Are we ready for the next big disaster in Sioux Falls?

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(Video and Commentary by Cameraman Bruce Danielson)

To let you know I’m not a full time cynic or complainer. 30 years ago I traveled the United States developing disaster recovery programs and systems for major corporations and governments. I ask many questions from this spot because I see issues stemming secrecy and lack of transparency coming from poor planning processes. Some of the projects I developed solutions for allowed major banking institutions to survive and operate during the 1989 and 1994 California earthquakes and more.

I sent all of you a Press Release last week asking three basic questions:
1. Is Sioux Falls ready to handle a major catastrophic event?
2. Have we done preparedness drills?
3. Do we have mutual aid agreements in place with surrounding communities for fire, police and ambulance services?

So far our review says we don’t have a yes to any of these questions. It’s time for the citizens to ask the town to make major leadership changes in this election before it’s too late.

Last Monday as I left downtown, I stopped to assess the train derailment under the 11th Street viaduct. What I saw shocked me and should cause everyone in Sioux Falls to consider the ramifications and lack of benefit we get from our mayor’s $27 million rail relocation project.

The events this week should shock and scare us to the point of action.

The train derailment missed becoming a mass casualty incident by a razor thin margin.

Fortunately, these rail cars contained grain.

However, other hazardous substances able to quickly gas or burn downtown Sioux Falls are regularly transported on the same route through our downtown.

The derailment of a car containing more hazardous substances like ammonia fertilizer could destroy or paralyze several square miles of Sioux Falls very quickly.

Potentially thousands of people would have had to be evacuated if they had not been killed.

I took the accompanying photos during the early and post derailment clean-up process. Photos show four rail cars on their sides with grain spilling out. Workers were already cleaning up the grain.

The photos also show how the railcars slid within a foot or so of taking out a pillar holding the bridge up. It was very likely the viaduct would have collapsed.

The 4 fully loaded railcars weighed about 1,000,000 pounds, that’s 1 million pounds of kinetic energy pushing into the ground, possibly moving the pillar’s foundation.

What would happen not if, but when, several million pounds of rail cars land differently next time?

As it is, have the footing been inspected by a reputable state highway inspector?

Once the pillar support can be inspected, the viaduct may yet be closed. Get answer to the question: Did the sliding rail car disturb the bridge foundation?

At several city meetings we ask to see City disaster recovery plans for disasters.

My requests for disaster plans seemed to be reasonable given how many full time disaster recovery planners are paid high City salaries.

Regardless, in answer to my requests for the plans, only blank stares or claims of computer simulation games are given. Now we’re back to when will Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County get real mutual aid ambulance agreements? We never receive a straight story from this administration; will we get one from the next?

Secret agreements, deals and no transparency is all we find as we get when we dig into Sioux Falls city government. The released SDPAA training exercise project being portrayed by our administration as a real report shows how little our current government cares for the real health and safety of the public.

We got very, very lucky this time. What will happen when the next derailment or tornado happens?

No doubt the people who were paid to plan for these events will blame it on everyone else and claim it was the fault of the administration who happens to be in office at the time of the disaster.

Why is it always an act of God?

Where is this discussion in the current campaign?

Why does someone have to die for action to happen? Heck someone did die in the Copper Lounge collapse, and the city hires them to do a public/private partnership with them. I guess the city’s policy is to reward the entities that abuse the public.

We dodged a major public safety bullet – Bruce Danielson

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I took some photos on Monday evening under the 11th Street viaduct. What I saw shocked me and should cause everyone in Sioux Falls to consider the consequences of our mayor’s rail relocation project. What if this rail car was a hazardous chemical, crude oil, ethanol instead of grain? What would have happened to the core of Sioux Falls? Downtown could have been eliminated. Potentially thousands of people would have had to be evacuated if they had not been killed.

The photo was taken by me during the early clean-up process. It shows one of the rail cars close to causing the viaduct to collapse. The four cars are on their sides with grain spilling out and the workers are sucking the grain up.

Had the train car been 1 foot from where it landed on its side, the viaduct would have been on the ground. The bridge support you see in the photo would have been knocked out causing the bridge to fall or to be damaged so much the viaduct would have to be closed.

