Fires burning in West Virginia today were a reminder that trains carrying oil are a very real threat. The New York Times reported the water supply from West Virginia’s Kanawha River is jeopardized after a train carrying 107 tanker cars of crude oil exploded yesterday.
The Times reported that the U.S. Transportation Department is “weighing tougher safety regulations for rail shipments of crude, which can ignite and result in huge fireballs.”
Though this explosion wasn’t in a dense metropolitan area, trains of this kind regularly follow freight lines through cities. A 2013 derailment in Quebec resulted in 47 deaths. Last year Oakland became one of several West Coast cities opposing crude oil transport by train, opening discussion about alternative methods.
To get a vivid picture of impact zones and the dangers — and the related environmental justice issues — check out Next City columnist Rachel Dovey’s coverage of a mapping-crowdsourcing effort called “Oil Train Blast Zone” in “City Maps Show Who Lives Closest to Dangerous Blast Zones.”
Marielle Mondon is an editor and freelance journalist in Philadelphia. Her work has appeared in Philadelphia City Paper, Wild Magazine, and PolicyMic. She previously reported on communities in Northern Manhattan while earning an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.
Follow Marielle .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Never Miss A StoryDownload our app