Police erected an 2.5-metre fence blocking from view what was once the downtown core of restaurants, bars and shops in Lake Megantic - Date unknown Christinne Muschi.

12 July 2013

Lake Megantic Disaster Forces
Irving Oil to Alter Routes

Saint John New Brunswick - Irving Oil Ltd. is already rerouting its rail shipments of western crude oil to its Saint John refinery following the Lake Megantic train derailment last weekend.
 
The train, which derailed and exploded early Saturday, was carrying a shipment of crude oil destined for the Irving Oil Ltd. refinery in Saint John.
 
Western Bakken Crude from North Dakota is continuing to roll into Saint John every day despite the rail disaster in the small Quebec community.
 
While the Montreal Maine & Atlantic route through Lake Megantic was an important rail line for the company, equal amounts of western crude are being shipped through southern Maine via the Pan Am Railway and along the Canadian route on CN tracks.
 
Irving Oil may be able to increase tanker traffic on one or both of those routes while shipments have stopped coming through Lake Megantic.
 
The company has also shipped western oil by rail and barge through Albany, New York, USA, to Saint John.
 
There are now reports the company is preparing to ship crude oil through a southern U.S. port.
 
"On the Gulf Coast, they have several options to deliver rail cars into the Houston area or Port Arthur or even into the New Orleans area and put it on a tanker from there," said Andrew Lipow, a consultant with Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.
 
Bob Vander Valk, of the Bakken Oil Business Journal, said Irving Oil is now arranging to get some western crude shipped through Houston.
 
The company has not responded to a request for information about its purchasing plans.
 
Andrew Ang, of Oil Pricing Information Service, said Irving Oil's ability to use southern rail and barge routes means the impact of the Lake Megantic tragedy on its access to western crude oil will not "be that great."
 
Since the company built a new rail terminal last year, the number of trains carrying oil into the city has more than doubled.
 
The Irving Oil refinery in Saint John is the largest in Canada and can process 300,000 barrels of oil per day. Saint John also has a deep-water port and a liquefied natural gas facility.
 
Author unknown.
 
Editor's Note:  Article abridged - data repeated in previous articles removed.

Vancouver Island
British Columbia
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