From: another-obama-fail@liberalism.com   
      
   XPost: can.politics, alt.fan.states.iowa, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   (Updates with confirmation from railway, adds background)   
      
   Feb 4 (Reuters) - Six railway cars carrying ethanol fuel   
   derailed on Wednesday in a remote location north of Dubuque,   
   Iowa, and at least one of them caught on fire, Canadian Pacific   
   railway said.   
      
   There were no injuries or fatalities in the 11:20 a.m. accident   
   involving an eastbound 81-car freight train, said Jeremy Berry,   
   spokesman for the railway.   
      
   Berry said information on the crash was still preliminary as   
   access to the location was difficult. He could not confirm   
   reports in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald that three cars had   
   caught on fire and three had fallen into the Mississippi River.   
      
   The incident is likely to add to the debate about transporting   
   flammable goods by train after a series of fiery accidents   
   involving crude oil cargoes in recent years.   
      
   The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed new safety   
   features for new tank cars transporting fuel and called for the   
   phasing out of older cars considered unsafe.   
      
   The U.S. ethanol industry has pushed back on the new rules,   
   saying regulators should distinguish between corn-based biofuel   
   and crude oil.   
      
   Ethanol is less volatile than crude oil, is biodegradable and   
   has a 99.997 percent rail safety record, according to the   
   national Renewable Fuels Association.   
      
   Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw   
   was not immediately available to comment on Wednesday's accident.   
      
   Last summer, he told Reuters his group supports additional   
   regulations to strengthen railcar safety, especially measures   
   that would help prevent accidents, but that new rules should   
   take into account the differences between ethanol and crude oil.   
      
   Canadian Pacific's Berry said hazardous materials teams from the   
   railway were going to the scene and would coordinate with local   
   and state officials in investigating the incident.   
      
   The area around the accident was evacuated as a precaution, but   
   there were no homes close by, the Telegraph Herald said, citing   
   fire and emergency personnel.   
      
   Earlier reports had said the train was 11 cars long, but Berry   
   said it was a much longer freight train.   
      
   That section of the Mississippi is frozen or near-frozen and   
   there is no river traffic in the area. (Reporting by Fiona Ortiz   
   in Chicago and Josephine Mason in New York City; Editing by   
   Peter Cooney and Sandra Maler)   
      
   http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/05/usa-iowa-train-derail-   
   idUSL1N0VE34U20150205   
      
   --- SoupGate/W32 v1.03   
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- UseNet FTN Gateway (1:2320/1)