U.S. Federal Transportation Department Issues Emergency Rules For Oil and Gas Railroad Shipments
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
Amidst a dangerous train derailment on Aril 30, 2014 resulting in three tanker railroad cars carrying crude oil contaminating the James River in Lynchburg,Virginia, the United States Department of Transportation issued an emergency order requiring that Railroad companies inform state emergency management officials about the movement of large shipments of crude oil through their states and advised shippers not to use older model railroad tank cars that could easily rupture in accidents, even at slow speeds such as the one that occurred in 2013 in Canada that killed 47 people.
A safety advisory was also issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation urging shippers to assure that the most protective type of tank car in their fleets be used when shipping oil from the Bakken region. The order from the U.S. Department of Transportation also advised possible shippers to not use a specific older model tank rail car known as DOT – 111s. Accident investigators have reported this type of tanker rail cars have ruptured or been punctured, spilling their contents much easier than others even in accidents that have occurred under 30 mph.
The emergency order requires that each railroad company operating trains containing more than 1 million gallons of crude oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada provide information on the trains’ expected movement, including frequency and county-by-county routes, to the states they traverse through.
The order also requires that railroad companies provide a contact number for representatives of the company where emergency responders can contact the company in case of emergencies. The order also requires for the rail companies to divulge the volume of the oil being transported through rail. Many of the tank cars are generally owned by or leased to oil companies that ship the crude, not the railroad companies.
Although much of the oil from the region is being shipped across the U.S. and Canada in trains of 100 cars or more, many local and State officials, fire emergency responders and other emergency responders have complained that they often have no information on the contents of the freight trains moving through their communities and the schedules of when they traverse the communities as well, making it a difficult to assess certain situations in case of emergencies.
The emergency order follows a warning two weeks ago from outgoing National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman that the Transportation Department risks a “higher body count” as the result of fiery oil train accidents if it waits for new safety regulations to become final.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced that the U.S Transportation Department was expediting, new safety regulations for crude oil shipment as fast as possible. Foxx has stated that a proposal of such regulations has been sent to the White House which, include new tank-car standards and regulations on speed for locomotives in question. It also specifies safety classifications of oil based on its volatility.
Final regulations are expected before the end of the year, stated Foxx.
Unlike the emergency order, the safety advisory on tank cars is voluntary at the present time.
The American Petroleum Institute issued a statement that oil companies hope within the next year to increase to 60 percent the share of tank cars that meet a stronger, voluntary standard agreed to by shippers and railroads in 2011.
There have been nine oil train derailments in the U.S. and Canada combined since March of 2013. Some of the derailments resulted in intense fires and the evacuation of nearby residents and communities, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Concern about the safe transportation of crude oil through railroads has increased in the United States after a runaway oil train derailed and exploded in July of 2013 in the small town of Lac-Megantic, Canada, with over 60 tank railroad card derailing and more than 1.3 million gallon of oil spilled, killing 47 persons and destroying 30 buildings in the community as a result of the intense explosion and fire.
U.S. crude oil production is forecasted to reach 8.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2014, up from 5 million barrels a day in 2008.
