Oil production increases Railroad growth
“US President Barack Obama in his second inaugural speech called for a $50 billion upgrade of the US transportation infrastructure, including rail that political analysts say will be hard to finance.”
“The rapidly growing need for more rail transportation of crude has triggered sizeable investments in both loading and unloading facilities and soaring orders for tank cars “making movement of oil by rail a major growth market for North American railroads,”
The rapid increase of North American crude production has resulted in pipeline bottlenecks in some areas, forcing more reliance on rail transportation to access some of the highest-value markets
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2013/02/working-on-the-railroads.html
The XL Keystone Pipeline Project Continues
“A Canadian company said Monday it will build an oil pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas after President Barack Obama blocked the larger Keystone XL pipeline from Canada.”
“Calgary-based TransCanada says the new project does not require presidential approval, since it does not cross a U.S. border. The shorter pipeline is expected to cost about $2.3 billion and be completed next year, the company said.
The Obama administration had suggested development of an Oklahoma-to-Texas line to alleviate an oil glut at a Cushing, Okla., and storage hub.”
The Keystone XL project was delayed because of its route. There were environmental concerns in Nebraska, where it was originally planned to cross the Sandhills and parts of the Ogallala Aquifer. The company behind the Keystone XL; TransCanada, thus had to reroute the XL due to presidential issues on where the pipeline would cross. Some of the other issues that the Keystone XL had faced were the ongoing fights between Oklahoma and Texas landowners over eminent domain, and concern among the tribal leaders that construction, “could unearth unmarked graves or expose sacred archeological sites”.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/27/absent-obama-ok-on-keystone-transcanada-agrees-to-new-oil-pipeline-project/#ixzz28p4AQxSJ
A forest fire had started on June 23, in the Pike National Forest. The fire exploded eastward toward the city, destroying 346 homes and killing two people.
“According to fire officials, they expect to have the Waldo Canyon Fire fully contained on July 16. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The cost of the fire is estimated at $8.8 million.”
I believe the weather has a major impact on these fires in Colorado- lately we have seen the temperature rise up from 95 to 105! If the fires come across any pipelines this could be bad news. Thankfully- there are not any pipelines in the area where the fires are currently at in Colorado. If a pipeline is damaged, natural gas could escape causing fires, explosions, or asphyxiation.
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/275442/222/Residents-see-Waldo-Canyon-Fire-damage-firsthand
US President Barack Obama is thinking about the future but not about past mistakes. He has made plans of 'winning the future,' but the reality is that a certain part of the US has not been won yet. On Thursday, a huge explosion took place in Allentown due to the leaking of a pipeline. The pipeline was installed way back in 1928. The explosion took away the lives of five people, caused a mass of destruction and had left many people homeless.
This type of incident has happened before. In September of 2010, an explosion took place at San Bruno killing 8 people, and in January another explosion took place in Philadelphia killing one person. In rural Ohio, an explosion happened which luckily killed no one. The reason for this fortunate outcome was that the automatic shut off valves installed didnt get destroyed, saving lives.
All the above incidents were caused because of leakage in a pipeline which ignited and converted into a big explosion. Even after these incidents occur the same old story happens in which an inspection is done, reports are prepared, government officials express their grief - but the main story is ignored, which are the fundamental problems at the root of these incidents. These problems are ignored because the interest of the people turns away over time. These events are likely to happen again if certain precautions and measures are not taken now. New pipelines will be installed, better automatic shutoff valves will be put in place and frequent inspections will occur, but this will increase the expenditures of a government which is striving to cut down on costs. But this doesnt happen with other public projects.
The Presidents 'winning the future' plan includes launching high speed bullet trains which will travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles and from Washington DC to New York. The plan also includes launching a high speed internet connection throughout the country. The President seeks to give subsidies for green jobs, ethanol production and electric cars. Instead of all these plans for the future the need of the hour is to encourage the issued authorities in replacing old pipelines with new ones to reduce any further destruction and to preserve lives.
The principal idea behind the American economy is thinking of the future and a making a better one, but ignoring the mistakes done in the past is foolish. They are marching boldly into the future while it still has to replace old, antique, broken and rusted pipelines with new ones. As per the reports made from a gas company services company, it said that a pipeline in the area of Allentown where an explosion had taken place was inspected and no leaks were found. On this statement Rick Kessler, from the Pipeline Safety Trust, counterattacked that the gas companies are not inspecting pipelines properly and they are not willing to spend more money on the safety conditions at their sites.
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