Unheralded

RON SCHALOW: Are Casualties Acceptable In Your Town?

Posted on by Ron Schalow 1 Comment on RON SCHALOW: Are Casualties Acceptable In Your Town?

Last June (2014), North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple called disaster agencies and emergency personnel together for a “tabletop exercise” to practice a response to a possible Bakken oil train derailment, and the subsequent explosions. They estimated there would be more than 60 deaths if such an incident occurred in Bismarck, N.D. (65,000 pop.) or Fargo, N.D. (110,000 pop.). — Prairie …

Continue reading “RON SCHALOW: Are Casualties Acceptable In Your Town?”
Unheralded

RON SCHALOW: Exploding Trains Aren’t Funny

Posted on by Ron Schalow 4 Comments on RON SCHALOW: Exploding Trains Aren’t Funny

For some reason, many people, including North Dakota legislators, think that trying to get the Bakken oil producers to “stabilize” the crude and THEN put it in the railroad tanker car is a big joke. I didn’t coin the phrase “bomb trains.” That label came from the within the industry because they knew. It’s just good ribbing, though. I’ve been …

Continue reading “RON SCHALOW: Exploding Trains Aren’t Funny”