Tulsa protest against Bakken shale crude-by-rail - 2014 july 12 corner Elgin and Archer near BOK baseball field

photo credit: Mark Manley TPF prez (mobile upload)

Members of both TPF and CEFOK (Clean Energy Future for Oklahoma) demonstrate about a potentially explosive type of crude oil moving through Green Country, protesting Saturday evening in front of ONEOK Field, 12th July 2014, at corner of Archer and Elgin, downtown.

The issue is over a particular kind of crude from the booming oil patch in North Dakota and Wyoming called the Bakken shale. Some reports say this crude is highly-explosive, that it qualifies as hazardous material, and that it may have high levels of hydrogen-sulfide. There are also concerns tar sands oil (diluted bitumen) may be shipped by rail now, meaning the tankers would have hazardous dispersants mixed in with the crude.

News article:

The group says they picked the corner of Archer and Elgin to educate people attending the Driller's game and because of the train tracks that pass through the area."

"This is a public safety issue as well as an environmental issue," a spokesperson from Clean Energy Future OK said in a news release.

Oil from the Bakken is said to be much more volatile than traditional crude yet it's shipped in the same tankers the government calls outdated. Industry reports show the highly combustible oil shipped through Tulsa is the same kind that killed 47 people in a derailment and explosion in Quebec, Canada.

The group held up signs noting that St. Louis bans "bomb trains" from passing through town and asking for "No Exploding Oil Trains In Tulsa."

There was some coverage in local media:
"Tulsa Protesters Call For Crude Oil Shipping Changes"
NewsOn6.com
reporting by Dee Duren
http://www.newson6.com/story/26004559/tulsa-protesters-call-for-crude-oil-shipping-changes