Concern has grown in many rural areas about the transportation of crude oil by railway. A year ago, 47 died from a derailment in Quebec of a train running from North Dakota to Maine. In the U.S. in 2013 more oil was spilled than in the previous 37 years combined. The surge in accidents has led to new safety rules in Canada and a demand for new rules and upgrades in the U.S. as well as more readily available information on what trains are hauling.
Shipping tar-sands oil by rail is twice as expensive as using a pipeline, and there is particular concern about the pipeline in Maine, David Abel reports for The Boston Globe. "The pipeline runs through the Sebago Lake watershed, which provides about a quarter of the state’s population with drinking water." Abel notes, "By itself, removing the Portland pipeline from the equation will not make that much of a difference, oil analysts said. Oil would only flow through Maine if it exceeded the capacity of refineries in Montreal and Quebec city, which use roughly about 400,000 barrels a day."
No comments:
Post a Comment