happening here but it's what plays night its cinemas that teld us the most about what we experience today charlie angela, al jazeera. >> from the glamorous to the not so glaj glam russ, you can find all that on our website aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight, dangerously close. a speeding amtrak train packed with passengers crashes just yards from cars used to carry oil. how close did it become to being far far worse? long before this show i had planned tonight to expose the dangers that soaring oil by rail traffic poses to america's cities. we planned to profile one of these cities tonight

philadelphia, where critics fear an explosion of an oil train's payload would visit death and destruction in catastrophic proportions to nearby neighborhoods. but last night's derailing of amtrak's 188 which i travel every week, means my fears of rail disaster have been greatly underconsidered and i'll show you by, looking the train sit sitting idle in the background. those are tank cars, used to carry volatile chemicals. yards from the derailed amtrak passengers train. the deaths and injuries resulting from last night's accident are horrible and my fear is they would have been multiplied had that derailed amtrak engine pierced one of those tank cars.

we asked what was in them? the answer, no conrail assets were involved or damaged in the accident so any discussion with conrail is not germane. but last night's accident highlights the criticism that many have about america's rail infrastructure. according to the department of transport, pennsylvania's bridges are ranked the worst in the country, 23% of them are considered deficient. many of those bridges have rails that carry oil trains, u.s. railways transparent nearly 10% of america's crude oil output or around 800,000 barrels per day. that is a 1700% increase in just the last four years. and all that extra traffic just increases the likelihood of rail accidents. last night, before any of us knew of or anticipated the

deadly derailment of amtrak 188, mary snow put the finishing touches on her story about the growing concerns about the rising number of oil trains passing through philadelphia. here is that are report. >> this is the nightmare scenario that has cities asking, what if? this latest oil train derailment was in north dakota. in february a trail derailed erupting into a fire ball in west virginia. a similar explosion followed in illinois a month later fortunately no one was hurt. it is these kinds of accidents that are prompting environmental activist david mazer to sound the alarm. tankers derailed over the city's river no one was hurt and no oil was spilled. >> it made me realize what a near miss that was. >> reporter: a near miss because of the growing closeness

of oil lines. >> often they are carrying dozens of cars with very volatile crude oil on them putting people in this park and this community at risk and all along these train lines. >> mazer's group estimates 700,000 people in philadelphia and surrounding suburbs liver within half a mile of train lines if an oil train catches fire. between 31 and 65 oil trains like this one pass through philadelphia each week. the reason there's been such an increase in oil trains is because the oil is headed to refineries like this one on the east coast, and these refineries have seen an economic revival in the last couple of years. it is a result of the bakken oil boom in north dakota that caused a 1700% jump in the movement of crude by mail in just the past four years.

in cities like philadelphia the spike in oil traffic has heightened concerns not only because they run so close to crowded areas but because they rely on aging sphrawcialghtd infrastructure like this viect build viaduct built in the 1920s. samantha phillips who heads the city's emergency management. >> i get the question why don't you sam phillips reroute these trains? i don't have the authority. the mayor doesn't have the authority, these are federally routed trains. >> announced this month by the transportation secretary and his canadian counterpart, the rules come two years after the disaster in lac megantic quebec killing 27 people, the older

cars are being phased out with stronger cars and thicker shells, but it will take years speeds will also be reduced for oil trains moving through urban areas. >> the truth is that 99.9% of these shipments reach their destination in safety. the accidents that have occurred though have shown us that 99.9% isn't enough. >> reporter: railroad safety consultant frid fred millar says safety guarantees fall short. point of contact for routing of hazardous materials. millar says, routes and volumes of the most dangerous cargo should be made public. >> keeping these secret is like

elephants tiptoeing through the tulips. this is absurd. >> city's emergency response. >> the city should share what it knows about oil trains coming through the city and should be getting public input on what the emergency response plans are and sharing those plans with the public so they can respond themselves. >> reporter: phillips says there is information available to the public but resist revealing too much of it. >> we live in a post-9/11 world. i professionally don't want to release a plan that could be used to further enhance some sort of attack or put our first responders at risk. >> reporter: the risk that seems clear is the facing's energy boom has created a new reality for america's cities asking, what if? >> marry >> mary snow joins me

now. i spend the majority of my time philadelphia, do you think people there are really aware of this? >> i really get the sense that people are catching up to the reality, because this traffic has increased so dramatically in just the last several years. speaking with the head of the oem she said it is one of the questions she has been getting more frequently but it is definitely on the radar. the governor of pennsylvania recently hired a rail security expert to look into these dangers. senator bob casey of pennsylvania recently introduced a piece of legislation, and you get the concern that the safety is heightening. >> the bridge you had in your piece did look pretty old. >> yes, it is definitely something of concern, talking with the people i met with. here also lies the question of whose jurisdiction is this right? this viaduct is actually owned

