From: New York Times
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and JAD MOUAWAD
Slide Show | In North Dakota Town, Virtual Pipelines Prompt Concern What was first seen as a stopgap measure in the absence of pipelines has become a fixture in the nation’s energy landscape.
CASSELTON, N.D. — Kerry’s Kitchen is where Casselton residents gather
for gossip and comfort food, especially the caramel rolls baked fresh
every morning. But a fiery rail accident last month only a half mile
down the tracks, which prompted residents to evacuate the town, has
shattered this calm, along with people’s confidence in the crude-oil
convoys that rumble past Kerry’s seven times a day.
What was first
seen as a stopgap measure in the absence of pipelines has become a
fixture in the nation’s energy landscape — about 200 “virtual pipelines”
that snake in endless processions across the horizon daily. It can take
more than five minutes for a single oil train, made up of about 100
tank cars, to pass by Kerry’s, giving this bedroom community 20 miles
west of Fargo a front-row seat to the growing practice of using trains
to carry oil.
“I feel a little on edge — actually very edgy —
every time one of those trains passes,” said Kerry Radermacher, who owns
the coffee shop. “Most people think we should slow the production, and
the trains, down.” MORE
What was first seen as a stopgap measure in the absence of pipelines has become a fixture in the nation’s energy landscape — about 200 “virtual pipelines” that snake in endless processions across the horizon daily. It can take more than five minutes for a single oil train, made up of about 100 tank cars, to pass by Kerry’s, giving this bedroom community 20 miles west of Fargo a front-row seat to the growing practice of using trains to carry oil.
“I feel a little on edge — actually very edgy — every time one of those trains passes,” said Kerry Radermacher, who owns the coffee shop. “Most people think we should slow the production, and the trains, down.” MORE
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