MEC&F Expert Engineers : 07/03/15

Friday, July 3, 2015

2 injured when Vivian, Louisiana shaken by two-train collision; the crash caused the derailment of 5 cars loaded with corn


North Caddo was shaken this morning when a train crashed into another non-moving train.

The train was travelling alongside Highway 1 near Mira Myrtis Street just north of Vivian when it struck the parked train around 8 a.m., according to Shreveport Fire Department. At least five cars loaded with corn and cardboard derailed.

Two people were taken to North Caddo Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Cleanup of the accident is expected to last through the weekend.

Pilot injured after another Cessna 172 small plane crash in Shenandoah, Texas area


JULY 3, 2015
 

Shenandoah plane crash on July 3, 2015 Shenandoah plane crash on July 3, 2015

SHENANDOAH, Texas (FOX 26) - 
 Engine failure causes a small plane to crash in Shenandoah, leaving the pilot injured.

The 1963 Cessna 172 plane made an emergency landing in the Woodforest Bank Stadium parking lot on David Memorial Drive, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Burse.

Houston resident Michael Wade Durr, the pilot, was treated by emergency medical services and released. No other passengers were in the plane.

Durr had flown the Cessna from Weiser Airpark in the Cypress area after 10 a.m. Friday to Cleveland before refueling the plane. As Durr flew the plane back to the airpark, the engine failed and he contacted Hooks Airport personnel.



---//////////////////---







SHENANDOAH, Texas – A small airplane crashed at a football stadium in Shenandoah early Friday afternoon.


The Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable's Office said the plane went down in the Woodforest Bank Stadium parking lot southeast of I-45 and Highway 242.
The 1963 Cessna 172 clipped a tree and flipped upside down.

The pilot was able to walk away from the plane but suffered minor injuries.
Pilot Michael Durr of Houston said he departed Cleveland, TX and was on his way back to Weiser Airport when his engine died.

Durr contacted Hooks Airport and informed them he was going down at the parking lot.

"He did a great job by circling around, coming back and putting the plane down here in the parking lot with minimal property damage and just a few injuries," said DPS Trooper Eric Burse.

Durr was treated at the scene and released.

There were no passengers on the plane.

The FAA will investigate the cause of the crash.
Source:http://www.khou.com

Cessna 172 small plane crashes in Bartlett, Illinois


A single-engine plane has crashed in the northwestern suburb of Bartlett, officials said.

The Cessna 172 crashed in a field near 1390 Newcastle Lane around 4 p.m. Friday, the officials said.

One person was on board the plane but there was no immediate word on injuries, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Aerial footage showed the plane broke into at least two major pieces on impact.
Kathleen Marmitt, who lives on Newcastle Lane near the site of the plane crash, said she didn’t hear anything. She knew something had happened when she saw people running near her house and heard helicopters overhead.

Marmitt said she could see no damage to any houses near hers.

1 dead, 1 deputy injured while trying to render aid after fiery crash in Oakland Park, Florida



 JULY 3, 2015

OAKLAND PARK, Fla.

One man has died, and a Broward deputy was been injured while trying to help the victims of a fiery crash in Oakland Park.
 
The accident happened along Northwest 21st Avenue and Oakland Park Boulevard, early Friday morning.    


According to a witness, 40-year-old Kenny Allen was behind the wheel of a 2004 two-door Honda Civic and traveling at a high rate of speed. For an unknown reason, he lost control and the vehicle came up on a median. It began to slide across the eastbound lanes until it struck an FPL utility pole. Due to the impact, the back of the car burst into flames. However, he would later succumb to his injuries at Broward Health Medical Center.
 
Deputy Dustin Sisson, a five-year veteran with the Broward Sheriff's Office, happened upon the crash after the incident and noticed Allen's passenger, 45-year-old Howard Randolph, walking outside of the vehicle.


As Sisson attempted to extinguish the flames, he noticed Allen was still strapped to the driver's seat. He quickly cut Allen's belt and pulled him out of the vehicle.

 "The car flipped and just slammed right into the pole," said Bernardo Smith, "and then I just saw sparks and flames. The officer that was with me, that came up on the scene at the same time, he cut the seat belt for him and then there was another one that pulled him out, that helped us and we just dragged him by the tree, and the other officer was doing CPR on him."

