CSX and Councilman Kenyatta Johnson's announcement of a multiyear project to restore the condition and appearance of the 25th Street Viaduct could not have come at a better time. The bridge carries an average of 20 trains a day, many of them carrying the same type of crude oil that exploded in Quebec and West Virginia. And according to Philly.com, the amount of black gold that passes through town on its way to local refineries has no signs of decreasing.
"About half the crude oil that now moves by rail in America is bound for Mid-Atlantic states, mostly refineries near Philadelphia, data from the U.S. Energy Department show." Unsettling news for those of us in the so-called "Oil Bomb Train Blast Zone," which, according to this map, is "almost half of Center City."
· More oil moves by rail, and it moves here [Philly.com]
· Plans to rebuild 25th Street Viaduct [PlanPhilly]
· Is most of Philadelphia in an Oil Bomb Train Blast Zone? [Curbed Philly]