Repost from WKYC, Cleveland, OH [Editor: This shows the lengths the rail and oil industries will go to market their deadly plans to first responders and the public. Will we see “safety trains” here on the West Coast? Hmmm… maybe at Disneyland? – RS]
CSX ‘safety train’ rolls into Cleveland
AJ Ross and WKYC Staff, WKYC 7:18 p.m. EDT July 24, 2014
CLEVELAND — One day after President Obama’s administration called for tougher rules on how flammable crude oil is transported, the CSX “safety train” rolled into Cleveland.
The train is making stops in much of the company’s crude oil service territory over the next several months.
Its enhanced training program offers firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians and other first responders hands-on exposure to rail cars.
“We have a variety of experts here on hand to talk about general freight operations, some of the products that we ship and talking about crude by rail,” CSX Spokeswoman Carla Groleau said.
On Wednesday, the Obama administration proposed stricter guidelines that include phasing out tens of thousands of tank cars unless they are retrofitted to meet new safety standards.
The proposals also include changes in speed limits, better braking and testing of volatile liquids, including oil.
“We need a new, world order on how this stuff moves,” Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, in announcing the rules. “More crude is being shipped by rail than ever before.”
Cars carrying volatile crude oil have skyrocketed, increasing 4,000 percent in 5 years, creating more risk, spills, fires and explosions.
“This volume of crude oil being produced and transported by rail just didn’t exist that long ago,” Foxx said.
The proposal comes from painful lessons learned in the aftermath of tragedy.
Just two months ago, an oil-carrying freight train derailed in Lynchburg, Virginia, spilling 30,000 gallons of oil into the James River.
And last year, in Lac Megantic, Quebec, a runaway oil train exploded, killing 47 people.
The department’s proposal will take months to finalize after a 60-day comment period.
As the wheels of progress move at a snail’s pace in Washington, there is no waiting here in Cleveland.
Train traffic continues to move through and first responders know they must be ready for the call, whatever and whenever it may be.
“To actually be able to touch and look at the equipment involved, and the valves involved, and the different train cars involved, I think it’s very helpful to cement that information in,” said Darren Collins, a first responder from Lakewood.
Norfolk Southern sues to block disclosure of crude oil shipments
By Curtis Tate, McClatchy Washington Bureau, July 24, 2014
A Norfolk Southern crude oil train barrels east through Columbia, Pa., on March 22, 2014. The train runs parallel to the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania and Maryland on its way to the PBF Energy refinery in Delaware City, Del. On Wednesday, the railroad sued the state of Maryland to prevent the disclosure of information about the shipments, including their routes and frequencies. McClatchy and the Associated Press had requested the documents through the state Public Information Act. CURTIS TATE — McClatchy
WASHINGTON — A major hauler of crude oil by rail has sued the state of Maryland to stop the public release of information about the shipments, according to court documents.
The suit was filed Wednesday, the same day the U.S. Department of Transportation announced proposed rules to improve the safety of crude oil shipments by rail. Several serious oil train accidents resulting in spills, fires and fatalities have increased scrutiny on the industry.
Rail companies prefer to keep details about crude oil shipments confidential and some states have agreed, but others have decided that the records can be made public.
Several states – including California, Washington, Illinois and Florida – have fulfilled open records requests from news organizations and others. Though rail companies didn’t want the information made public, none had pursued a legal challenge to block its release.
The Maryland suit, triggered by a state Public Information Act request from McClatchy and the Associated Press, appears to be the first time a railroad has gone to court over the issue.
Norfolk Southern, a major Eastern rail company based in Norfolk, Va., filed the suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City to seek a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to prevent the release of the information the two news organizations requested.
The Maryland Department of the Environment had given the railroad until Thursday to challenge its decision to release the information. In a letter to McClatchy, the department wrote that it expected a similar lawsuit from CSX, a rival Eastern rail carrier.
Norfolk Southern declined to comment.
In May, following a series of derailments that involved crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken shale region, the USDOT required rail companies to notify state emergency management officials about shipments of 1 million gallons or more of Bakken oil within state borders.
