XPost: can.politics, ont.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Reuters - Thu Aug 1, 2013   
      
      
   Oil explosion in Quebec train crash 'abnormal', investigator says   
      
      
      
   OTTAWA (Reuters) - As investigators seek reasons for the deadly train   
   crash in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last month and the huge "abnormal" fire   
   it caused, they are focusing on the nature of the fuel cargo as well as   
   the brakes, tanker cars, and locomotive, the Transportation Safety Board   
   of Canada (TSB) said on Thursday.   
      
   TSB officials told a news conference that its investigation into the   
   July 6 railway accident, North America's worst in two decades, would   
   last for months and that it was too early to draw conclusions.   
      
   They raised doubts about the nature of the petroleum cargo on the   
   runaway train, which was listed as hauling 50,000 barrels of crude oil   
   when it derailed and smashed into the center of the small lakeside town   
   near the Maine border, exploding in a blast that killed 47 people.   
      
   "We want to make sure that the dangerous goods that were involved here   
   were properly described, properly packaged in the right tankers, and   
   we're going to check into all those things," said lead TSB investigator   
   Donald Ross.   
      
   "It was shipped as a class 3, packing group 3, flammable liquid, and   
   some of the fire characteristics didn't appear to be similar to that,"   
   Ross said.   
      
   Class 3 hazardous materials include a wide range of petroleum products,   
   from thick, tarry crude oil to very thin and volatile jet fuel. There   
   are three packing groups within class 3, depending on the product being   
   shipped.   
      
   Ed Belkaloul, a TSB official in charge of rail operations in Quebec and   
   the Maritimes region, said: "It would seem that the crude oil reacted in   
   an abnormal way."   
      
   The TSB said a lab analysis of samples from tanker cars will help answer   
   questions about the ferocity of the explosions and the fire. But   
   officials stressed that the fuel analysis is only one of numerous tests   
   they are conducting.   
      
   The train was operated by Maine-based Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway   
   (MMA), which has already laid off staff and reduced its operations.   
      
   MMA says it is waiting for insurance money to help fund clean-up   
   operations. But with costs and lawsuits piling up, Chairman Ed Burkhardt   
   suggested to CBC Radio that the railway might not survive.   
      
   "This may cost us our company. This may cost us our investment, cost the   
   employees their jobs, the customers in Quebec, in Maine, their rail   
   service," he said on Wednesday.   
      
   Another big question facing the TSB is whether the hand brakes were   
   properly applied on the train by the lone engineer who parked it   
   overnight before heading to a hotel.   
      
   Investigators will also look at the crash-worthiness of the tanker cars,   
   test brakes and wheels recovered from the wreckage, analyze the braking   
   force required to prevent a train of that weight and size from rolling   
   downhill, and do simulations to learn about the accident sequence.   
      
   The TSB said it will review data from the locomotive event recorder, the   
   equivalent of a plane's "black box", and test the locomotive's speed and   
   the reaction of the air brakes.   
      
   "We need to be thorough and it will take months," said Donald Ross, the   
   investigator in charge at TSB. "We will find out how and why this   
   happened so that it will hopefully never happen again."   
      
   FINAL DEATH TOLL   
      
   Quebec police said on Thursday they have given up the search for more   
   bodies, after finding the remains of 42 people. Five people are still   
   missing and presumed dead.   
      
   Some 38 of the bodies have been identified so far.   
      
   As the town holds funerals and begins its recovery process, questions   
   have arisen over who will pay for the costly cleanup.   
      
   The Quebec government has ordered privately owned MMA and the fuel   
   transport provider, World Fuel Services Corp, to finance the cleanup.   
      
   World Fuel Services, which handled the logistics of transporting the oil   
   from North Dakota to the intended destination in New Brunswick, has   
   questioned the legality of the Quebec government's order.   
      
   It highlighted on Wednesday that it had no contract with MMA but dealt   
   only with Canadian Pacific Railway, which subcontracted a portion of the   
   route to MMA.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)