• 2 years ago
Most of us have never heard of Liquified Natural Gas, but this highly explosive fossil fuel could soon be rolling through our backyards.

And an LNG explosion would be more damaging than you can imagine ...
Transcript
00:00LNG fires are hotter and burn faster than any fire caused by oil or gasoline.
00:05For context on how dangerous this material is,
00:0822 of these train cars has the same amount of energy as the Hiroshima bomb.
00:13Here's what an LNG explosion would look like.
00:21Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is an incredibly explosive and flammable substance.
00:26So it can't be stored at room temperature without the risk of it heating up and exploding.
00:31To transport LNG, it needs to be cooled all the way down to negative 260 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:56Unfortunately, pressures from fossil fuel companies have caused
01:07LNG train accidents to become more likely.
01:10It has to be stored in the appropriate containers,
01:12and this can add up to 100 unit cars of LNG.
01:16The tiniest leak can cause the LNG to quickly boil and explode, creating an astronomical fireball.
01:27LNG fires can burn anything and anyone over 700 feet away from the initial source.
01:33An explosion can also throw shrapnel from a train up to a multiple mile radius,
01:38injuring wildlife, aquatic life, and people that come in the way.
01:42Any LNG that doesn't vaporize will remain as a liquid and flow into low-lying areas
01:47like streams or sewers. And since it's stored at incredibly low temperatures,
01:53it can cause freeze burns or frostbites to anyone that it comes into contact with.
02:01The chances of this occurring aren't very slim.
02:04There's over a thousand train accidents that occur every single year.
02:08We've heard about some of these accidents,
02:10including the vinyl chloride train derailment that occurred in East Palestine, Ohio,
02:15but this would be far worse.
02:17Currently, emergency responders don't have the training or the appropriate equipment
02:21to deal with LNG fires, so the fire would continue burning until all of the LNG is consumed.
02:52This route places more than 1.9 million people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania at risk.
02:58What's really important to know is the environmental racism of this project.
03:02Of the 1.9 million people, up to 25% of them are people of color,
03:07and up to 20% are considered low-income.
03:10So they potentially have less resources to fight against this project
03:14and less resources to bounce back if there is an explosion.
03:18Because of this, fossil fuel companies think that they can get away with building
03:22LNG bomb trains in their backyards.
03:24Because the Trump administration rolled back regulations,
03:27LNG can now be transported by rail without any special permit or federal approval.
03:33The National Transportation Safety Board called this decision detrimental to public safety.
03:38But there's still so much more that needs to be done.
03:41There's still so many individuals and communities who aren't aware of this project
03:45and the dangers it poses to their health and safety.