From:
another-obama-fail@liberalism.com
XPost: can.politics, alt.fan.states.iowa, sac.politics
XPost: alt.global-warming
(Updates with confirmation from railway, adds background)
Feb 4 (Reuters) - Six railway cars carrying ethanol fuel
derailed on Wednesday in a remote location north of Dubuque,
Iowa, and at least one of them caught on fire, Canadian Pacific
railway said.
There were no injuries or fatalities in the 11:20 a.m. accident
involving an eastbound 81-car freight train, said Jeremy Berry,
spokesman for the railway.
Berry said information on the crash was still preliminary as
access to the location was difficult. He could not confirm
reports in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald that three cars had
caught on fire and three had fallen into the Mississippi River.
The incident is likely to add to the debate about transporting
flammable goods by train after a series of fiery accidents
involving crude oil cargoes in recent years.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed new safety
features for new tank cars transporting fuel and called for the
phasing out of older cars considered unsafe.
The U.S. ethanol industry has pushed back on the new rules,
saying regulators should distinguish between corn-based biofuel
and crude oil.
Ethanol is less volatile than crude oil, is biodegradable and
has a 99.997 percent rail safety record, according to the
national Renewable Fuels Association.
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw
was not immediately available to comment on Wednesday's accident.
Last summer, he told Reuters his group supports additional
regulations to strengthen railcar safety, especially measures
that would help prevent accidents, but that new rules should
take into account the differences between ethanol and crude oil.
Canadian Pacific's Berry said hazardous materials teams from the
railway were going to the scene and would coordinate with local
and state officials in investigating the incident.
The area around the accident was evacuated as a precaution, but
there were no homes close by, the Telegraph Herald said, citing
fire and emergency personnel.
Earlier reports had said the train was 11 cars long, but Berry
said it was a much longer freight train.
That section of the Mississippi is frozen or near-frozen and
there is no river traffic in the area. (Reporting by Fiona Ortiz
in Chicago and Josephine Mason in New York City; Editing by
Peter Cooney and Sandra Maler)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/05/usa-iowa-train-derail- idUSL1N0VE34U20150205
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