“Bomb Trains: The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail”
VICE News always has the best online documentaries and their latest on crude oil trains is a must-see feature.
Titled Bomb Trains: The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail, this 23-minute-long documentary investigates the explosive oil trains that regularly run from the Bakken shale to the Pacific Northwest (and through Spokane.) Yes, it's long for a web video but worth it as I've never seen footage like this before, especially the scary explosions at the five-minute mark.
From VICE:
It’s estimated that 9 million barrels of crude oil are moving over the rail lines of North America at any given moment. Oil trains charging through Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, and Canada’s Quebec, New Brunswick, and Alberta provinces have derailed and exploded, resulting in severe environmental damage and, in the case of Quebec, considerable human casualties.
A continental oil boom and lack of pipeline infrastructure have forced unprecedented amounts of oil onto US and Canadian railroads. With 43 times more oil being hauled along US rail lines in 2013 than in 2005, communities across North America are bracing for another catastrophe.
