Update On Recent Oil Spill In Northeastern Montana; 5-Million-Fluid-Ounce Bakken Oil Spill -- July 18, 2015

Update

Later, 4:47 p.m.: the tracks are now re-open. Nothing to see here, folks. No fire, no explosion, no injuries. No runs, no hits, no errors. Just an ankle-biter.
 

Original Post

 

I can't remember if I posted the story when the derailment was first reported; the story didn't interest me all that much, but I thought I posted it, but can't find it, so maybe I didn't.

A BNSF train de-railed near Culbertson earlier this week: no fire, no explosion. I assume no injuries.

Today, a follow up from the Billings Gazette: 35,000 gallons of oil spills after derailment near Culbertson; cars hit power pole.

That was the headline.

Four cars off the track.

Then the second paragraph: The spill marked the latest in a series of wrecks across the U.S. and Canada that have highlighted the safety risks of moving crude by rail.

Quick: name the last crude oil spill in the US prior to this one. 

Talk about hyping an issue.

What caught my eye most was the headline. We've talked about it before. When crude oil is produced or shipped it is generally reported "in barrels." But when there's a spill, to increase the "headline number" 42x, the AP and others will report the spill in gallons. Sure, this was a derailment and a spill, and there will be some work involved to make things right, but 35,000 gallons is not much more than 800 bbls.

But "35,000 gallons" certainly catches an uninformed reader's attention.

But a 5 million fluid ounce spill is even more impressive.

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Drought Update

As everyone knows, the drought in Texas -- all of Texas -- is over. Yes, it's cyclic.

Now we get a report that the drought in Colorado is also over:

Rain has pulled Colorado out of its drought, for now.

Rains since last fall have brought Colorado out of a drought and returned the state to a condition that the National Weather Service says it hasn't seen since August 2009.

Colorado State Climatologist Nolan Doesken says even though the wet weather probably won't stick around, it's worth celebrating. He said El Nino could be a factor in helping end drought conditions.

Meanwhile, the Casper Tribune has a nice update on the Colorado River system and the California drought.

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Doing My Part To Promote Tolerance

I normally don't post this sort of stuff -- but at least two of my readers are getting just a bit upset with what's being asked of many Americans with regard to tolerance. This comes in the wake of the news that the five active duty male -- a US sailor -- has died following a mass execution of US military recruiters in Tennessee by Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez. The five victims were unarmed and in a gun-free zone established by the federal government.

McDonald, NHL Hall of Fame broadcaster speaking in Ontario, says: "I am truly perplexed that so many of my friends are against another mosque being built in Toronto. I think it should be the goal of every Canadian to be tolerant regardless of their religious beliefs. Thus the mosque should be allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance."

"That is why I also propose that two nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque; thereby promoting tolerance from within the mosque.

We could call one of the clubs, which would be gay, "The Turban Cowboy," and the other, a topless bar, would be called "You Mecca Me Hot."

"Next door should be a butcher shop that specializes in pork, and adjacent to that an open-pit barbecue pork restaurant, called " Iraq of Ribs."

"Across the street there could be a lingerie store called "Victoria Keeps Nothing Secret," with sexy mannequins in the window modeling the goods", and on the other side a liquor store called "Morehammered."

"All of this would encourage Muslims to demonstrate the tolerance they demand of us."

Yes we should promote tolerance, and you can do your part by passing this on. And if you are not laughing or smiling at this point... It is either past your bedtime, or its midnight at the oasis and time to put your camel to bed.

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Recycled

Something called Takepart.com is reporting:10 Images Show What Coastal Cities Will Look Like After Sea-Levels Rise.

This is the only image I need to make me a believer:

By they way, all those photos of "what the coasts will look like," are computer generated. GIGO.

Perhaps the most disturbing one is the computer-generated "photograph" of North Dakota's Devils Lake extending into eastern Montana and south to Rapid City, completely inundating the Bakken and turning the Black Hills into series of pseudo islands sticking above the inland "ocean."