New analysis from the State Department found that hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries could result from failure to build the Keystone XL pipeline and consequent reliance on rail transport. With no pipeline, companies will be forced to transfer the oil by rail. The new study, which follows an earlier analysis that was deemed inaccurate, estimates the deaths and injuries likely to occur by rail within a ten-year span.
The New York Times reports:
The initial study noted that without the pipeline, companies would simply move the oil by rail, and an addendum concluded that the alternative could contribute to 700 injuries and 92 deaths over 10 years. Friday’s updated report raised those numbers more than fourfold, concluding that rail transport could lead to 2,947 injuries and 434 deaths over a decade.
The State Department said the initial report was based on an erroneous database search.
A recent string of catastrophic train accidents, including a train that derailed in Lynchburg, VA, and dumped 30,000 gallons of oil into the James River, add to the report’s concerns.
As the Times notes, however, the environmentalists fighting Keystone interpret all of this as merely another argument against using oil for energy.