A train derailment yesterday in Lynchburg train destroyed three oil tanker cars and spilled an estimated 50,000 gallons of crude oil into the James River.
Thankfully no one was hurt in the upriver incident, but it has raised local concerns. The Times Dispatch reports:
The spill also prompted Richmond utility officials to prepare to possibly switch to an alternative source for the city’s drinking water supply, which depends primarily on the James. With the river at flood stage, that isn’t likely, said city officials, who plan to use booms to capture any oil nearing the treatment plant.
The incident also cast a bright light on the rapidly expanding rail transport of crude oil from the Upper Plains through Virginia — and downtown Richmond — to terminals and refineries in the Northeast, raising safety and environmental concerns all along the way.
“It’s difficult to get Virginia to pay attention to this because they don’t think of their being part of the oil patch, but now they are,” said Fred Millar, an Arlington County-based consultant on hazardous materials safety who has warned Virginia officials of potential dangers from the transport of crude oil across the state.
Personally, while I am not panicking, I do know of a few neighbors who have filled water containers despite safety assurances. This may cause more scrutiny of trains going by the neighborhood along the Kanawha Canal.
