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法案改革受阻 美又傳油罐火車脫軌意外

2015年02月27日
摘譯自2015年2月16日ENS美國,維吉尼亞州,查爾斯頓報導;黃定奎編譯;周念學審校

16日下午,美國一輛CSX油罐火車駛過卡本峰鎮附近時脫軌,造成猛烈火勢竄升入西維吉尼亞洲的南方天空,至少有一節車廂落入當地的卡納瓦河中。

西維吉尼亞州的卡本峰鎮為CSX列車每天行經的路線。(來源:John Mueller)

油罐火車脫軌 引發大火

這輛雙車頭與109節車廂的油罐火車,是從北達科他州的巴肯油田,將原油載往維吉尼亞州儲油點約克鎮時脫離軌道。

費耶特郡災管署署長泰瑞莎·懷特(Theresa White)表示,脫軌後至少14節輸油罐車傳出起火燃燒,並有少數發生爆炸。火勢藉漂浮水面的原油燃燒,國道61號部分區域也燃起大火。

油罐車洩漏出的原油有可能已影響附近社區的民生用水,官方已將雪松木叢以及蒙哥馬利水廠以安全為由暫時關閉。

州長厄爾‧雷‧唐林(Earl Ray Tomblin)宣布,卡納瓦和費耶特郡進入緊急狀態。

脫軌意外多 改革法案受阻撓

不過,此次脫軌起火事件與前一起類似事件緊鄰發生,一列CN輸油列車於安大略的偏遠地區脫軌並起火,發生時間相距不超過48小時。

CSX輸油列車脫軌於西維吉尼亞後,火球不斷竄升天空,2015年2月16日。

此次發生脫軌的CSX貨運鐵路線於2014年4月30日也有過原油運輸列車脫軌事件,事發於維吉尼亞州的林奇堡,有13節罐車脫離軌道,其中更有3節沉入詹姆士河中。該列車同樣是從北達科他出發並前往維吉尼亞州的約克鎮。

美國交通部本月才將新的《油罐火車安全管理條例》呈交給白宮。不國鐵路局已開始說服國會暫時不要通過新條例。

美國鐵路協會主席兼CEO愛德華‧漢柏格,於2月3日的美國眾議院運輸和基礎設施小組委員會聽證會中表示,美國運作的運貨鐵路是全世界最好的運貨鐵路。

國會山莊以及地面運輸委員會前的拖運主所提出的提議,將阻礙鐵路營收以及未來的效能與安全投資能力,對此他表示,失去鐵路每年的私營投資將成為美國復甦中的經濟無法負荷的重擔。

漢柏格表示,運貨鐵路龐大的私營開支,據估計已達290億美元,將在2015年成為新紀錄,同時也是讓經濟復甦保持穩定以及提高國家全球競爭力的關鍵。

「自1980年來將鐵路產業部分的管制解除後,其在增強與更新國家鐵路網絡的部分已耗資達5750億美元,也就是大約每天用掉790萬美元。」漢柏格表示。

「目前美國以及納稅人民最不需要的,就是阻礙私人投資與開支的政策。在政府正尋找資金款項以支撐國家基礎建設的此刻,美國鐵路就是相當大的助力。」

他們的建設絕大多數都為自己擁有、建造與維護,並且為自己支付相當高額的薪資。相對之下,卡車及船運所使用的建設主要都由納稅人提供與支付,並且與鐵路運貨系統存在競爭關係。」漢柏格表示。

Fireballs Erupt as CSX Oil Train Derails in West Virginia
CHARLESTON, West Virginia, February 16, 2015 (ENS)

Balls of fire blasted into the sky and at least one railcar landed in the Kanawha River this afternoon as a CSX freight train carrying oil derailed near the town of Mount Carbon, in south-central West Virginia.

With two locomotives and 109 rail cars, the train was carrying crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken formation to a storage terminal in Yorktown, Virginia when it ran off the rails.