A second deputy, Jonathan Zinglo, arrived on the scene and accessed that Allen was unconscious and was without a pulse. He immediately performed CPR. "I just started praying to God and praying for everybody that was involved," said Smith.

Randolph was also transported to Broward Health Medical Center after sustaining critical injuries. Zinglo was transported to Holy Cross Hospital after showing symptoms of heat exhaustion but was discharged a short time later.

1 man killed in ATV accident in Edgefield Co., SC


JULY 3, 2015
 
 EDGEFIELD COUNTY, SC (WFXG) - 
 
An Aiken man died in an ATV crash early Friday morning, according to the Edgefield County Coroner. 

James Seigler, 48, was riding four-wheelers with friends on McCreight Road when he got separated from the group.

Seigler's friends found him around 12:15 a.m. They told investigators it looked like Seigler went down a hill on his four-wheeler, hit a tree and ended up in a creek. 

The coroner said there was blunt force trauma to Seigler's head, but that he died from drowning. His death was ruled an accident.

Overall number of people killed while at work in the UK has increased, while the number of construction fatalities has fallen.

UK construction fatalities drop 20%

July 1, 2015

The latest statistics show that the overall number of people killed while at work in the UK has increased, while the number of construction fatalities has fallen.
Provisional data released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveals that 142 workers were fatally injured between April 2014 and March 2015 – up 4.4 percent from last year. Overall there were 0.46 fatalities per 100,000 employees last year, compared to an all-time low of 0.45 the previous year.
The construction sector remains one of the worst offenders for workplace fatalities with 35, however this is down 20 percent from last year. In comparison the agricultural sector recorded 33 fatalities whilst the waste & recycling sector recorded just five.

HSE chairman Judith Hackitt, said: “It is disappointing last year’s performance on fatal injuries has not been matched, but the trend continues to be one of improvement. Our systems and our framework remain strong as demonstrated by our performance in comparison to other countries. Every fatality is a tragic event and our commitment to preventing loss of life in the workplace remains unaltered. All workplace fatalities drive HSE to develop even more effective interventions to reduce death, injury and ill health.”

Over the last 20 years, the number of recorded fatalities has fallen by more than 50 percent, and the stats indicate that the UK is one of the safest places to work in Europe.

Terrorists Will Exploit EU Migrant Crisis, ESC Warns


Posted by Eric Haun
Thursday, July 02, 2015
Photo: TORM A-S
ESC Global Security has called for the Mediterranean to be classed a maritime High Risk Area in the wake of the terrorist atrocities in Tunisia and Europe’s escalating migration crisis.
 
“There is a reasonable doubt that some refugees from these areas will be a threat to European security. Terrorists and fundamentalists will take advantage of the crisis if they haven’t already,” said Jaanus Rahumägi, president and CEO of ESC Global Security. “With thousands crossing the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East each month, the abolition of Europe’s internal frontiers will make it easier for terrorists to move across Europe undetected. But the identities of migrants can be verified before they reach land by security personnel.”
 
However, Rahumägi dismissed calls to shift EUNAVFOR Atlanta, the European naval patrol operating in the Red Sea, to the Mediterranean in order to capture or destroy migrant ships. 
 
“This is not the answer. Moving Atlanta simply because the risk of Somali piracy has been reduced does not mean it has been eradicated. A separate EUNAVFOR patrol is required and the Mediterranean should be given High Risk Area status until the migrant situation has been resolved,” he said.
 
“According to newspaper reports, there are thought to be about a million migrants looking to enter Europe across the Mediterranean from North Africa. But if merchant ships continue to go to their aide without adequate protection, then there is a significant risk to maritime security. Mediterranean shipping lanes must be protected in the same way that the merchant fleet is protected when it transits the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea,” Rahumägi said.
 
“If we are to mitigate the security risks associated with this humanitarian crisis, Brussels, the maritime administrations and the security services must work in concert.”
 
Rahumägi’s comments coincided with a joint statement issued last week by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu and IOM Director-General William L. Swing agreed to establish an inter-agency platform to disseminate information, highlight the dangers of and find a solution to the unsafe and irregular migration by sea. 
 
The IMO and IOM urged the international community to take robust measures against people smugglers “who operate without fear or remorse and who deliberately and knowingly endanger the lives of thousands of migrants at sea.”

