PBS高端访谈:原油给北达科他州既带来了繁荣也带来了安全问题

 　　STEPHEN FEE: It was just after 2pm on December 30, 2013 when the calls began streaming in.

　　Two trains had collided just half a mile outside Casselton, North Dakota, one loaded with grain, the other with crude oil.

　　Volunteer fire chief Tim McLean headed straight to the scene.

　　TIM MCLEAN, CASSELTON FIRE CHIEF: Then I kind of knew, this was going to be a big one, the way it was described on the pagers.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Community banker Bernie Sinner was meeting with a client in his office. His window is just 50 feet from the rail track.

　　BERNIE SINNER, FIRST STATE BANK OF NORTH DAKOTA: You could see plumes¹ of black smoke rising pretty high above the tree line, above the buildings that are across the street from us.

　　STEPHEN FEE: From the town's main intersection², witnesses could hear explosions as the railcars blew apart, sending fireballs into the sky. Ed McConnell has been mayor of Casselton for sixteen years.

　　MAYOR ED MCCONNELL, CASSELTON, ND: They evacuated³ the southwest corner of town, the part of the town that was most affected⁴ by it.

　　STEPHEN FEE: But once the wind turned, officials put the entire town of 2,500 under a voluntary evacuation order. Some 400 thousand gallons of crude leaked from 18 ruptured⁶ cars. The fire burned for a full day.

　　TIM MCLEAN, CASSELTON FIRE CHIEF: There'd be no battling this fire. Even if you had an endless supply of water.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Both trains were operated by BNSF Railway — and for the record, BNSF is a NewsHour funder.

　　No one was killed or injured. But the accident hit close to home for the state's governor, Jack⁷ Dalrymple — he grew up in Casselton.

　　GOV. JACK DALRYMPLE, NORTH DAKOTA: I couldn't believe it. I was having dinner. And all of a sudden somebody sent me a video on my phone. And I said, ‘Casselton?' I said, ‘I can't believe that.'

　　STEPHEN FEE: What did it tell you about what's going on on the rails here in North Dakota?

　　GOV. JACK DALRYMPLE, NORTH DAKOTA: Well, it tells me and I think everybody the same thing. You know, what if that happened you know in — in a city or even in the middle of a town? You know, it could be really catastrophic.

　　STEPHEN FEE: As Mayor McConnell says, his town dodged⁸ a bullet. But months earlier, a community in Canada wasn't nearly so lucky. On July 6, 2013, a similar train, also loaded with crude from the Bakken shale⁹ formation, derailed and exploded in the center of Lac Megantic, Quebec, killing¹⁰ 47 people and destroying much of the town center.

　　Six years ago, US railways carried just 9,500 carloads of crude each year. But today, as huge amounts of oil are produced in states like North Dakota far from traditional pipeline¹¹ infrastructure¹², that figure has jumped to more than 400 thousand. And with oil train derailments in Alabama, Pennsylvania, and most recently downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, regulators and policymakers are growing concerned about the safety of moving oil by rail.

　　DON MORRISON, DAKOTA RESOURCE COUNCIL: It's just not safe.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Don Morrison runs the Dakota Resource Council, a consortium of 700 landowners, ranchers, and business people in the state.

　　DON MORRISON, DAKOTA RESOURCE COUNCIL: They didn't look down the road to figure out how are we going to get this to market in a safe way.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Most of the seven and a half million barrels of oil produced each day in the US travels by pipeline– but 70 percent of the million barrels coming out of North Dakota each day goes by rail.

　　That's because most of the country's refining capacity is far from North Dakota. That means North Dakota crude has to travel hundreds of miles to be processed into gasoline for cars or fuel for jet engines.

　　And while pipelines¹³ require new construction and regulatory approval — the long-stalled Keystone XL a case in point — freight rail already crisscrosses North Dakota and the country.

　　RON NESS, NORTH DAKOTA PETROLEUM¹⁴ COUNCIL: Historically, you would have never thought oil would travel by rail in this day and age.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Ron Ness heads the North Dakota Petroleum Council. It's a group that represents the state's oil industry and supports hauling oil by rail.

　　How safe is it?

　　RON NESS, NORTH DAKOTA PETROLEUM COUNCIL: Well safety is certainly the number one aspect that I think all aspects of the transportation industry are focused on. And at 99.7 percent of the time, you know, rail movements get to their destinations safely.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Actually, the rail industry says its safety record is even better — but just the tiny chance of a catastrophe¹⁵ makes policymakers like the governor uneasy, especially with North Dakota's major cities and towns situated¹⁶ directly on the rails.

