Why did a Train Carrying Biofuel Cross the Border 24 Times and Never Unload?

[PETRUS]

A cargo train filled with biofuels crossed the border between the US and Canada 24 times between the 15th of June and the 28th of June 2010; not once did it unload its cargo, yet it still earned millions of dollars. CBC News of Canada was the first to pick up on this story on the 3rd of December 2012, and began their own investigation into the possible explanations behind this odd behaviour.

<snip>

The cargo of the train was owned by Bioversal Trading Inc., or its US partner Verdero, depending on what stage of the trip it was at. The companies “made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program.” Each time the loaded train crossed the border the cargo earned its owner a certain amount of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which were awarded by the US EPA to “promote and track production and importation of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.” The RINs were supposed to be retired each time the shipment passed the border, but due to a glitch not all of them were. This enabled Bioversal to accumulate over 12 million RINs from the 24 trips, worth between 50 cents and $1 each, which they can then sell on to oil companies that haven’t met the EPA’s renewable fuel requirements.

Read more: http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Why-did-a-Train-Carrying-Biofuel-Cross-the-Border-24-Times-and-Never-Unload.html

[unblock]

1. i'm not a lawyer, but i'm pretty sure this is illegal tax evasion.

a sale is not a true sale if there's an implicit agreement to repurchase.
seems obvious that there was no intent to actually keep it, except perhaps the final trade, so they claimed tax credits for fictitious sales.

[PETRUS]

2. One would think. There's a fraud investigation in progress.

So far the companies involved are saying they've broken no law.

[awake]

3. And what do you expect companies involved in breaking the law to say?

[Robb]

11. "I'll be right back!" as they climb out the bathroom window.

[alp227]

20. Illegal immigration, too, I think.

If corporations are people, can a corporation be convicted of illegally crossing the US border?

[DonRedwood]

4. grrrrrrrrrrrr

crap like this makes me mad!!!

[jmowreader]

5. Right wingers blaming Obama for this in 3-2-1...

You know it's gonna happen. Look at Solyndra, which died because the Chinese dumped solar panels on the market.

Look at the bright side: just as Benghazi caused the RWNJs to shut up about Solyndra, this should cause them to shut up about Benghazi. Wingers seem to have the capacity to be pissed off about only one thing at a time.

[Plucketeer]

6. Of course!

MONEY begets MONEY. It's the good ol' American way.

[drynberg]

7. Do you hear that gavel, maybe faint, but it's a'commin', as we are

A Nation of Laws, no? Gotta love it.

[ReRe]

8. There are no depths they will not go...

... Take everything you know and turn it around backwards and there you are, one depraved individual or group of individuals. And these types have ganged up. They hold office now in high places in our government and in the corporations that own our government. What I want to know is where is the Dept of Justice? Is the Justice Dept in on the whole thing now? Cripes!

[nineteen50]

9. Don't regulate

corporations let them regulate themselves just like this.

[Brickbat]

10. Here's the CBC story.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/12/19/mystery-biodiesel-train-credits.html

[Celebration]

12. sure sounds like the EPA is compromised

Big time!

We need to keep all this in mind when discussing carbon credits!

[Robb]

13. I wonder if the guy who thought this up will get to keep his bonus now that they're caught.

[Angry Dragon]

14. Life in prison for them all

[Scuba]

15. Gaming the system like this ought to be worth some jail time.

[Wilms]

16. ^

[Autumn]

17. To get to the other side? Oops wrong joke

Fraud of course. But since an oil company is involved nothing will happen.

[arikara]

18. This whole thing about "offsets" trading

is fraudulent. It was set up to game the system and just one more way to rip people off, it has NOTHING to do with the environment. None of these companies, nor the governments they control give a shit about Mother Earth. All they love is profit.

Koyaanisqatsi. Life out of balance. The end of this way of being can't come too soon.

[Faryn Balyncd]

19. I don't think that's what Adam Smith hsad in mind.

[slackmaster]

21. Deregulation of the train’s side of the road was threatening its dominant market position.

The train was faced with significant challenges to create and develop the competencies required for the newly competitive market. Accenture, in a partnering relationship with the client, helped the train by rethinking its physical distribution strategy and implementation processes. Using the Locomotive Integration Model (LIM), Accenture helped the train use its skills, methodologies, knowledge, capital and experiences to align the train’s people, processes and technology in support of its overall strategy within a Program Management framework. Accenture convened a diverse cross-spectrum of road analysts and best trains along with Accenture consultants with deep skills in the transportation industry to engage in a two-day itinerary of meetings in order to leverage their personal knowledge capital, both tacit and explicit, and to enable them to synergize with an enterprise-wide value framework across the continuum of railroad cross-median processes. The meeting was held in a park-like setting, enabling and creating an impactful environment which was strategically based, industry-focused, and built upon a consistent, clear, and unified market message and aligned with the train’s mission, vision, and core values. This was conducive towards the creation of a total business integration solution. Accenture helped the train change to become more successful.

[wildbilln864]

22. k & R! nt