The Black-Church Fires in Southern States Are Not Connected. Three fires have been officially declared arson and at least two were deemed to have been the result of natural causes.

 



 

The Black-Church Fires in Southern States Are Not Connected, Authorities Say


Fire crews try to control a blaze at the Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville, South Carolina in this handout photo

Clarendon County Fire Department/Reuters Fire crews try to control a blaze at the Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville, S.C., on the night of June 30, 2015

At least seven black churches have burned in the past two weeks


Federal law-enforcement agencies have concluded that recent fires in black churches in the southeastern U.S. are unrelated.

“To date the investigations have not revealed any potential links between the fires,” Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman told Reuters.

The wave of fires began on June 21 with a fire at College Hill Seventh Day Adventist in Knoxville, Tenn., and continued across at least four states in the southeastern and central U.S. Three fires have been officially declared arson and at least two were deemed to have been the result of natural causes.

The most recent fire, at Mount Zion AME church in Greeleyville, S.C., on June 30, is among the latter. Investigators said they found no accelerants, one of the most common signs of arson, at the scene. A lightning-strike forensics report by CNN meteorologists shows four strikes close to the church, around 7 p.m.

“Investigators found no indicator of criminal intent,” State Law Enforcement Department spokesperson Kathryn Richardson said in a statement. “The investigation is complete.”

Mount Zion has burned down before, set aflame by the KKK in 1995 as part of a string of 30 suspicious fires at black churches across the south. This kind of fraught history is the foundation of continuing suspicions regarding the church fires, activist-writer David Love told CNN.

“It may not be arson now,” he said, “but people look at the cases where it actually did happen and feel, ‘It could happen again.'”


///-------------////


Another Black Church Burns in the South, the 8th in 10 Days



#WhoIsBurningBlackChurches trended on Twitter throughout the week

Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, a prominent African-American church in Greeleyville, S.C., caught fire late Tuesday. It is the eighth black church in the Southern U.S. to burn in 10 days.

Greeleyville, about 60 miles northwest of Charleston, S.C., has seen similar fires before, the Charleston Post and Courier reports. Mount Zion was burned to the ground by the KKK in 1995, part of a string of 30 fires in black churches that spanned two years.

An investigation into the fire’s cause will begin after it is safely extinguished, chief of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division Mark Keel told the Post and Courier. He noted that the thunderstorm that pounded the town of 375 on Tuesday evening could have ignited the church. Meteorologist Pete Mohlin of the National Weather Service told the paper that there was a lot of lightning in the area around 7 p.m., but he could not say if it had caused the fire.

Parishioners across the South are surveying the damage that a string of similar fires has caused this week, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports, starting in Knoxville, Tenn., on June 21 and moving to Macon, Ga., and Gibson County, in Tennessee, on June 23; Charlotte, N.C., on June 24; Elyria, Ohio, on June 25; and Tallahassee, Fla., and Warrenville, S.C., on June 26.

Three of those fires have been ruled arson, one was determined to be caused by a falling branch and faulty wiring, and the others remain under investigation. Several have been blamed preliminarily on lightning; weather in the South this week has been turbulent.

State senator Cezar McKnight was on the scene as the fire continued to burn at 10 p.m. “South Carolina has been through a lot the last two weeks, and we’ve made the best of a terrible situation,” he said. “I would hate for this to be something somebody did on purpose to try to poison the love and fellowship.”
The Post and Courier recalled that then President Bill Clinton visited Mount Zion after it was rebuilt following the 1995 attack. His remarks at its dedication have resonance still:

“The men and women of Mount Zion have shown us the meaning of these words by refusing to be defeated and by building up this new church. Others have come together with you,” Clinton said on June 12, 1996. “The pastor told me he got contributions from all over the world to help to rebuild this church. In just a few days we’ll have a joyful noise coming out of this church … I want to ask every citizen, as we stand on this hallowed ground together, to help to rebuild our churches, to restore hope, to show the forces of hatred they cannot win.”

Source: Time.com

Incredible, yet true: 1 criticaly injured, 1 injured when car hit by train after head-on collision with pick-up truck in San Antonio, TX

 





 

Car hit by train after head-on collision with pick-up truck

Friday, July 03 2015, 01:32 PM EDT

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

When you hear the details, it’s hard to believe. A red Dodge pick-up truck collided head-on with a green SAAB on Basse Road at about 6:15 a.m. Friday morning. The impact threw the SAAB onto the train tracks and was then run over by a train.

