To: Darrell L. Clarke, Council President
Stop the Flaming Oil Trains From Bakken Shale to Philly
Dear Council President Darell L. Clarke
This past Martin Luther King Day, Philadelphia and its residents nearly missed having a state of emergency when Bakken Shale oil trains derailed on a bridge over the Schuylkill River and bustling Schuylkill Expressway. In the past 9 months there have been 7 derailments of trains carrying explosive Bakken Shale oil and gas. Philadelphia was the sixth incident and the only one not to result in disaster from a leak or explosion. These mile-long trains are currently coming through twice a day, seven days a week, an alarming risk in an extremely congested area. We ask that you quickly pass a resolution demanding an all-out moratorium on the transport of toxic and flammable Bakken Shale oil and gas by rail.
Bakken oil and natural gas has a track record of being volatile, and we can’t afford to leave residents of Philadelphia vulnerable to its risks. Had the cars ignited, we would have risked contamination of our water supply, carcinogenic toxins being released into the air near the UPenn and Children’s Hospital complex, and a fire that would likely have burned for days, with no known evacuation plan or alert system for the hundreds of thousands of people in the surrounding area.
Please use this near miss from disaster as a wake-up call for an immediate halt on the Bakken Shale oil trains now.
This past Martin Luther King Day, Philadelphia and its residents nearly missed having a state of emergency when Bakken Shale oil trains derailed on a bridge over the Schuylkill River and bustling Schuylkill Expressway. In the past 9 months there have been 7 derailments of trains carrying explosive Bakken Shale oil and gas. Philadelphia was the sixth incident and the only one not to result in disaster from a leak or explosion. These mile-long trains are currently coming through twice a day, seven days a week, an alarming risk in an extremely congested area. We ask that you quickly pass a resolution demanding an all-out moratorium on the transport of toxic and flammable Bakken Shale oil and gas by rail.
Bakken oil and natural gas has a track record of being volatile, and we can’t afford to leave residents of Philadelphia vulnerable to its risks. Had the cars ignited, we would have risked contamination of our water supply, carcinogenic toxins being released into the air near the UPenn and Children’s Hospital complex, and a fire that would likely have burned for days, with no known evacuation plan or alert system for the hundreds of thousands of people in the surrounding area.
Please use this near miss from disaster as a wake-up call for an immediate halt on the Bakken Shale oil trains now.
Why is this important?
Bakken shale oil has proven to be volatile, explosive, and toxic.
There have been 7 accidents in the past 9 months, with the Philadelphia derailment being the only one not to result in a fireball and released volatile compounds like the carcinogenic Benzene into the air. In Lac Mégantic, Canada 47 people died and 15 acres of downtown burned. In Casselton, ND on December 30, 2013 everyone in 5 mile radius had to be evacuated. The only difference between the other 6 accidents and the one in Philadelphia was the use of a DOT-101 train. Had the faulty and inadequate DOT-111 trains been used, we would likely still be dealing with the aftereffects. The Department of Transportation has agreed to slow down the trains by 10 mph and look into track safety; however, more investigation is needed into the root cause of the derailments. We need to be clear whether the fault is with infrastructure or cargo before putting forth solutions. What would an accident look like for Philadelphia, where the train line runs right through the heart of the city, passing schools, hospitals, homes, parks, on a path adjacent to our vital water supply? The lives of Philadelphia's residents need to be put first. We had a near miss disaster during the early morning hours on MLK Day that could have shaken the nation. This complete disregard for the lives of Philadelphians needs to end, and the Bakken Shale oil and gas
transport by rail needs to be stopped.
There have been 7 accidents in the past 9 months, with the Philadelphia derailment being the only one not to result in a fireball and released volatile compounds like the carcinogenic Benzene into the air. In Lac Mégantic, Canada 47 people died and 15 acres of downtown burned. In Casselton, ND on December 30, 2013 everyone in 5 mile radius had to be evacuated. The only difference between the other 6 accidents and the one in Philadelphia was the use of a DOT-101 train. Had the faulty and inadequate DOT-111 trains been used, we would likely still be dealing with the aftereffects. The Department of Transportation has agreed to slow down the trains by 10 mph and look into track safety; however, more investigation is needed into the root cause of the derailments. We need to be clear whether the fault is with infrastructure or cargo before putting forth solutions. What would an accident look like for Philadelphia, where the train line runs right through the heart of the city, passing schools, hospitals, homes, parks, on a path adjacent to our vital water supply? The lives of Philadelphia's residents need to be put first. We had a near miss disaster during the early morning hours on MLK Day that could have shaken the nation. This complete disregard for the lives of Philadelphians needs to end, and the Bakken Shale oil and gas
transport by rail needs to be stopped.