Economy

Posted: Thursday, April 30, 2015 12:15 am
BY ALEX ROHR and ALICIA PETSKA The News & Advance
Contact Rohr at (434) 385-5537 or rohr@newsadvance.com
Contact Petska at (434) 385-5542 or apetska@newsadvance.com

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{A} 109-car train, hauling Bakken crude bound for Virginia derailed Feb. 16 near the small village of Mount Carbon, a community with history rooted in another fossil fuel: coal. ... The same train would have traveled through Lynchburg within a few hours, passing over the rebuilt downtown riverbank where a similar train derailed one year ago today.

These derailments and subsequent tanker explosions are part of a growing trend of oil-by-rail accidents raising alarms across North America. The debate — focused on improving rail cars, maintaining track and providing emergency personnel with more resources — is part of a vast discussion about what materials should fuel power grids throughout the world and how to transport them.

Crude oil derailments have been on the rise amid a Bakken oil boom that generates about 1.3 million barrels of oil per day, according to federal estimates. That’s a nearly 800 percent jump for the Bakken region since 2008. Most of that oil is transported by rail.

In 2006 and 2007, the U.S. had no train derailments involving crude oil, according to a database maintained by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. In 2013 and 2014, there were eight derailments, including Lynchburg’s, collectively releasing more than 930,000 gallons of oil.