　　GOV. JACK DALRYMPLE, NORTH DAKOTA: Where we you know never remembered any kind of an accident like this before, now if we're sending ten or 20 or 30 times as much oil down the track, that obviously increases the chances of an accident occurring. And that becomes sort of a new reality that everybody has to get used to.

　　STEPHEN FEE: And now, there are mounting concerns about the railcars predominantly used to haul oil across the nation.

　　Since 1991 the National Transportation Safety Board has warned that railcars like these, DOT 111s, are more prone¹⁷ to rupture⁵ in the case of an accident. But it wasn't until a 2009 derailment in Illinois that the railway industry began instituting its own, more robust¹⁸ safety standards to strengthen cars like these.

　　But more than 80 percent of those types of railcars in North America are older models that don't meet those standards. And so far, there's no mandated¹⁹ timeline for getting rid of the older ones, like those involved in the Casselton and Quebec derailments.

　　The Association of American Railroads — an industry group– told NewsHour older cars should be phased out "as swiftly as possible" but that a timeline "has to be worked out by the government." In the meantime, BNSF Railways is seeking to acquire five thousand new, safer tankers²⁰.

　　Just this week, the Department of Transportation advised all carriers of oil from North Dakota and the Bakken shale ‘to avoid the use of older, legacy…tank cars.' but only ‘to the extent reasonably practicable.'

　　And it's not just the cars that have critics concerned — the DOT has also warned North Dakota crude itself may be more flammable than other types of oil, potentially leading to more dangerous accidents.

　　Again, Dakota Resource Council's Don Morrison.

　　DON MORRISON, DAKOTA RESOURCE COUNCIL: Going through people, right next to people's houses and businesses. It's, it's dangerous. And they've got to be careful.

　　STEPHEN FEE: With just 55 inspectors²¹ nationwide, the DOT's hazardous²² materials regulator has launched routine and surprise inspections²³ to ensure oil is being properly tested for flammability.

　　As a result, this February the agency announced fines against three oil companies — Marathon, Hess, and Whiting — for allegedly assigning their oil to the wrong safety category. The DOT later dropped fines against Whiting, but is still pursuing enforcement actions against Hess and Marathon.

　　What is it that — that is distinct about this kind of oil that's coming out of the ground?

　　RON NESS: Well, we don't think the Bakken crude oil is that distinct from any other high-quality, light sweet crude oil across America like WTI or Louisiana Sweet.

　　STEPHEN FEE: To prove that point, his organization will announce the findings of its own flammability tests later this month. And by this summer, the rail industry will have enacted²⁴ a series of steps to make crude transit²⁵ safer, like slower train speeds and enhanced braking systems.

　　This January, North Dakota's Republican Party chairman suggested oil development may be moving too quickly. Even with the fastest growing economy in the country, critics say it's time for a slowdown in the state's energy development. But the governor thinks that's unwise.

　　GOV. JACK DALRYMPLE, NORTH DAKOTA: Ultimately we do have to look at the statistics of everything. You know, we would not– shut down the airline industry because there was one airplane crash. And we don't close our interstate highways because there's a car accident.

　　STEPHEN FEE: After years of discussion, this April the DOT submitted new rules for safer cars to the White House — but those rules likely won't come into effect before 2015.

　　Meanwhile mile-long oil trains rumble²⁶ through towns like Casselton. And despite reassurances²⁷, Mayor Ed McConnell is worried.

　　MAYOR ED MCCONNELL, CASSELTON, ND: It's a mechanical system, and any time it's used more, there's going to be more failures. It's just inevitable²⁸.

　　STEPHEN FEE: Oil production in North Dakota is expected to climb 70 percent by 2020, and most of that oil will travel by rail.

1 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

2 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

3 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

6 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

14 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

15 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

16 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

17 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

18 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

19 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

20 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

21 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

23 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

25 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

26 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

27 reassurances   

n.消除恐惧或疑虑( reassurance的名词复数 )；恢复信心；使人消除恐惧或疑虑的事物；使人恢复信心的事物

参考例句：

• We have had some reassurances from the council that the building will be saved. 理事会保证会保留那座建筑，这使我们得到了些许安慰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Everybody's reassurances have encouraged me. 大家的勉励鼓舞了我。 来自辞典例句

28 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。