Word: tankerous
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Just as the Oklahoma capsized, a tremendous explosion tore open the Arizona. "A spurt of flame came out of the guns in No. 2 turret, followed by an explosion of the forward magazine," said a mechanic on the nearby tanker Ramapo. "The foremast leaned forward, and the whole forward part of the ship was enveloped in flame and smoke and continued to burn fiercely...
...them at the time, much the way that Uzis are safer only for the people holding them. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn't count the number of lungs damaged by ozone from automobile exhaust. The birds and seals suffering and dying along whatever pristine coast an oil tanker chooses to run aground on don't make the tally. But they are traffic victims, as surely as are pedestrians run over in a crosswalk...
...trout are dead, the fishing is finished, and the tourist industry is suffering. A Southern Pacific tanker car derailed last week on a tricky canyon bridge six miles north of Dunsmuir, Calif., and spilled its contents into the river: 19,500 gal. of metam sodium, a liquid herbicide...
Environmentalists complain that not enough has been done to ensure that the trucks and tanker cars are puncture-proof and that they avoid particularly dangerous routes. The Chemical Manufacturers Association replies that it is already hamstrung by thousands of federal, state and local statutes. But it concedes that those laws were written with an eye to protecting human populations, not the environment. Chemicals that are explosive, flammable or toxic to humans are classified as very hazardous and handled accordingly. A pesticide like metam sodium, which can destroy an entire ecosystem, is still considered nonhazardous...
...long argued for stronger, safer cars for carrying so-called environmentally sensitive chemicals, and the idea has gained support on Capitol Hill, where the Federal Railroad Safety Act is up for revision. Scientists say it may be 10 years before the Sacramento River has fully recovered. Perhaps by then tanker cars will be safe enough to guarantee that a disaster like last week's can not happen again...