Railroad stocks plunged Tuesday after a Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) train carrying oil derailed in Saskatchewan, and two cars carrying petroleum distillate caught on fire.

 

Oil shipments by rail are on the rise amid the shale oil boom and delays over the Keystone pipeline decision. Meantime, coal shipments are declining, and railroads are eager to take on the extra freight to offset the loss.

But increased crude-by-rail shipments have come with growing safety concerns after several high-profile crashes.

 

SEATTLE (AP) - Citing deadly risks associated with increasing volatile shipments of crude oil through Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday said the state and federal governments need to take swift action to prevent and respond to oil spills.

 

The governor likened an oil train explosion to "a bomb" going off, and said he's concerned that local emergency responders, particularly in smaller communities along rail lines, aren't adequately prepared to respond to accidents.

 

Derailments of oil trains have caused explosions in several states and Quebec, where 47 people were killed when a runaway train exploded in Lac-Megantic in July 2013.

 

"We don't want a chance for that to happen in our state," Inslee said at a news conference, where he released preliminary results of a state study on the safety and environmental risks of oil transport.

 

The study recommends more railroad inspectors, more money for the state's oil spill response and prevention program, boosting firefighting and oil-spill equipment and ensuring that those who transport oil can pay for cleanup.

 

This summer 500,000 people in Toledo had their drinking water cut off due to a toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie. That led 40 million people, who receive their drinking water from the Great Lakes, to question the quality of their drinking water and whether it was at risk. The Clean Water Act of 1972 had been remarkably successful at cleaning up the Great Lakes by imposing tough regulations to control pollution from industry and waste treatment plants. But one area of pollution was left unregulated, agricultural runoff. Elizabeth Brackett details the latest efforts to protect the Great Lakes drinking water.

 

To combat the growing pollution problem, nonprofit organization Everglades Foundation promises a lofty prize to scientists who can develop a technological solution. Last week, the organization joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to announce, "The Grand Challenge," a $10 million science prize to anyone who can successfully develop and execute a process to remove excess phosphorus from waterways. 

 

What is the Grand Prize Challenge?

 

The Everglades Foundation is looking to find technological solutions to removing excess phosphorous from lakes. We decided we would create a $10 million multi-year prize competition for this problem. We’re hoping this competition will bring technology innovation to the market. We’re excited for this and hope we can come to a breakthrough. The technology will be tested in warm and cold water. The winner has to prove that it works in cold climates. This is not a prize centered on a specific region, state, or water body. This is a global problem that needs a global solution. Government can’t do it alone.

 

While working on upgrades to a residence on Mingo Trail in Indian River, a third party contractor struck Line 5 of the Enbridge Energy Company's pipeline late Tuesday night, prompting the Enbridge Control Center to dispatch pipeline maintenance personnel to the scene to shut down the line Wednesday morning after detecting a loss of pressure. At the same time, a call to the Charlevoix-Cheboygan-Emmet County Central Dispatch Authority from a visiting tourist in Indian River about the smell of gasoline in the water at Indian River Marina, sent local law enforcement patrol officers to the scene, reporting oil in the water was moving downstream. Local fire departments were dispatched to investigate an odor in multiple locations.

The scenarios were part of a full-scale training exercise held by Enbridge and multiple local, state, and federal agencies on Wednesday in Indian River to assess the company's emergency plans in case of an actual oil leak in the Indian River. Agencies taking part along with Enbridge included the United States Coast Guard, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Charlevoix-Cheboygan-Emmet County Emergency Management Office, the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Pollution Control and The Response Group — all working together to prepare if the situation ever occurred.

An incident command center was established, facilitating communication between the agencies, while Enbridge equipment in the area was brought in to contain and clean up the simulated spill. Directional booms, large floating devices, were set up in strategic areas, directing and containing the spill to areas where a floating device called a skimmer could collect the oil and a truck with a large vacuum could remove it from the water.