Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

U.S. Oil Worries Predated Lac-Mégantic Disaster

New information from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows authorities were worried prior the Lac-Mégantic disaster about the transport of oil from North Dakota on trains.

A spokesman for the U.S. transportation department said inspectors have found "inconsistencies with crude oil classification" in oil being shipped from North Dakota.

The train that derailed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic on July 6 is reported to have been carrying crude oil from that region.

Bakken oil more volatile

Scott Smith, who runs an oil spill clean-up company, travelled to North Dakota after testing water in the Chaudière River near the Lac-Mégantic spill.

He said some people may believe all crude oil is the same, but that’s simply not the case.

Smith said each type of oil has its own unique chemical composition, making some more volatile than others.

“Bakken oil has about 30 to 40 per cent of explosive, volatile chemicals referred to as PAHs… going into rail cars,” Smith said.

He said oil transported by pipeline contains a lower percentage of those chemicals.

Smith spoke of his experience in North Dakota, saying that drilling companies are going deeper and deeper into the ground to draw out oil.

“Being on the ground in North Dakota, there is just massive drilling. The objective is to pump it and load it. No one is stopping to transparently, scientifically fingerprint, like a human being’s fingerprint, to understand what is in that oil before they transport it,” Smith continued.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched a joint inspection operation to verify that crude oil, particularly Bakken oil, is properly classified.

“Operation Classification primarily involves shipments from the Bakken and activities include unannounced spot inspections, data collection and sampling, as well as verifying compliance with federal safety regulations,” said spokesman Damon Hill of the department.

He said the operation’s planning began in March 2013 after audits and observations in the field found inconsistencies with crude oil classification and other federal safety regulations.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca
Author: cbc

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