How safe is shipping oil by rail? That’s a question being asked in California. It’s because Canada is going to be stepping up its shipments of oil by rail. Some of those trains will be heading south of the border into North Dakota and on to California refineries.

One politician is calling for a study to be done, while an official with California’s emergency services claims first responders are not yet trained to deal with any potential mishaps with the product being transported.

The reason for the increase in shipping oil by rail is because a number of pipeline projects have stalled, including the Keystone XL.

The reason for concern has a lot to do with the preventable, Lac-Megantic tragedy. It happened in the summer of 2013. A runaway train loaded with crude oil tankers exploded in the tiny Quebec town, reports the courier service in Canada. 47 people were killed, when much of the downtown was levelled by a fireball.

(Source: Prairie Business Magazine – June 23, 2014)