It all happened at the railroad crossing on McCullough just south of Basse Road. Emergency crews managed to pry the 69-year-old driver from the car. That driver was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the pickup was also transported to the hospital. His passenger was fine.

The Highway 281 exit to Basse was closed for a short time as crews worked to clear the debris.

The train did not derail, and was able to move away from the scene.

Los Gatos teen killed in jet ski collision on Bass Lake with a moored pontoon boat. 2nd fatality this week in the lake




Los Gatos teen killed in jet ski collision on Bass Lake
The Madera County Sheriff's Office said they responded to the second fatal accident in involving a jet ski on Bass Lake this week.


The Sheriff's office said 14-year-old Kyle Farr of Los Gatos and his 18-year-old friend were riding their personal watercraft in the lake around 11 p.m. on Wednesday when the 14-year-old hit a moored pontoon boat and was ejected into the water.

A local resident heard the cries for help and rescued the two teens with his boat. Once on shore, deputies and paramedics attempted to unsuccessfully to revive Farr. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

24,000 gallons of caustic soda spill in New Orleans, near Vacherie after two towing vessels collide

 

 

Coast Guard responds to collision on Mississippi River near Vacherie, Louisiana

D8 LogoNEW ORLEANS –  

Several barges broke loose on the Mississippi River after a collision between two ships near Vacherie Thursday afternoon. 

Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report of a collision between the two towing vessels, American Heritage and David G. Schert, near Vacherie, early on Thursday afternoon.

The collision resulted in several barges breaking loose; one barge, loaded with caustic soda, overturned but is out of the navigable waterway on the right descending bank, while the others were safely recovered.

The overturned barge released an unknown amount of caustic soda solution into the waterway.  The worst case discharge is 23,672 gallons.  

This product will dissipate and neutralize soon after entering the water, posing minimal risk in the immediate vicinity of the barge.  

Drinking water authorities and surrounding parishes have been notified.  Coast Guard and local responders are monitoring the incident.

The River is open to all traffic.

The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.


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Five barges broke loose after two tow boats collided on the Mississippi River on Thursday afternoon, with one loaded with hazardous caustic soda overturned, officials said.
The towing vessels American Heritage and David G. Schert collided near Vacherie on the west and Gramercy on the east within the jurisdiction of St. John the Baptist Parish, officials said.

The overturned barge is out of the navigable waterway on the right descending bank, while the others were safely recovered, the Coast Guard said in a news release issued shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday.

The overturned barge released an unknown amount of caustic soda solution into the river, possibly as much as 23,672 gallons, the Coast Guard said. The material was expected to dissipate and neutralize soon after entering the water, posing minimal risk.

Nevertheless, St. James Parish Sheriff Willy Martin Jr. said deputies have told municipalities with drinking water intakes on the river to monitor water from the river in case the caustic soda has made it downstream.

Martin said anything that spilled from the barges is not expected to affect the Gramercy intakes, but authorities have notified St. John the Baptist because that parish also takes drinking water from the river.

The five barges broke loose about 2:30 p.m. about a half-mile upstream of the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Deputies said the four-lane bridge was shut for about an hour and a half Thursday afternoon as a precaution. Martin reported about 4:30 p.m. that the bridge was fully reopened.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Lally, a Coast Guard spokesman, said earlier Thursday a 2-mile stretch of the Mississippi between milepost 148 and 150 was a restricted zone for marine traffic, keeping deep draft vessels from going through.

OSHA investigating Kansas oil field death. The dead worker was an employee of Klima Well Service Inc.

OSHA investigating Kansas oil field death

Oil rig (KSN FILE)
Oil Pump (KSN File Photo)
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A federal agency (OSHA) is investigating the death of a 30-year-old oil field worker in central Kansas.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a release late Thursday the agency’s Wichita office will investigate the June 30 death of the worker, whose name was not released.

OSHA says the worker was an employee of Klima Well Service Inc., an oil field pumping unit service, and was working at well site near Great Bend on June 30 when he was found unresponsive on a hot day.

OSHA says Klima Well Service Inc. was cited in 2006 after a worker was electrocuted at an oil well site near Ellinwood. The company was also fined $4,000.

Klima Well Service did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.

