OMG That Oil Tanker Derailment at Lac-Megantic

[icyfroth]

Visiting the affected area on Sunday, Mr Harper said an "unbelievable disaster" had befallen Lac-Megantic, which is around 250km (155 miles) east of Montreal.

Saturday's pre-dawn explosion sent a fireball and black smoke into the air, forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people.

"This is an enormous area, 30 buildings just completely destroyed, for all intents and purposes incinerated," said Mr Harper. "There isn't a family that is not affected by this."

Sorry to hear about this devastation for our Canadian friends 😞

[art-in-the-making]

For the most part, the settlement along railways has occurred in a properly regulated transportation model that had the best interests of all spheres of society in mind.

While a certain amont of deregulation has been found to be desirable over the past 10-20 years, the problem is that now corporate profits and enrichment of Con Pals have become the government's main preoccupation (with the possible exception of Glorification of the Inaction Plan and a few other crackpot projects)

So Stephen Harper's brilliant government made it legal to leave a 70-car trainload of oil sitting unattended, unlocked, and with an engine running. And furthermore legal for the whole train to be run by one lone person, who could succumb to anything from multiple mechanical problems or accidents, to heart attack to mental illness to human error - which ultimately and inevitably happened.

[gad_zukes_ca]

"While a certain amont of deregulation has been found to be desirable over the past 10-20 years, the problem is that now corporate profits and enrichment of Con Pals have become the government's main preoccupation (with the possible exception of Glorification of the Inaction Plan and a few other crackpot projects)" The only issue WRT deregulation has been in the field of track inspectors. This did not. This involved train safety regulations that have been in place for some time, spanning both Con and Liberal governments, allowing the minimum standard being one crew member on duty. Major railways like CN and CP employ at least two. Smaller railways like this one - ones which are just barely meeting the bottom line to being profitable, or are just falling short of profitability - go with the minimum standards. "So Stephen Harper's brilliant government made it legal to leave a 70-car trainload of oil sitting unattended, unlocked, and with an engine running. And furthermore legal for the whole train to be run by one lone person, who could succumb to anything from multiple mechanical problems or accidents, to heart attack to mental illness to human error - which ultimately and inevitably happened." Stevie's pals are culpable only insofar as they have not instituted new regulations that raise the minimum standards. If you look at CN in particular, it has been leading North America in instituting new equipment and technology to make rail transport safer. Derailments and accidents have been cut significantly over the last 15 to 20 years. Smaller rail companies are less able to keep up with improvements and less likely to be above minimum standards, which results in this type of accident every once in a while. Given that no one really foresaw this type of accident, you cannot fault the government for not paying more attention to rail transport. MMA though should be faulted heavily, IMO, for leaving this train on a downward siding, unlocked! The company chose this location because it allowed them to get the train engineer as far as possible on a shift, to maximize profits. That's which this siding and not an earlier, level siding wasn't chosen! That, to me, is the true criminal act here. BTW, had the driver fallen ill or collapsed at the wheel, this would not have happened. Trains still employ dead men switches (known as alerters) which allow computers to take over control and alerts to be sent to offices.

[art-in-the-making]

My understanding was that permission to operate a train with just one employee was specifically granted by the Harper government's deregulation.

I also heard reference to Harper deregulation being partly responsible for a railroad bridge failure during the Calgary flood.

Re the one employee - if he would have set the hand brakes on enough of the 70 cars, surely this accident would have never happened. But that is a physical job - how long would it take and how far would he have to walk? And, if a person was going to have a heart attack, this is one place it could happen.

One thing about parking on a hill - it would be a lot easier to build up speed in the morning...

This whole issue of corporate "self-regulation" is a joke IMO but one that becomes scarier when you think it over a little more. For instance, when it comes to the Cons slacking off of food inspection, to the extent that there is almost zero chance that anyone ever checks to see if what is printed on the label is really what's in a can of food.

A runaway train is a very good metaphor for the Conservative government though.

[pierrelebel]

"permission to operate a train with just one employee was specifically granted by the Harper government's deregulation."

That is correct.