by csx, a railroad company. they have come under scrutiny in philadelphia. last month csx announced that it is going to invest in improvements. it says that the bridge is actually structurally sound, but just looking at it is definitely something on people's radar. >> in preparing for today, and in hearing what we have, you have spent time on the phone where is the rail industry? >> the rail industry has said one objection they had to these safety measurement, the government announced, the braking systems, they said they are too costly and this is one of the bone of contentions that they have. >> they don't believe they are necessarily going to be effective? >> correct. one of the safety measures stronger cars, two recent incidents, one in illinois and one in west virginia, those accidents actually involved

newer cars that were supposed to be safer. >> what about the oil industry itself, whether it comes from bakken or oil sands in canada to market? >> they went a step further and went to court to try and block some of these measures particularly some of the braking braking requirements. they are saying safety measures on tankers will only do so much. safety measures is one of the problems with transport this oil. >> mary snow thank you so much. i have told you how close this amtrak disaster came to being an even worse disaster. duarte geraldino, says he was

>> they say a picture is worth a thousand words. this is one of those pictures. take a look again. the wreckage of amtrak regional foreground. in the background just yards away, tanker cars used to carry dangerous cargo like crude oil to someone who takes that train sometimes twice a week, that is a chilling image. that's a wake justify call. duarte geraldino who is right by the scene, duarte, we all live in fear of train derailments. the idea that this train came close to a tanker car. what are you learning about this? >> this is a sentiment that's being echoed around, more than a dozen are dead, 200 injured, it

could have been much worse because of how close they are coming from oil cars. seven rail cars miraculously it managed not to hit those oil cars. densely packed side by side, people walking around sitting on their stoops facing this area looking and saying my goodness it could have been been much worse, the flames from that wreckage could have hit my house. none of those tankers were hit but what could be done in the future to make sure if ever there's a derailment that something like this couldn't increase the risk because of those tankers. >> thinking it could have been worse, we have of course been in contact with the companies involved in the transporting of that rail, we don't have fums

answersfullanswers to that yet. duarte geraldino, in philadelphia. scott, thanks for being with us. you told cbs affiliate earlier that you had heard from an amtrak official while you were on the scene, that they believed there was oil in those tankers and how close this had come to being a major catastrophe. relate to me what happened and what you heard. >> yes, sir, thanks for having me on ali. i was up on the train bridge last night. i'd actually arrived either slightly before or right at the same time some of the first responders arrived. i was on a train bridge that was just about 200 yards out. and up on the train bridge i was there for just about an hour or so watching everything take place, very, very tragic sir very, very sad. watching limp bodies being pulled from the cars and smoke rising up and as i'm standing up there like i said just about an hour later no one even realized i was up there. a guy came in a yellow jacket, i

don't know his name, i can't identify him. he just came up to tell me i'm not making you leave but it's in your best interest to get off the train bridge because you may slip and fall through. and i complied, i said yes, sir no problem. and i pointed out to him i said man that engine in the front went all the way across and went very close to that oil tanker there. he said yes he did, and i said that could have set up some kind of explosion right? he said yes we're thankful it didn't hit. i'm no expert but where i was standing had that engine been 50 to 100 feet south things could have gotten very ugly. >> scott do you worry about these oil tankers going through your neighborhood? >> yes, sir. i actually live right next to the train tracks and they park those oil tankers right next to

my house on a frequent basis probably three to four times a week and they 30th. >> thank you scott lowman was a witness to things that were happening last night in philadelphia. jim hull currently work as a consultant for a grienbrier companies which manufacturing tank cars, joins us from chattanooga, tens. jim thanktennessee. thank you for joining us. i'm wondering what would have happened if that car had pierced the oil tanker? >> there would have been an explosion, the underinvestment in our nation's transportation infrastructure that covers all modes of transportation and as a result, we are seeing the needless loss in of lives in many transportation modes.

>> we could talk for hours on general transportation infrastructure. but we're producing more oil in america than we've ever produced, the world demand for oil continues to increase. given that we're going to keep on moving oil by rail, who is fighting the idea that we should do this in a better and nor safer moresafer way? >> well, the industry is make profit off the move by rail. of oil by rail. it's a booming business for them. and they are going to slow-walk, trying to add any investment in terms of the infrastructure, until they're required to, by the federal government. so that's why it's important that these regulations move forward as quickly as possible. >> the rail industry has been resistant to some of these rules as we discussed and this one about lowering speed limits for trains, for example norfolk southern the chief executive officer charlotte mormon said --

charles mormon said and i'm quoting here, would be disruptive to the point of almost shutting down the north american rail network. is that true? >> well, the ray industry has a 100 -- rail industry has a 100 year history of fighting safety regulations. and i have a respect for mr. mormon and norfolk southern but i'm speaking and the american people need to focus on the fact that the tank cars that are on -- going through their neighborhoods now are not designed and are not safe to hold their contents in derailments or events similar to what you described with this amtrak derailment. >> jim hall, good to talk to you, jim hall is the former chairman of the ntsb. there has got to be a safer way to ship all the oil that america has been producing without risking lives inner rail lines