1 worker crushed to death after 7.5-ton sound-barrier concrete slab falls off truck on I-295 in Mandarin, FL






 JULY 3, 2015

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – 

A man died Thursday afternoon when a 7-ton slab of concrete fell at a construction site along Interstate 295 in Mandarin, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The incident happened about 2 p.m. near the intersection of I-295 southbound and Old St. Augustine Road. Jacksonville Fire-Rescue said the sound-barrier panel going up along the highway fell off a truck, crushing the victim.

The man died at the scene.

Big Ben Transport in Tampa owned the truck. An employeed said, “We are devastated right now at the moment.”

The company declined further comment.

No lanes are closed due to the accident and investigation, but southbound traffic is slow in the area because of emergency equipment and onlookers.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration and Department of Transportation are on scene investigating the accident to see if any negligence was involved.

1 killed, 1 seriously injured after motorcycle slams into a pickup truck in Memphis, TN


(Source: WMC Action News 5)


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
JULY 3, 2015 (Source: WMC Action News 5)
 
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - 

One motorcyclist died and another was seriously injured in a crash overnight Friday.

It happened at East Shelby Drive and Malone Road around 2:30 a.m.

An off-duty officer said he saw the motorcycle take off from a stoplight quickly.
The officer eventually found the motorcycle crashed about a mile up the road.

Investigators said the motorcycle crashed into the passenger side of a Dodge Ram as it tried to make a right turn into a driveway.

Both passenger and driver were thrown from the motorcycle. The driver, 19, died at the scene, and the passenger had to go to the hospital.

The driver and passenger in the truck were not seriously injured.

Man killed after car swept away by floodwater in Cumberland County, TN

The floodwater washed away the road on George Branch Drive.


The floodwater washed away the road on George Branch Drive.

JULY 3, 2015
 
MONTEREY, TN (WSMV) - 


Officials with Cumberland County EMA have confirmed that one person was killed in the flooding stemming from Thursday night's storms.

A 31-year-old man was found dead inside his car after his vehicle was swept by floodwater into an embankment off George Branch Drive.

Officials have not released the man's name. 

A flash flood warning remains in effect in Cumberland County until 7:45 a.m. Friday.

Stay with Channel 4 for updates on this story.

Alligator Kills 28-Year-Old Texas Man During Late-Night Swim in Sabine River Near Orange, Texas





A man was killed early Friday when an alligator attacked him during a late-night swim at a Southeast Texas marina, according to police.

Orange police Capt. Robert Enmon said Tommie Woodward, 28, suffered severe trauma to a limb when he was attacked early Friday morning at the private marina, which is along a bayou extending from the Sabine River near the Louisiana line.

Orange County sheriff's deputies and a Texas game warden found his body nearby about two hours later.

Police said Woodward, who lived near the marina in Orange, was swimming with a woman, but Justice of the Peace Rodney Price told KFDM-TV in Beaumont that she only jumped from a dock after he screamed for help. The woman was not hurt.

Price said it appears Woodward was bitten soon after he jumped in.

The owners of the marina recently had spotted a large alligator on a few occasions, and put up a sign warning people to stay out of the water, Enmon said. They estimated that animal was longer than 11 feet.

The reptile could have been startled early Friday or was possibly protecting its habitat, Enmon said.

"You've got to remember that alligators are a predatory species, they are territorial, and they will take advantage of an opportunity," he said.

Authorities are not hunting the alligator but a private effort may be launched to capture it, he said.

This is the first fatal encounter with an alligator that Enmon can recall in his 25 years in law enforcement.

Netherlands hit by riots after black troublemaker man dies in police custody


THE HAGUE, Netherlands 

 Dutch police conducted mass arrests overnight, detaining about 200 people for ignoring a ban on public assembly in a neighborhood hit by late-night rioting after the death of a man in police custody.

The arrests late Thursday and early Friday capped four nights of rioting in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in The Hague - a situation that has drawn comparisons with the angry protests that erupted in the United States following deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers.

Hague Mayor Jozias van Aartsen, however, has strongly rejected such comparisons.

"There is absolutely nothing in common between the work of American police forces and the Dutch police and the Hague force," he told national broadcaster NOS this week.

