The Observation Deck

ProPublica’s looks to be the most comprehensive map so far: It takes data on accidents compiled by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and plots out where the train that had the accident was going and where its journey began. While the routes criss-cross the country, there are only a few destinations — since, as ProPublica puts it, “only a handful of places around the country have the refinery capacity and infrastructure necessary to handle the massive amounts of oil being extracted from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale: Bakersfield, Carson, and Long Beach in California; St. James, Lake Charles, Lacassine in coastal Louisiana; Philadelphia, Paulsboro, New Jersey. Delaware City, Delaware in the Mid-Atlantic.”

After building the map, ProPublica called a few of the town along those routes and asked them what their emergency plans were for handling oil by rail accidents. This quickly got complicated, since many of the towns had no idea that trains carrying crude oil were passing through.

Craig Lovejoy wrote:Have you noticed that the train traffic has been very low lately?
I am told that demand is down even traffic through Berea has been reduced.
Cheers

The current contraction in rail freight is reminiscent of the drop that started at the end of 2008 and carried on into 2009 -- a period that coincided with the U.S. economy slumping into recession.