Friday, July 19, 2013

A thought experiment for readers. After the train derailment in Quebec, with around fifty deaths, what if one of those NoDak mega-oil trains derailed in our Town Center, after/if Flaherty's thing rents out to full occupancy?

See, Strib, this link. I know I have been stopped at the Ramsey BNSF tracks more than once seeing eastbound tank car, after tank car, after tank car, as if watching a three-mile-long train passing before me. No derailments at any Ramsey crossings. YET. No Osama bin-Pitchfork monkeying around the rails in our town. YET. And we expect Chief Jim Way and his blue minions will prove as effective as feasible in ferreting out any such threats. However ...

_____________UPDATE___________
Close your eyes and think about it. Then reread Crabgrass, here and here, and close your eyes and rethink over the likelihoods and possibilities. It happens.

Alternatively, Don't Worry, Be Happy. Somebody might even have a rapid response plan in place already.

Should your town council be discussing Quebec? Any thoughts?

__________FURTHER UPDATE___________
It appears Ramsey officials were and hence are aware of a spill history in the Town Center area. That would be a sobering thought for anyone speaking of the Quebec disaster from a "cannot happen here" mentality. See, e.g., Ramsey Planning Commission full agenda for June 6, 2013, online here, at p.235-36. It discusses a situation of a clearly lesser scope than the Quebec disaster, but IT DID HAPPEN HERE.