Survivors of Lac-Megantic explosion devastated, enraged
Last edited Mon Jul 8, 2013, 04:59 AM - Edit history (1)
LAC-MEGANTIC, QUE.—“It was my daughter’s birthday. They went to celebrate at Musi-Cafe. That’s where the death train came down. A train filled with oil painted in black. It’s the death train.”
The patriarch of the family is furious. Furious against Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and the government.
“In 2013, we business owners are obliged to insure our companies, we have to be 100 per cent responsible for what our people do. We have so much paperwork to fill out and ridiculous demands from the government. But they let the Americans who pass through our regions have the right to do whatever they want, like travelling along overcrowded tracks that should have been changed 100 years ago.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/07/07/survivors_of_lacmegantic_explosion_devastated_enraged.html
La Presse, Published on Sun Jul 07 2013
Heat, pressure, oxygen perfect ingredients for huge blast
The steel cylinders carrying highly flammable crude would have already been under pressure as they sat in a long, ghostly line on the tracks in Nantes.
That quaint village about 10 km from Lac-Megantic is a regular stopping point for the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway cars.
But something happened the night of July 5,to set a reported 73 cars loose, sending them hurtling at ever-faster speed toward the picturesque Quebec town about 250 km from Montreal.
The hot weather would have already raised pressure inside the steel containers, said Jean-Paul Lacoursiere, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Sherbrooke, when the train began its deathly trundle toward Lac-Megantic.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/07/07/heat_pressure_oxygen_perfect_ingredients_for_huge_blast.html
BLEVE? Rupture temperature? Liquid/Vapour PSV's?
Train company in Quebec derailment headed by Chicago rail veteran
The railroad whose train of tanker cars derailed and burst into an oil-fueled fire in the Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic on Saturday is headed by a Chicago-area railroad veteran whose career included work with railways in Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Estonia and Poland.
Edward A. Burkhardt’s Rail World Inc is a privately held rail management and investment firm based outside Chicago. The little-known Rosemont, Illinois, company also has current ties to freight railways in Poland.
It controls the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway whose train carrying crude oil fell off the rails in Lac-Megantic, a picturesque lakeside town in Quebec, killing at least one person and levelling dozens of buildings. The railroad said it had had reports of more deaths, and officials also said they feared the death toll would go higher.
Burkhardt is president of Rail World and chairman of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/train-in-quebec-derailment-headed-by-chicago-rail-veteran/article13052127/
Jul. 07 2013, 9:37 PM EDT
CP Rail bridge collapse raises questions over who should conduct inspections
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DAILY NEWS Jul 1, 2013 8:14 PM - 7 comments
CP Rail bridge collapse raises questions over who should conduct inspections
TEXT SIZE 2013-07-01
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CALGARY, Alta. – The Canadian Pacific train derailment near Calgary Thursday following the partial collapse of a bridge damaged by the flooding which plagued the area, is raising questions about the role of government in safety inspections.
Six railway cars were left teetering precariously over the Bow River Thursday when the CPR Bonnybrook rail bridge began to sag around 3:30 a.m. The railway cars were part of a 102-car mixed-cargo train heading from Edmonton east to St. Paul, Minn.. Five of the cars were carrying a petroleum distillate, a flammable product used for solvents, metal polishes, paint thinner and household paint. The sixth car was empty with some residue of a non-regulated product, the Calgary Herald reported.
The rescue operation required coupling a stabilization train loaded with rocks and grain cars — and resting on an opposite track —to the six damaged rail cars to prevent them from toppling, the Calgary Herald also reported.
CP officials said the bridge was inspected 18 times during flooding and, despite murky water that made it impossible to detect damage to the bridge footing, deemed it safe for crossing.
http://www.ctl.ca/news/cp-rail-bridge-collapse-raises-questions-over-who-should-conduct-inspections/1002444360/
Crude oil transport revitalized rail company at centre of disaster
The railway, headquartered in Hermon, Me., near the city of Bangor, is seen as a critical conduit for crude coming from the Bakken region in the west and the oil sands in the north to Irving Oil’s refinery in Saint John, N.B.
The company’s 73-car train, which derailed and exploded in the centre of Lac-Mégantic early Saturday, was destined for Brownville Junction in central Maine.
MMA’s vice-president, Joe McGonigle, citing security and business confidentiality reasons, wouldn’t specify Sunday which companies the crude was being shipped for.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/crude-oil-transport-revitalized-rail-company-at-centre-of-disaster/article13059261/
Derailed train that exploded in Quebec destined for Saint John
A derailed train carrying a shipment of crude oil that exploded in Lac-Mégantic, Que. killing at least five people was destined for a Saint John, N.B. refinery.
Irving Oil, the company that owns the Saint John refinery, issued a statement after confirming the shipment was bound for its facility.
“The owners of the crude oil have confirmed to us that it was being transported by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) to be delivered to our refinery in Saint John. We immediately offered emergency response assistance to the authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected by this tragedy.”
Since the company built a new rail terminal last year, the number of trains carrying oil into the city has more than doubled.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/07/07/nb-train-explosion-saint-john.html
Jul 7, 2013 7:57 PM AT
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