Twenty-five cars of the 109-car CSX train derailed in the community of Adena Village near Mount Carbon, said Theresa White, director of Fayette County Emergency Management.

At least 14 tank cars were reported to be burning following the derailment, and some cars exploded. There was burning oil on the water, and a section of State Route 61 was burning, Kanawha County Manager Jennifer Sayre told the “Charleston Gazette” newspaper from the Kanawha County emergency operations center.

CSX said one person was being treated for possible respiratory problems, but no other injuries were reported.

The derailment caused the precautionary evacuation of nearby communities. One house caught fire, but responders are having trouble reaching that home because of the derailment. No fatalities have been reported.

Oil from the railcars in the river may have contaminated the drinking water of surrounding communities, and operations at the Cedar Grove and Montgomery water treatment plants have been suspended as a precaution. People served by those systems are urged to conserve water.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for Kanawha and Fayette counties because of the incident.

“Declaring a State of Emergency ensures that residents of both Kanawha and Fayette counties have the access they need to resources necessary to handle all stages of the emergency,” Governor Tomblin said. “State officials are on site and will continue to work with local and federal officials, as well as CSX representatives, throughout the incident.”

CSX has established a community outreach center to address community needs as a result of the train derailment at the Glen Ferris Inn, US Route 60, Glen Ferris, West Virginia.

CSX is working with the Red Cross and other relief organizations to meet the needs of residents in the small town of Mount Carbon, population 428. These efforts include shelters for residents who have been evacuated.

The U.S. Department of Transportation late Monday night announced that  Federal Railroad Administration Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg and the agency’s chief safety officer, Robert Lauby, would travel to West Virginia to view the scene.

The area is under a winter storm warning as it is part of a corridor stretching from New England to the Deep South where problems from the weekend’s blizzard begin mixing with the latest winter storm moving east.

Crews are working as heavy snow descends upon the region.

The National Weather Service warns, “Snow… heavy at times… will continue across the area for much of the evening. The heaviest snowfall is expected across southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia. However, significant accumulations are expected everywhere.”

The snow will taper off late tonight, but the respite will be short-lived, according to the National Weather Service. Snow returns to the forecast Tuesday night and Wednesday as another Arctic front produces snow squalls and opens the doors for another surge of frigid air Wednesday night and Thursday.

This derailment and fire occurred less than 48 hours after a CN freight train carrying oil derailed and caught fire in a remote area of Ontario.

Today’s derailment occurred on the same CSX freight line as a April 30, 2014, crude oil train derailment in Lynchburg, Virginia where 13 cars ran off the rails. Three of those cars sank into the James River. That train was also traveling from North Dakota to Yorktown, Virginia.

The U.S. Department of Transportation last week sent new rules governing oil train safety to the White House for review, before they are released to the public.

The railroad industry is already lobbying Congress to approve no new rules at this time.

Edward Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, told a U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee hearing on February 3 that the freight railroads operating in the U.S. are the “best in the world.”

Reacting to proposals floated by some shippers both on Capitol Hill and before the Surface Transportation Board that would cap railroad earnings and hamper future ability to make service and safety investments, said the recovering U.S. economy cannot afford to lose rail’s annual private investments.

The freight railroads’ massive private spending, estimated to be a record-setting $29 billion in 2015, is key to keeping economic recovery on track and enhancing the country’s global competitiveness, Hamberger said.

Since the rail industry was partially deregulated in 1980, it has spent some $575 billion, or roughly $79 million a day, enhancing and upgrading the country’s rail network, he said.

“The last thing this country or taxpayers need right now are policies that discourage private investments and spending. At a time when government is looking for monies to shore up infrastructure across the land, America’s railroads are doing their part,” Hamberger said. “They operate almost exclusively on infrastructure they own, build, maintain and overwhelmingly pay for themselves. That’s in stark contrast to trucks and barges, which compete against railroads for freight traffic, but mainly use infrastructure supplied and paid for by taxpayers.”

※ 全文及圖片詳見:ENS

作者

周念學

親近大自然,精神上總是愉快的。