Two Stories That Probably Didn't Need To Be Printed -- April 7, 2015

I may have to dredge up the old "Geico Award" nominations -- it must have been a slow news day ....

First, Bakken.com is reporting that frack industry is slowing down:

U.S. sand mines, including 63 in Wisconsin and six in Minnesota, are projected to ship significantly less sand to oil drillers in 2015, compared with last year, when companies like Fairmount Santrol, U.S. Silica and Superior Silica Sands set production records.

This should please the environmentalists. 

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Second, Newsok is reporting: more trains crossing Nebraska, Iowa this spring.

The number of trains carrying at least a million gallons of volatile crude oil across Nebraska and Iowa surged this spring to as many as 30 a week.

BNSF railroad has told emergency management officials in both states that it is now hauling 20 to 30 trains per week, on average, loaded with oil from North Dakota's Bakken region through the area.

That's up significantly from last summer when federal regulators began requiring railroads to notify state officials about trains carrying at least 1 million gallons of oil.
Last summer, BNSF initially reported an average of three trains a week that crossed the northwest corner of Iowa before continuing south into Nebraska. In January, the railroad reported hauling about a dozen trains a week through eastern Nebraska.

Let's see ... Nebraska blocked the Keystone XL and Iowa is blocking a proposed regional pipeline -- what did they expect?