According to ERT’s site assessment, natural gas is flowing from the well and there is a rainbow sheen visible on the surface estimated to be more than four miles wide by three quarters of a mile long.
According to federal data, the platform where the blow-out took place has been cited for 12 incidents of non-compliance since 2008.
NBC News, July 8, 2013: Fires were still burning more than 24 hours after a driverless train carrying petroleum products derailed and exploded in a Quebec town, setting off a massive blaze [...] Quebec provincial police Lt. Michel Brunet refused to say how high the death toll could eventually go, but said authorities have been told “many” people have been reported missing. [...] Burning crude spilled into the storm sewers and rose up through street manholes, setting buildings on fire, the head of the rail company that ran the train told Reuters. [...] Police officials said they believe at least 50 tanks caught fire [...]NPR, July 8, 2013: [...] According to the Montreal Gazette, “the city’s downtown core was almost completely destroyed by the blast. It housed a mix of commercial and residential units in historic buildings.”