The lies of the Huether administration are resting on shaky pilings. The next seemingly insignificant derailment could have caused the mass evacuation of large areas of Sioux Falls. Depending on the chemical spilled the radius can be anywhere from 3/4 of a mile to several miles.

I have asked in several city meetings, what is the town’s disaster recovery plan for any major events and I get only blank stares or claims of computer simulations. We don’t even have mutual aid ambulance agreements in place yet. This event proves how disgustingly bad the Huether administration has been in protecting our safety and the aftermath of real disasters. Remember the sewer pipe collapse and raw sewage being dumped down residential streets and into the river? It appears their only answer has been and will always be if Mike can’t put a fun face on it, it didn’t happen so don’t worry about it.

When that next derailment happens, where will miracle Mike be when this happens (because you know it will)? He will blame it on everyone else and claim it was the fault of the mayor who happens to be in office at the time.

DaCola’s NOTE: I’ve been a bit surprised over the last few days about how apathetic people and the media have been about this derailment. Most just shrug their shoulders and say, “Well a disaster didn’t happen, so what’s the big deal?” The ‘Big Deal’ is what if? What if it was a combination of all the bad elements? A chemical spill, a fire and a viaduct collapse all at once? What would our emergency efforts be then? These are the questions our city council and media need to be asking. Would we be prepared to clean up such a mess, would we have enough first responders and ambulances? Or would we have to depend on Lyft?

UPDATE: This is why train traffic downtown needs to go away

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Okay, I know, it was just a big birdfeeder, but . . .

Cleanup operations are underway following a grain spill along train tracks in downtown Sioux Falls.

At least four cars carrying grain tipped near the viaduct just east of downtown

What if this would have been a petroleum product? What if it would have happened while crossing 8th street or Cliff Avenue and fell on a car?

This is why when we gave Warren Buffet $27 million dollars to build a new switchyard out of town we expected train traffic DT to lessen, it has actually gotten worse and switching is still going on South of the RR Redevelopment project.

I still believe this was the WORST negotiated deal in the HISTORY of the city. We got a patchwork of dirty land for $62 a square foot, and little else. This is why deals this big need to be negotiated in the OPEN. Thanks Mike for your leadership on this deal! If you want to charter another plane at taxpayer expense, may I suggest a one-way flight to Mexico on May 16th. Money well spent.

UPDATE: Some are wondering how close this de-railment was to the pylons of the viaduct and what kind of safety issues this has posed.

UPDATE II: Secret, Secret, Secret, RAMROD!

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UPDATE II: Bravo to Warren Phear for digging up this Argus Leader story from a year ago. Apparently they released the names of the interested parties back than.

So what really was the administration trying to keep from us? But what is even more ironic is that the AL had this information for almost a year and apparently didn’t check the archives 🙂

Asking why Huether is a closed government advocate is like asking why the sky is blue. We know the answer to the question, yet we still struggle with why it has to be that way;

Sioux Falls officials are refusing to provide the identities of developers in the running for the first phase of the rail yard redevelopment project downtown.

I’m getting to the point, that I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. It is what it is. Lies, schemes, scams, boondoggles, etc. etc.

I will bet you though that Legacy Development is on that list, and that is why Heather and the city are pulling excuses from their rear ends.

Isn’t it ironic that while Huether is setting up his ‘legacy’ he keeps promoting ‘Legacy’.

UPDATE: Shocker! Legacy is one of the developers!

Of the six development firms who responded to the city’s request for qualifications for the rail yard redevelopment project, four are local to Sioux Falls: Lloyd Companies, Legacy Developments, Eighth and Railroad Center and Pender Cherapa. The other two submitters were Inland Development Partners of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and Philadelphia-based development firm Smart Visions.

The funny part is that I have known for years Eighth and Railroad Center has been interested in developing this property since they border it. It’s not like Lloyd being interested in the property is some big secret either. Huether keeping the developers ‘secret’ is like saying he also knows Santa Claus isn’t real either, but isn’t going to tell anyone.