead of our coasts? Do you really think that if Keystone were built that the oil industry would be content and not try to ram its toxic sludge through our coasts? Keystone runs to the gulf of mexico on the eastern side, they will still want the west coast to access the Asian markets. No to Keystone and no to PNW oil trains.

Why don't we leave this poison in the ground and spend the huge capital investment in solar, wind and geothermal instead - ie. energy sources that don't poison the land, take lives, and destroy our climate.
wild n free on April 21, 2014 at 1:57 PM Report this
5
@4
The “poison” is coming out of the ground regardless of the shipment method. Stopping Keystone just makes the inevitable more dangerous and harmful to the environment. (Show me any reasonable journalism that concludes that stopping Keystone will prevent the extraction of that oil).

Keystone may or may not negate some of the danger associated with oil shipments through this region (by sending more of it to the gulf over cheaper and safer routs), but it would certainly negate the dangers currently present in shipping the truly massive quantities already going to the gulf (and significantly reduce the fossil fuel emissions associated with that transport).

Why would an industry, that counts its profits in barrels of oil, willfully operate a pipeline that “leaks oil all over”? Your assumption makes no sense… (Where are these pipelines that “leak oil all over”? Looking at the incident history on the Alaska pipeline, it looks pretty clean compared to other methods of transport).
You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on April 21, 2014 at 2:26 PM Report this
7
Coal dust just isn't scary enough, I guess.
Matt from Denver on April 21, 2014 at 3:02 PM Report this
8
Lots of uninformed comments here. 1) Keystone would not be carrying this type of explosive crude. Keystone is for heavy, dirty Canadian tar sands. This is Bakken crude, primarily out of North Dakota, and is "light, sweet" and shown to be the most explosive crude ever transported (AND includes naturally occurring propane gas as well). 2) Drillers and shippers deliberately hid and lied about the dangers until they could no longer, but this hasn't stopped the transport. In fact, the transport is increasing and they are balking at the cost of implementing safety measures, even in providing test results of the crude they're shipping! 3) Seattle's metro buses definitely don't run on Bakken crude, which is more like leaded gasoline infused with propane and carcinogenic benzene. And Seattle's buses aren't 120 (a mile-plus) tanker cars long, and a bus "explosion" would not incinerate a town and rage for days until it burned itself out. Just look on YouTube for Lac-Megantic video, then dare to reply.
on April 21, 2014 at 3:48 PM Report this
10
The last sentence in the first paragraph is tangential and off-topic,
Phoebe in Wallingford on April 21, 2014 at 5:54 PM Report this
11
Maybe the oil trains will blow up the Viaduct. Then we'll get the surface option at last!
pat L on April 21, 2014 at 7:27 PM Report this
12
This stuff has a NFPA flammability rating of 4. It's highly flammable & NOT merely combustible. The bus ads do not overstate the risk. In fact, they are finding the refining process begins en-route to the coasts, making the stuff more flammable as it reaches places like Seattle.
oldbrickhousefarm on April 21, 2014 at 9:45 PM Report this
13
I know the get-in-good with the company types will always stick up for big awful corporations, but this really is a threat to Our Fair City.

No one remembers this because it happened right before 911, but the Howard Street tunnel fire in Baltimore in 2001 would look like a cakewalk compared to one of these trains blowing up in the Great Northern tunnel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Stre…
Catalina Vel-DuRay on April 22, 2014 at 4:38 PM Report this
15
Our society must move away from fossil fuel enery as soon as possible to mitigte and reverse global warming. Exploding oil trains in Seattle is a big concern, but even more important in the long run is that our society adopts sustainable / renewable energy sources.
Rusty West on April 22, 2014 at 9:06 PM Report this
16
Pity the poor tunneling machine. Bertha trembles beneath us, feeling the vibrations of trains passing overhead bearing incalculable destruction!
Lando on April 22, 2014 at 10:40 PM Report this
17
The article could have mentioned more than just the stadiums and Pike Place Market being at risk. The train tunnel goes over the metro tunnel by only 5 feet, and the new viaduct replacement tunnel will be adjacent and under the train tunnel. The train tunnel also runs under high rise office buildings, condos, apartments, and restaurants, day cares, senior centers. There is so much that could be lost in lives and structure if one of those Bakken crude oil trains explodes beneath the service of downtown Seattle. It would be catastrophic. If nothing else, the city and county need to put immediately into place a moratorium on those types of trains coming through downtown Seattle until a more permanent disallowance can be made. The problem is - the railroad and oil companies are playing hard and don't care about the risks they are putting on people's lives and the multi-millions of dollars of damage that could happen.
LinMas00 on April 23, 2014 at 8:41 AM Report this
18
Wow... if THAT on a train is what you are scared of, you really need to read this:
http://phmsa.dot.gov/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj…
on June 24, 2014 at 10:17 AM Report this

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