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>> one obvious way to avoid the dangers of shipping oil by rail is to use pipelines. that's how 70% of all petroleum products are shipped and while the data are not perfect it shows that is safer than putting oil on trains. but include plenty of environmentalists as well as tyson slocum. the director of energy, left leaning consumer lobbying group. tyson thank you for being with us, you argue that building new pipelines is too expensive to being a feasible alternative than shipping oil by rail.

the united states has 2.6 million miles of pipelines. that's just the oil and refined appliance, mean 1/10 of pipelines in america. given the obvious dangers of shipping oil by rail you're not embracing this pipeline idea very much. >> right. well, first of all pipelines are not a perfect solution. because we do have a number of serious incidents. there was recently an investigation by the publication politico, which found out that over the last decade there has been 170 deaths, 670 injuries and over $5 billion in property damage just from pipeline leaks and explosions and other incidents. we've had a number of high profile oil leaks from pipelines, whether it was the kalamazoo line, the yellowstone, the

pegasus or the san bruno in california. that said, the issue with trains, it takes a long time to build new pipeline infrastructures. >> much more complicated. >> it can take years and billions of dollars up front. whereas expanding the rail terminals and the other infrastructure associated with moving oil by rail, is very easy to do and very inexpensive which is why 70% of that oil coming out of the bakken cruet in north dakota has been moving by rail. >> look tyson it's 2015 i'm not quite sure why everybody can't figure out how to not move oil properly. but more oil is spilled in rail accidents than in pipeline spills, this is obviously got to do with the volume, the increase in shipping of oil by rail. but you oppose the keystone xl

pipeline, it is competitive expensive to do without the keystone xl there will be 49 injuries and six more deaths every year if that oil that would have been transported in the keystone xl is transported by rail. so given the fact that it's still oil, still dirty, still environmentally unfriendly, why don't we choose the more -- the safer method over the more dangerous method? >> well, first of all dealing with the keystone pipeline that's dealing with what's known as tar sands oil coming out of alberta canada and moving it through united states. the oil accidents are almost exclusively oil being shipped from north dakota oil from fracking. and the issue that we've had with the keystone pipeline is that it's not designed to move north dakota oil to market. it's designed to move canadian oil out of canada, through the united states.

>> but tyson -- >> to refineries to gulf coast for export. >> but tyson, when the oil catches fire its doesn't know whether it's from north dakota or from canada. >> right but what we see from fracked owl in north dakota it has much different volatile index from tradition oils including the tar sands blends. what we're seeing from the oil shipments by rail from north dakota is that this oil has a lot more dpases gases and other volatile compounds that are making it more conducive to rub churg and rupturing and exploding. >> we're kind of on the same side, i'm asking you why the heavy lobbying industry, and the heavy oil lobbying industry which are refusing are a better answer than pipelines? >> well because i do not think that pipeline capacity to serve the bakken fields in north

dakota are ever going to be built not because of environmental opposition but because rex tillerson the ceo of emple onsaid, production is going to peak in less than a decade. meaning in about a decade we're going to see production declines in north dakota. it can take years to build pipeline capacity and you build pipelines for a30 to 40 year life cycle. you're not going to invest billions of dollars to build pipeline infrastructure that's going into a declining market in north dakota. >> i hear your point, if it's not going to be there, they're not going to invest. but keystone xl you are still against that. >> because keystone has nothing to do with moving -- >> it doesn't matter, canadian oil, we're trying to keep people safe. what difference does its make

ifist u.s. oil, mexican oil, canadian oil, if it's going through the united states in a rail car wouldn't it be better to go through united states in a pipeline? >> if the keystone pipeline doesn't get built northern half you're goods osee canadians using that oil without using the united states as a conduit. regardless, we're seeing increase of oil by rail and it's imperative that we move it as safely as possible. pipelines are years away from being a viable alternative. there are action we can take right now to increase the public safety and security of oil shipments and the fact is that the department of transportation proposed rule doesn't go far enough, i have worked with senator maria cantwell on legislation that would ensure safety -- >> and the oil companies would fight you tooth and nail on that.

>> and they continue. and in fact yesterday the american petroleum institute which is the primary lobby on the oil industry, filed a lawsuit block these very moderate department of transportation oil rules. >> tyson sloak um slocum >> on hard earned, what would you do? >> the army is the last resort but i will do anything necessary for my family... >> when you're running out of choices... >> maybe i should become a nun... do nuns smoke? >> and your back's against the wall... >> i have a problem... i don't speak english... >> hard earned pride... hard earned respect... hard earned future... a real look at the american dream hard earned only on al jazeera america >> part of our month long look at working in america.

"hard earned". gun fire in burundi's capital following the army's announcement that it has overthrown the president hello, welcome you're watching al jazeera. i'm jane dutton live from our headquarters in doha. dozens are killed in philippines capital after a fire breaks out in a shoe factory. taking refuge from fighting.