After four tank cars full of crude oil from a derailed train incinerated a small Quebec town, killing at least five, the debate over rail versus pipeline for oil transport intensifies.
"OTTAWA -- The police said on Sunday that at least five people had died and 40 were missing after runaway railroad tank cars filled with oil derailed and exploded in a small Quebec town."
"'We know there will be more deaths,' Lt. Michel Brunet of Quebec’s provincial police told reporters in Lac-Mégantic, where the fires continued to burn on Sunday.
The derailment and explosions, which took place around 1:15 a.m. on Saturday, underscored a debate in the effort to transport North America’s oil across long distances: is it safer and less environmentally destructive to move huge quantities of crude oil by train or by pipeline?
Visiting the town on Sunday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper compared it to a 'war zone.'"
Ian Austen reports for the New York Times July 7, 2013.
SEE ALSO:
"40 Missing in Deadly Canada Oil Train Crash" (AP)
"Pitting Rail Against Keystone XL Overlooks Messy Economic Reality" (EnergyWire)
"Driverless Crude Oil Train Explodes in Quebec Town" (ENS)
"Does Canada Train Blast Show Danger of Oil Transport in US?" (Christian Science Monitor)
"Train Derailment Spills Oil in Quebec. Will It Affect Maine?" (Christian Science Monitor)
"Crude Oil Transport Revitalized Rail Company at Centre of Disaster" (Toronto Globe and Mail)
"Black Box Recovered in Fatal Quebec Oil Train Explosion" (Bloomberg)
"At Least Five Dead In Lac-Mégantic Explosion" (Montreal Gazette)
"Crude by Rail" (Association of American Railroads)
"Quebec Disaster Spurs Rail-Versus-Pipelines Debate on Oil" (Bloomberg)
"Analysis: Oil-by-Train May Not Be Substitute for Keystone Pipeline" (Reuters: 4/18/13)
"Killing Keystone Seen as Risking More Oil Spills by Rail" (Reuters: 4/9/13)
"Deadly Train Derailment Fuels Crude-by-Rail Concerns" (Wall St. Journal)
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