The article that I chose is titled “Special Investigation: Trains Transporting Hazardous
Chemicals Across Region” by Wendy Saltzman. The article was published on Wednesday,
February 4th, 2015. The article describes the derailment of 11 cars of a CSX train in South
Philadelphia. The cars were caring Bakken oil (crude oil) which is a more flammable, volatile,
and unstable form of petroleum. Luckily in this incident, none of the oil was spilled on the
tracks; a crisis was avoided. However, past derailments of crude oil cars have resulted in
explosions, the burning down of towns, and countless deaths. In 2013, 47 people perished
when a crude oil train derailed and exploded in Quebec, causing a half a town to burn to ashes.
Philadelphia town officials are wary because of the fatal bullet they had dodged since the trains
did not leak any oil. If oil had been spilt, countless lives could have been lost. The scientific
issue at hand is the volatile nature of crude oil. Its unstable chemical tendencies can pose great
harm to citizens. Though train derailments are very rare and unlikely to happen, one
derailment of a crude oil train can leave a grave impact on a town or area. The oil could also
have adverse effects on the surrounding environment. Since oil is hydrophobic, it would float
on the surface of a body of water thus preventing the water from receiving valuable sunlight
needed to produce oxygen within the water for the living organisms that inhabit the water.
Since crude oil is very dangerous, the spilling of such could have effects on numerous
areas of society. When it comes to science, when the oil comes into contact with any ignition
point, it will instantly catch fire and is very difficult to extinguish. Because of the mass amounts
of crude oil being transported at one time, (100 or so cars at one time) the threat of the fire
escalating to an explosion rise tremendously. A crude oil explosion would be detrimental to the
affected area causing the loss of countless lives and the destruction of wildlife and towns. Even
if the train derails and doesn’t catch fire, the spillage of crude oil can still have negative effects.
Since oil is hydrophobic, spilled oil near waterways will float on the water’s surface. The
floating oil will thus prevent the water from obtaining the needed sunlight used to produce
oxygen. As well as this, crude oil’s rapid bio-degradation consumes large amounts of oxygen.
Each effect will continue to cascade down, effecting areas underneath the first. For example,
the lack of oxygen in the water would affect the aquatic animals that inhabit the infected water.
This would cause the killing off of these organisms. Along with this, the oil can also have an
effect on land organisms. The oil forms a layer around plants and animals that prevent gas
exchange. The oil is very difficult to get off so smaller size animals would be trapped in the oil
for long periods of time. Even fish would be affected because the oil would clog the fish’s gills,
preventing the respiration process. Socially, the explosion of a crude oil train could cause
immense grief and fear within communities. The townspeople would live in fear if they knew
that this chemical bomb was being transported through their towns. This could result in
immense amount of people moving away from these areas in fear of being the next victims of
an explosion. Peoples’ drinking water would also be contaminated by the oil thus causing them
to look for alternatives to obtain precious water. The effect of the oil on fish would also have
an effect on humans because the fish that we eat would ingest the oil thus leaving an
unpalatable taste when eaten. In response to these issues, I think that CSX should look into
changing the routes that the trains carrying crude oil takes to ensure that they do not travel
through densely populated areas and to ensure that railways are clear of debris and anything
that could play a part in derailing a train. Also, if possible, it would calm many minds if scientist
could determine a way to dilute the oil to lessen its flammable and volatile characteristics. If
you take that out of the equation, then the only issue associated with a possible derailment is
the threat to the environment. To solve these issues, emergency officials should be prepared
for immediate cleanup if oil is leaked into the environment. The transportation of crude oil
cannot be stopped but the affects can be lessened if officials and scientists are prepared for the
unfortunate possibility.