Prosecutors investigating Sunday's death of Mitch Henriquez, a 42-year-old from the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, say he likely died of oxygen starvation caused during his arrest at a music festival Saturday night. The five officers involved have been suspended from active duty and are being investigated as suspects in his death.

Protesters have gathered each night in the Schilderswijk neighborhood of The Hague, carrying banners protesting what they perceive as racism and the excessive use of force by police.

Henriquez's family, have said in comments reported in Dutch media that they do not believe he was a victim of racist policing. The have issued a call on social media for a silent march in his memory on Saturday and urged people to walk in peace from a railway station in The Hague to the park where he was arrested.

The Dutch National Ombudsman's office, which investigates disputes between citizens and government agencies, last year published a report following allegations of discriminatory policing in the Schilderswijk, a neighborhood of 60,000 people of 125 different nationalities.

The report, which called policing there "a mix of peacekeeping and crime fighting," found "no indication of structural abuses in the behavior of police" in Schilderswijk but said "police and citizens need to work to prevent escalation."
Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur told reporters Friday that residents say troublemakers are pouring into the neighborhood to riot. He said the disorder has to stop.

"Of course, there is concern and anger at what possibly happened last weekend," Van der Steur said. "That is understandable. But this reaction is unacceptable."

Sinan Cankaya, an anthropologist who has studied racial profiling by the Amsterdam police, said that the Netherlands' long-standing image as a tolerant, multicultural society masks racism in areas like the job market and in night life. A Dutch man of Turkish descent, Cankaya said he was regularly barred from nightclubs that his white friends were allowed into.

"The idea of Dutch tolerance is part of the problem, because it blocks and hinders us Dutch from being self-critical and just facing the issue of racism in the Netherlands," he said.

Amid Safety Concerns and Declining Rail Traffic, Union Pacific Imposing $1,200 Per-car Surcharge on Older Crude Railcars







JULY 1, 2015

(Reuters) - Union Pacific Corp will impose a $1,200 per-car surcharge on oil shippers that move crude in older railcars, the company told customers this week, becoming at least the second U.S. railroad to charge extra amid widespread safety concerns.

In a revised tariff taking effect Aug. 1, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, the No. 1 U.S. railroad posted rates that will charge shippers more if they use so-called DOT-111 railcars, which are not as strong as cars built to a higher standard the industry adopted in October 2011.

For DOT-111s carrying an average of 700 barrels of crude per car, a $1,200 surcharge would add an additional cost of $1.71 per barrel shipped.

Union Pacific said it changed its tariff in response to stronger U.S. rules for handling flammable liquids that were recently announced after a string of fiery crashes.

Oil by rail proliferated in tandem with the U.S. shale oil boom. Coastal refiners, in particular, used rail to tap cheaper domestic crudes and buy fewer costly imports.

However, U.S. oil by rail shipments have dipped from more than 1 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter 2014 to 850,000 bpd in April, U.S. government data shows, as crude prices fell during a global oil glut.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc-owned BNSF Railway in January imposed a similar $1,000 per DOT-111 surcharge on shippers.  In March, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents refiners and petrochemical companies, sued BNSF, alleging the surcharge violates the railway's obligation to transport hazardous materials such as crude under U.S. regulations.

BNSF countered that it did not refuse to accommodate DOT-111s, and AFPM's complaint centers on whether the surcharge is reasonable.

In May, the U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled new standards for crude and ethanol railcars, requiring more reinforcements than the CPC-1232 industry model adopted in 2011.

The government's standard now requires all new crude railcars built from October 2015 on to have 9/16-inch thick hulls, increased reinforcements for valves where oil enters the car at the top and drains out the bottom, and full-height steel shields on the front and back.

CPC-1232s, which make up the vast bulk of new fleets bought and leased by U.S. refiners since 2012, are less fortified with 7/16-inch thick steel.
The new DOT standards included a schedule to retrofit both DOT-111s and CPC-1232s to strengthen them. The first round of DOT-111 retrofits aren't due until January 2018.

What is Collapse in Insurance Coverage Suit: Queen Anne Park Homeowners Assoc. v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., Case No. 12-36021 (9th Cir. June 18, 2015).

The traditional view holds collapse is covered when there is either a falling down or a caving-in – into a flattened form of rubble. 

But the liberal view holds a collapse happens when there is a substantial impairment of structural integrity, without an actual collapse of the building or part thereof being necessary.

