Oil train leak in Minnesota

[MEC407]

From the Brainerd Dispatch:

Train sprays crude oil for nearly 70 miles

RED WING - A southbound Canadian Pacific train leaked a trail of about 12,000 gallons of crude oil Monday morning after passing through Red Wing, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

MPCA emergency responders worked with railroad personnel throughout the day Tuesday to gauge the extent of the spill and check for environmental damage, MPCA spokeswoman Cathy Rofshus said.

Read the rest of the article at: http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2014-0 ... ZI.twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mtuandrew]

From the Brainerd Dispatch:

Train sprays crude oil for nearly 70 miles

RED WING - A southbound Canadian Pacific train leaked a trail of about 12,000 gallons of crude oil Monday morning after passing through Red Wing, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

MPCA emergency responders worked with railroad personnel throughout the day Tuesday to gauge the extent of the spill and check for environmental damage, MPCA spokeswoman Cathy Rofshus said.

Read the rest of the article at: http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2014-0 ... ZI.twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Huh, I didn't hear about that. 12,000 gallons... right next to the Mississippi, eh? At least it's cold enough that (hopefully) most of the oil was contained within the right-of-way, despite probably being light, sweet crude from North Dakota.

[MEC407]

I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this. Have we had so many oil train incidents in North America that people are becoming desensitized to them?

[mtuandrew]

I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this. Have we had so many oil train incidents in North America that people are becoming desensitized to them?

Probably partly the desensitization, partly that 12,000 gallons over 70 miles works out to about a quarter-cup of oil per foot. It isn't like this train lost all of the oil in one big fire or catastrophic leak, where it would be highly visible but much more easily contained. The most effective cleanup might just be to crack a valve on a hopper of bentonite and follow the same path

I do think that there's a groundswell of community activism just waiting to be ignited by another oil train disaster, and if that happens, you'll see the Keystone XL shepherded through mighty quickly.