The notifications were intended primarily to help fire departments better prepare for potential derailments. Railroads asked state officials to sign confidentiality agreements _ citing concerns about security and competition _ and initially, the USDOT advised states to comply.
But in response to numerous state open-records requests, the department eventually conceded that no federal law protected the information from public disclosure.
According to the suit filed by Norfolk Southern, Thomas Levering, the director of emergency preparedness and planning for the Maryland Department of the Environment, signed such a confidentiality agreement May 28.
McClatchy filed a Public Information Act request for the information on June 10.
On June 13, the railroad received a letter from the office of Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler voiding the confidentiality agreement. It said Levering had “no legal authority” to sign the agreement and that it was in conflict with the state open records law. Gansler’s office declined to comment for this story.
On June 27, Norfolk Southern sent a letter objecting to the attorney general’s claims. The railroad argued that the crude oil shipment information enjoyed “mandatory protection” under state law because it contained “confidential commercial information.”
The railroad also wrote that state law protects information that could “jeopardize the security of a facility or facilitate the planning of a terrorist attack.”
The federal government has nearly sole jurisdiction over rail transportation and transportation security, and neither the USDOT or the Transportation Security Administration considers information about crude oil shipments by rail “security sensitive.”
The Norfolk Southern suit provides a glimpse of the rail industry’s thinking on the issue. In an affidavit that accompanies the injunction request, the railroad concedes that much of the information in the crude oil notifications is already publicly available.
Michael McClellan, Norfolk Southern’s vice president for industrial products, wrote that information about rail lines and the customers they serve is available from various sources, including rail enthusiast websites and the railroads themselves.
He also noted that information about the processing capacity of oil refineries and rail terminals can be found on Wikipedia. But he said specific knowledge about crude oil routes and volumes would give an advantage to the railroad’s competitors, including other train lines, as well as trucking, pipeline and marine vessel operators, potentially reducing Norfolk Southern’s market share.
In another affidavit, Carl Carbaugh, the railroad’s director of infrastructure security, wrote that terrorist Internet postings and publications have identified the U.S. freight rail network as a potential target.
Carbaugh wrote that “understanding where and when trains operate is difficult to discern without routing information or knowing type and volume of commodity shipped,” and publicizing such details “undercuts an inherent strength” in the industry’s risk profile.
But he also conceded that it’s impossible to build a fence around 250,000 miles of track across the country. The biggest security problem most railroads face is from trespassers and theft of consumer goods from stopped trains.
Of the roughly 16 major derailments involving shipments of crude oil or ethanol since 2006, none was the result of a terrorist attack. Though some of those accidents are still under investigation, most were caused by mechanical failure or human error.
Press Release from the offices of U.S. Representative Mike Thompson
Rep. Mike Thompson statement on DOT’s newly announced crude by rail regulations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) today issued the following statement on the Department of Transportation’s new proposed crude by rail regulations:
“These new regulations are a step in the right direction. They address concerns laid out in the letter I sent Secretary Foxx earlier this month, and will help make sure crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region is shipped in a safer manner. However, there is more that should be done. Public safety is priority number one, and that’s why we need to make sure our first responders have all the information they need to quickly and effectively address emergency situations.”
Many trains transporting crude oil from the Bakken Shale formation of North Dakota run through Thompson’s congressional district. The crude oil from this region is regarded as highly flammable.
Earlier this month, Thompson and House colleagues from Northern California sent a letter to DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx expressing strong concern over the increased shipments of crude oil by rail in their districts, and calling for action to increase safety.
The letter asked that the DOT phase out old rail cars for newer, safer retrofitted cars. The new DOT regulations seek to phase out older tank cars and implement tighter speed limits while enhancing safety standards for new and existing tank cars.
Additionally, in June Thompson passed legislation through the House that enhances rail and refinery security by requiring the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis (DHS I&A) to conduct an intelligence assessment of the security of domestic oil refineries and related rail infrastructure, and to make any recommendations it deems appropriate to protect surrounding communities or the infrastructure itself from potential harm.
Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California’s 5th Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma Counties. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and chairs the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.