It appears that the families of the 47 victims of the Bakken oil train accident in Lac-Megantic in 2013 are getting closer to receiving payments for their losses. A judge is set to ok at payment of $337 million to the families. However, there is one catch. Canadian Pacific, one of the largest railroads, is refusing to agree to the deal and most likely will delay any payments to the families.
This approach has been deemed "cynical" by the trustee in charge of the bankruptcy of the smaller railroad involved in the accident. Canadian Pacific had transported the oil for the first segment of the journey from North Dakota and then the smaller rail line had picked it up for the last leg of the trip, where the disaster occurred.
But Robert Keach, bankruptcy trustee in Maine, said the railroad is engaging in a "cynical" ploy to delay payments to victims to further its own negotiating position in settlement talks.
"Their howls of innocence ring a little hollow."
Indeed the howls of innocence do ring hollow. But they are more accurately described as howls of false ignorance. Canadian Pacific wants to pass the buck and say they had no idea that the oil they were hauling was so dangerous. And the oil companies who produce that oil have spent a lot of time and money claiming the oil is indeed not a concern and fine to transport as is. And the regulators and political operatives within the Obama administration have been happy to play along.
What all of this means is that the oil produced in the Bakken and being moved by trains still poses a huge risk to millions of people living along these train tracks. And the government has acknowledged as much, predicting that there will be much worse accidents in the future, as noted in this diary by Meteor Blades with the chilling but accurate title, "Get used to it..."
Yet there is a simple way to greatly reduce the risk via a process known as stabilization that reduces the oil's volatility. But that would require the oil industry investing in equipment in North Dakota to do this. And they have chosen not to because this is how they operate.
Unfortunately, the regulators who should require them to do so passed the buck on this issue when new regulations came out this year. And then, as I reported for DeSmogBlog, emails I got via a FOIA request revealed the White House was directly involvedin making sure that North Dakota didn't require stabilization in the state's regulations.
In this new video I explore just how this has played out and just how corrupt our congressional and regulatory system can be. It is a well orchestrated bit of political theater that has resulted in the Department of Energy saying they will need to study this issue for years before they can recommend any solutions.
The Sightline Institute, which has done excellent work on oil train risks, called it “must watch video.”
In April of this year I reported on how Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) stated that the regulatory system was "fundamentally broken." She was speaking specifically about the division that is responsible for regulating pipelines and railroads, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
Later in her testimony she stated, "PHMSA is not only a toothless tiger, but one that has overdosed on Quaaludes and is passed out on the job."
This new video helps shed light on the huge influence of the oil industry over the regulators who are supposed to be keeping us safe but who have allowed the bomb trains to continue to roll. Get used to it.