(The following appeared on the Superior Telegram website on March 5, 2010.)
SUPERIOR, Wisc. — Imagine a train so long it stretches all the way from Los Angeles to Shanghai, China … six times. That’s how long the train would be if all the intermodal shipments delivered by the BNSF Railway in a single year were loaded end-to-end.
Members of the Murphy Oil Superior Refinery Community Advisory Panel met with representatives of BNSF during their latest meeting.
The BNSF pulls one quarter of the nation’s rail freight on more than 32,000 miles of track in the United States. The freight includes products most of us use every day, from bricks and lumber to shoes and cosmetics; from canned goods and fresh vegetables to beer. Petroleum products, including diesel fuel and asphalt, are an important freight segment.
Murphy recently opened a new rail loading facility at the Superior Refinery and potential expansion of refinery rail yards is already in the works.
Superior Refinery manager Dave Podratz told members Murphy has purchased approximately 120 acres of land just outside Superior for an environmentally secure wetlands area to offset any impact of property development for an expanded rail yard.
Members also discussed refinery operations, including a review of the refinery’s sulfur dioxide emissions over the past decade, which have declined significantly.
The Murphy Oil Superior Refinery Community Advisory Panel provides an open forum for discussions between citizens of Superior and Douglas County and the Murphy Oil Superior refinery.
Members are community members who represent various interests and want to be a means to convey questions, concerns, or comments to the company. The panel is a mechanism for the plant to hear community response to Murphy Oil’s ideas, plans and community presence. Likewise, members provide a means to educate the refinery’s management about the community.
Meetings of the Community Advisory Panel are open to the public. The next meeting is March 11. For more information, contact John McPherson at (800) 784-4343.