Train derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic

[WestCoastJoe]

I think we tend to feel safe where we live, here in Canada. We tend to think that all precautions are taken, and that nothing bad can happen. But it seems to me, with modern industry, no matter the precautions, accidents still happen. And usually, in any accident, it is not one thing that causes it, but a number of factors.

This one is a bit of a shocker. Train at rest, brakes fail, rolls down the decline, derailment, crash, oil explodes and burns, perhaps 50 people dead, many vaporized, no remains.

[WestCoastJoe]

Some pictures of the damage to the small town ...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/07/americas/ ... ?hpt=hp_t1

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/07/ ... ?hpt=hp_t1

[South Pender]

Kind of makes the case for pipelines, doesn't it!

[TheLionKing]

Having a railway carrying dangerous goods through the middle of town doesn't make sense. Just a matter of time before an accident occurs.

[pennw]

Kind of makes the case for pipelines, doesn't it!

I would say yes , but there are those would say just don't ship oil instead . Maybe horses could make a come back .

[WestCoastJoe]

Oil ...

On trains, in pipeline, on boats, on trucks ... accidents happen in all modes of transport. One of the prices we pay for the modern life.

Oh, nothing can happen. We take all precautions. We build in all safety factors. Yeah, right, nothing can happen.

*beep* ... F.u.k.u.s.h.i.m.a (as it is spelled, D, not a swear word) ... All precautions taken. Uh oh ... not prepared for earthquake/tsunami. 2011

(D's word police program turned the Japanese town into a beep, like this, *beep*. LOL )

Prince William Sound, Alaska (oil tanker), 1989

Trans-Alaska pipeline spill, 2010

Truck rollover oil spill near Boston, May 31, 2013

And yet, as time goes on, hopefully the safety factor improves.

[Jim Mullin]

Kind of makes the case for pipelines, doesn't it!

It makes the case for the end of the era of devolution of safety regulation from government to private corporations. Not so long ago, that train would have been attended 24/7 if it was carrying dangerous goods. When in motion, there would have been at least three individuals montioring the the rolling stock.

In this case, there was just one individual, who checked out to his hotel while this was a ticking time bomb. The engineer did not adequately apply the hand brakes when he parked the train for the night in Nantes, which should have prevented the unattended train from barrelling 12 kilometres down the tracks into Lac-Mégantic at speeds of more than 100 km/h.

The govenrment approves single-man operators to reduce costs for rail companies. The company increases shareholder profits at any cost.

They chose to ignore the increased risk to human life to generate increased profit. This was very preventable, and is exactly what concerned groups warned about when crews were whittled down from five, then to three, then down to one.

[Jim Mullin]

F.u.k.u.s.h.i.m.a (as it is spelled, D, not a swear word) ... All precautions taken. Uh oh ... not prepared for earthquake/tsunami. 2011

Having spent considerable time in Japan from 1998-2006, I became aware of who TEPCO (the private operator of *beep*) was. Running up to the earthquake, they had an awful record of corruption and safety violations reported in the Japanese media (who usually shy away from reporting these stories). When crops and dairy products had to be recalled, TEPCO had to be exposed for their profits before everything else ethic.

Those reactors should have withstood that earthquake without incident if they were maintained properly. Once again, a lack of oversight by government over corporations.

[TheLionKing]

Ultimately it boils down to $$$ and profits.

[South Pender]

Kind of makes the case for pipelines, doesn't it!

It makes the case for the end of the era of devolution of safety regulation from government to private corporations. Not so long ago, that train would have been attended 24/7 if it was carrying dangerous goods. When in motion, there would have been at least three individuals montioring the the rolling stock.

In this case, there was just one individual, who checked out to his hotel while this was a ticking time bomb. The engineer did not adequately apply the hand brakes when he parked the train for the night in Nantes, which should have prevented the unattended train from barrelling 12 kilometres down the tracks into Lac-Mégantic at speeds of more than 100 km/h.

The govenrment approves single-man operators to reduce costs for rail companies. The company increases shareholder profits at any cost.

They chose to ignore the increased risk to human life to generate increased profit. This was very preventable, and is exactly what concerned groups warned about when crews were whittled down from five, then to three, then down to one.

Right, that too. However, I imagine the suits at TransCanada and Enbridge are not shedding tears over this incident.

[Jim Mullin]

Kind of makes the case for pipelines, doesn't it!

It makes the case for the end of the era of devolution of safety regulation from government to private corporations. Not so long ago, that train would have been attended 24/7 if it was carrying dangerous goods. When in motion, there would have been at least three individuals montioring the the rolling stock.

In this case, there was just one individual, who checked out to his hotel while this was a ticking time bomb. The engineer did not adequately apply the hand brakes when he parked the train for the night in Nantes, which should have prevented the unattended train from barrelling 12 kilometres down the tracks into Lac-Mégantic at speeds of more than 100 km/h.

The govenrment approves single-man operators to reduce costs for rail companies. The company increases shareholder profits at any cost.

They chose to ignore the increased risk to human life to generate increased profit. This was very preventable, and is exactly what concerned groups warned about when crews were whittled down from five, then to three, then down to one.

Right, that too. However, I imagine the suits at TransCanada and Enbridge are not shedding tears over this incident.

You're right. Because they know that the general public doesn't consider cause and effect, they just react to incidents. And then those incidents dissolve into the news cycle and that's when the real damage gets done.

[KnowItAll]

best solution is to leave the oil where it is right in the ground.

[Sir Purrcival]

The real issue here is the logistics of the cargo and the practises of the railroad on this particular route. It doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to say "Hey, this could be really bad if a train parked uphill of this town were to roll backwards". Kind of like the following sentence..."It could be a real disaster if a Tanker were to sink after filling up in Kitimat". I can only roll my eyes when industry says they will implement every safety precaution. And they probably do until some human element steps in and all the safety protocols go for naught. The only reasonable approach is to set things up as fault tolerant as possible. For example, the practise of parking a train uphill of any town should be outlawed. Had this train been parked on the level or at least so that it would roll away from inhabited areas, we likely are not reading about this disaster. The failure to say "what if" is played out time and again every time some kind of disaster happens. This town will never be the same. Lives have been changed forever and all because no on bothered to think about the consequences of parking a train full of hazardous goods uphill from a community.

[TheLionKing]

Carrying dangerous goods through the middle of town should never have been allowed in the first place. What were the politicians thinking ?