Union Pacific blamed for fiery oil train derailment, says it will replace bolts

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Union Pacific Railroad said it will replace a type of bolt on its track that led to a fiery oil train derailment on the Oregon-Washington border, but the pledge failed to ease concerns in the town where the derailment sparked a massive fire that burned for 14 hours.

Federal investigators in a preliminary report released Thursday blamed the derailment on Union Pacific for failing to properly maintain its track.

The report flagged broken “lag bolts” as the immediate cause and said better inspections would have caught the problem. The lag bolt is part of a fastening system that attaches the rail to ties. It prevents the rails from moving too far apart, which can lead to derailments.

Union Pacific faces potential penalties for safety violations, according to the Federal Railroad Administration report.

FULL story and more photos at link.


KGW-TV VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this June 3, 2016, frame from video provided by KGW-TV, smoke billows from a Union Pacific train that derailed near Mosier, Oregon.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/money/railroads/union-pacific-blamed-for-fiery-oil-train-derailment-in-oregon/article_8cd5cc24-c58d-555f-ba2c-bea5351b9074.html

[DemMomma4Sanders]

1. Jeesh, whoever thought this was a viable idea is the missing link......

[bulloney]

2. So, they knew the bolts were defective, but neglected them until something like this happened?

[chapdrum]

5. Yes, that's how they roll.

Example: It's well known to the respective industries that "DOT-111" railcars weren't built to contain high sulfur tar sands crude, yet Union Pacific and BNSF (avuncular Warren Buffett's company) allow them on their lines.

Cue Les Moonves (CEO of CBS): "I know that Trump is hurting America, but he's great for business."

Charming similarity.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Do you have a source for that? Thanks. NT

[chapdrum]

8. Sorry, do not.

Have friends who work in the movement. Industry says that railcars have been upgraded, but won't be used immediately.
My guess: Too costly to roll-out, and want to get every iota of use from the DOT-111 cars.

[elleng]

9. Here's some info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOT-111_tank_car

[ManiacJoe]

10. Defective would seem to be the wrong word.

More along the lines of worn and/or loosened.

[snooper2]

3. And people bitch about pipelines when we have huge oil bombs everywhere

I posted this two years ago and nobody cares or pays attention, because pipelines are EVIL


The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail: Bomb Trains

Published on Jul 28, 2014
Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News

It’s estimated that 9 million barrels of crude oil are moving over the rail lines of North America at any given moment. Oil trains charging through Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, and Canada’s Quebec, New Brunswick, and Alberta provinces have derailed and exploded, resulting in severe environmental damage and, in the case of Quebec, considerable human casualties.

A continental oil boom and lack of pipeline infrastructure have forced unprecedented amounts of oil onto US and Canadian railroads. With 43 times more oil being hauled along US rail lines in 2013 than in 2005, communities across North America are bracing for another catastrophe.

VICE News traveled to the Pacific Northwest to investigate the rapid expansion of oil-by-rail transport and speak with residents on the frontline of the battle over bomb trains.

[chapdrum]

6. Be they pipelines or bomb trains,

we have got to stop taking oil out of the ground and burning it, much sooner than later (if ever).

"We would rather be ruined than changed."
-W.H. Auden

[ancianita]

4. Yeah, it usually comes down to how prioritizing profits fucks up maintenance.

Planes, trains, oil rigs, pipelines, bridges, highways, you name it.