Last week, the Washington Supreme Court rendered a decision on the meaning of the term collapse when it is undefined in a policy.1 In this particular case in Seattle, Washington, a condominium association submitted a claim to its carrier, State Farm, when it discovered “hidden decay” on the two-story building’s supports. 

State Farm denied coverage under the Policy on the basis that a “collapse” did not occur. The association argued that the inspection revealed decay that the association believed had caused “substantial impairment to the structural integrity” of the buildings during applicable insurance policy periods. 

In September 2011, the association filed suit in Washington federal court for declaratory relief and breach of contract and moved for summary judgment under the argument that the term “collapse” when undefined in an insurance policy means “substantial impairment of structural integrity.” 

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals certified a question to the Washington State Supreme Court to define what “collapse” means in an insurance policy under Washington state law when an insurance policy covers “accidental direct physical loss involving collapse” but does not otherwise define the word except to say that ‘‘collapse does not include settling, cracking, shrinking, bulging or expansion.”

The Court adopted the more liberal view of collapse and explained:


Here the insured requests that “collapse” be interpreted to mean “substantial impairment of structural integrity.” We largely agree. Of the definitions offered to us, substantial impairment of structural integrity is both reasonable and the most favorable to the insured. Based on the language of the Policy, however, we caution that “collapse” must mean something more than mere “settling, cracking, shrinking, bulging or expansion.” ER at 142. Also, we note that “structural integrity” of a building means a building’s ability to remain upright and “substantial impairment” means a severe impairment. Taken together, “substantial impairment” of “structural integrity” means an impairment so severe as to materially impair a building’s ability to remain upright. Considering the Policy as a whole, we conclude that “substantial impairment of structural integrity” means the substantial impairment of the structural integrity of all or part of a building that renders all or part of the building unfit for its function or unsafe and, in this case, means more than mere settling, cracking, shrinkage, bulging, or expansion.


This means that in Washington, a building can merely be structurally unsafe and does not necessarily have to be on the verge of falling down in order to meet the definition of collapse.

1 Queen Anne Park Homeowners Assoc. v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., Case No. 12-36021 (9th Cir. June 18, 2015).

County worker dies after pickup truck crashes into a pond in Ohio


JULY 3, 2015

The Associated Press 

MASON, Ohio — 

Police say a man is dead after his pickup truck veered off a southwest Ohio road and crashed into a pond.

It happened just before 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Officials say 52-year-old Robert Butcher suffered a medical emergency while driving in Mason and crashed into a retention pond.

Rescue crews pulled Butcher from the submerged truck and rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Officials say Butcher was a Warren County water and sewer worker.

No one else was in the vehicle.

The crash is under investigation.

1 bicyclist dead, 2 hurt after bike crash at Police and Fire Games in Virginia


One bicyclist was killed and two others were seriously injured after a cycling crash at the World Police and Fire Games Thursday afternoon. WUSA

TRIANGLE, Va. (WUSA9) -- One bicyclist was killed and two others were seriously injured after a cycling crash at the World Police and Fire Games Thursday afternoon.

The crash happened on the Loop, a 7.5 mile paved, windy road with hills at the Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Va.

Prince William County police say the riders, all from Brazil, were transported to area hospitals for treatment. The two other riders remain in serious condition.

According to police, the crash was triggered when one of the riders sustained a front tire blowout, which caused a chain reaction with the other cyclists.

The deceased bicyclist was identified as 48-year-old Carlos Silva. The two other cyclists are a 44-year-old man and a 43-year-old man. Police have not released their names.

"The only thing he said about his life and his pleasure to be here that he loved what he do. He loved to be here. He loved to train and most of all, he loves his career, and his daughter," Alexandre Manzan, a colleague of Silva's said.

Riders familiar with the Loop say it's a tough course and can be dangerous for those who are not familiar with the road. The injured cyclists were coming down a steep, curvy hill over Quantico Creek.

The incident happened around noon, and the competition at the park ended shortly after.

The World Police and Fire Games are an athletic competition featuring law enforcement officers from all over the world. They released the following statement about the accident.
We are deeply saddened that an athlete participating in the World Police & Fire Games passed away today at the cycling event in Prince William County. Two other athletes are seriously injured. Please join us as we keep these athletes, their families and friends in our thoughts and prayers during this tragic and challenging time.