AMANDA DEDIE
Staff Writer
Last semester, while communication majors and more were celebrating over the absence of Dr. Tracy Marafiote’s hour-and-a-half-long 8 a.m. classes, she was utilizing that time on her sabbatical, researching a topic that affects us, without us even realizing it.
Most people in Chautauqua County are aware of the train that goes right through the middle of Dunkirk. What people don’t know is that, occasionally, that train is carrying hazardous oil which, if the train were to be derailed, would be catastrophic to the citizens of Dunkirk.
Hundreds of thousands of trains are carrying Bakken crude oil, which is oil that is drilled out of the Bakken region of North Dakota. Marafiote’s research investigates, as stated in her research proposal, “previously unaddressed intercultural and social/environmental justice questions and concerns about the consequences of these events.”
After a while, however, the focus ended up broadening to also cover oil that is transported by railroad and researches the environmental, social and economic impact of all oil disasters, not just Bakken crude.
“What are the environmental and health consequences of spills in these areas? In what ways do oil companies, politicians or regulators, towns, and citizens respond — differently or not — to toxic spills in such areas?” Marafiote asked in her research focus for sabbatical leave.
“Some of the consequences of a train derailment with a train carrying Bakken crude is that there’s a greater potential for it to cause more damage, or actually explode, in the first place. It might be that you have a larger explosion that would cause damage over a wider area,” said Marafiote. “If it’s in an urban area, it’d get more people hurt and damage more property. In a rural area, you’re damaging more wildlife, trees or sensitive areas.”
This problem doesn’t just occur in Dunkirk. This is a national problem that would potentially endanger any area where there is wildlife or human life. A wait at a railroad crossing is no longer just time-consuming and annoying; it gets increasingly scarier when there’s a potential of a derailment in the first place, and even more terrifying when it carries the ability to explode if the temperature and friction of the train is high enough.
Probably most terrifying, however, is the fact that the federal government doesn’t seem to think that this is a concern. More focus is put on things that occur without warning, such as terrorism and natural disasters. This is understandable, but the federal government is constantly coming up with crisis plans for these occurrences instead of working to avoid potential problems that could be avoided.
“There was an explosion in New York City about a year ago, and then another one in the past couple of months, where gas lines exploded and people died. It’s only when things like that happen that people go, ‘Oh s—, we better do something about it,’” Marafiote explained. “The majority of the time, the response is to fix the pipelines in the immediate areas.”
As it turns out, pipelines in many areas of the country are at risk for bursting. In her research proposal, Marafiote states, “The causes of these spills are varied. The predominant causes of failures for pipelines are malfunctions related to material and/or weld (36%), corrosion (24%), excavation damage (14%) and incorrect operation (10%). A primary contributing factor in the two largest categories of causes is the aging of the pipeline infrastructure,” she said, citing the Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration.
Additionally, 60 percent of our nation’s pipelines were built between 1940 and 1960. An extra 7 percent were constructed before 1940 and less than 20 percent have been put in within the past 20 years, and despite plans to increase pipeline infrastructure, there are “no major plans to retire existing infrastructure based on … age alone,” according to the PMHSA.
What does that mean?
Basically, the pipelines are old, making the risk of them exploding even higher. But the federal government doesn’t want to part with the money it would take to fix them. It would need a bigger reason to fix them other than the fact that they are old and outdated. Essentially, it would take someone dying from a pipe bursting or a train carrying Bakken derailing and exploding for the government to make any changes — and even then, as stated above, it would only be in the immediate areas where the accidents occur.
“It’s unfathomable to figure out the cost and the time to do something like that, and that’s why it’s not happening,” Marafiote said. “When it does happen it’s in a piecemeal fashion because a lot of the time, those costs come down to taxpayers, and no politician wants to say, ‘Yes, I’m going to be the one to pass legislation that’s going to require you to pay for this stuff, even though I know that if a catastrophe happens, you’re going to be pissed off that an infrastructure isn’t in place, because you don’t want to pay for infrastructure.’ And people don’t.”
On top of all of that, there are huge environmental concerns that add to the ever-increasing rate of Earth deterioration due to pollution, waste and more.
“In addition to soil pollution, land spills may cause more extensive contamination if they occur near surface water such as lakes, rivers or marshes, or if they seep into underground water flows,” said Marafiote.
According to the PMHSA, “One gallon of used motor oil can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water — a year’s supply of water for 50 people.”
How does this affect Dunkirk locally? There is a creek near the train tracks that goes through downtown Dunkirk. If there were to be an oil spill, the oil would leak into the creek and runoff into Lake Erie, causing the aforementioned soil pollution and water contamination. On top of that, the tracks are right near St. Vincent’s, a retirement home community, which houses hundreds of citizens in the senior demographic, many of whom cannot walk fast, and others who cannot walk at all. Their lives would be in danger if there were to be an explosion.
In the meantime, until there is an unfortunate accident that is the deciding factor in federal government change, Marafiote is continuing her research and broadening her knowledge on the topic. She is applying for a grant to fund future research and, according to her proposal, is going to “submit work for presentation at a national or regional conference, which will then serve as the foundation for a publication.”
The Bakken crude situation is one that Marafiote feels strongly about. That’s why she has dedicated, and will continue to dedicate, time and energy to her research.
“We’re talking about major disruptions to people’s lives. Even if no one dies, you’re disrupted the transportation in the town, the economy in town, the jobs and [people’s] ability to do their jobs,” said Marafiote. “Those are the types of things that are not typically quantified or considered important to the corporations, because their goal is profit.”