Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Emergency Readiness & Response, Explosion, Fire, Union Pacific Railroad, Valero Benicia Refinery

Derailment fireballs too hot to handle

Repost from The Benicia Herald
[Editor: I wrote the following for publication in the Benicia Herald to comment on our local version of a phenomenon taking place at cities across the nation.  I’ve lost track of the number of Google alerts in recent weeks about first-responder-crude-by-rail-training-events sponsored at great expense by the rail and refinery industries.  In nearly every case, the after-training press releases and interviews serve as pacifiers to public concerns, with assurances of adequate equipment and training should anything go wrong.  This is, of course, far from the case.  Our respected and heroic firefighters are caught in a catch-22: of course they want additional training, but their work should not be made into a pawn in the ugly game of industry painting itself as clean and safe.  – RS]

Roger Straw: A straw man

November 14, 2014 by Roger Straw

THE HERALD’S RECENT TWO PART SERIES (click HERE and HERE) on the Union Pacific Railroad emergency training at Valero for a crude-by-rail accident suggested that someone, somewhere has claimed that “crude oil fires can’t be extinguished” and that “foam doesn’t put out fires.” Valero Fire Chief Joe Bateman called it a “fabrication,” and he’s right. No one I know has claimed this. (Classically, this is referred to as a “straw man” argument … and as you might guess, someone with my last name just can’t resist rising to the bait.)

The fire at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, is out, so it surely was extinguished, though it took two days beginning with a period when it could not be approached. For a time there was, in fact, no alternative to just letting it burn. The same is true of the explosion in Casselton, N.D. In certain circumstances, firefighters do deliberately let a fire burn itself out. Sometimes this is a triage decision: First responders’ priorities are sometimes directed to saving lives and deflecting the flow of a spill. Other times it is because there is no other choice.

It is accurate to state that foam puts out crude oil fires, but that statement loses its meaning in a worst-case scenario of a major catastrophic derailment and explosion. When there is a massive fire such as that in Lac-Mégantic or Casselton, firefighters have been unable to safely approach the inferno and have indeed been forced to let the fire burn. Foam puts out oil fires, but not when emergency personnel are a half-mile distance from a catastrophic explosion.

I recently received a communication from Fred Millar, a well-known independent consultant and expert on chemical safety and railroad transportation. Millar gives convincing and documented testimony addressing the tactic of “letting it burn itself out.” He wrote, “…in several post-Lac-Mégantic forums (see the NTSB Safety Forum webcast) and in many media articles, the majority of fire service experts have been clear that the ongoing crude oil rail disasters are beyond their capabilities to handle. Even with an infinite amount of costly foam, letting them burn is the only sensible approach (and this is what was done in all the major crude oil disasters in North America).”

Millar’s full statement and nearly a dozen other reputable sources confirm this as fact. (See Benicia Independent articles: Firefighters will sometimes stand back and let an oil train fire burn itself out and Expert on first responder decisions to ‘let it burn’.)

A few questions remain. Did the Union Pacific training include preparation for a massive unapproachable explosion? Do our first responders know what to do (or not do) in the case of another Lac-Mégantic, Lynchburg or Casselton? Have our firefighters and emergency personnel considered how to protect Valero’s Industrial Park neighbors and residents within a 1-mile blast/evacuation zone of a potential major accident? Somehow, I don’t think Union Pacific’s shiny yellow training tank car did much to help our local heroes figure out what to do if a 50-car train carrying millions of gallons of volatile Bakken crude oil derails, punctures and sets off multiple massive explosions.

Yes, I know … not likely. But few would disagree: When it comes to high-risk ventures, “well-prepared” means knowledge of, and readiness for, worst-case scenarios.

For more information, see SafeBenicia.org.

Roger Straw is a Benicia resident.

 

Bakken Crude, Massive increase in crude-by-rail, Oil stabilization, State regulation, Volatile gases

North Dakota to Require Producers to Treat Crude Before Shipping

Repost from The Wall Street Journal

North Dakota to Require Producers to Treat Crude Before Shipping

Move Comes Amid Growing Safety Concerns About Oil-Laden Trains

By Chester Dawson, The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 13, 2014

Reuters
Reuters

North Dakota plans unprecedented steps to ensure crude pumped from the state’s Bakken Shale oil producing region is safe enough to be loaded into railroad tank cars and sent across the country.

In the first major move by regulators to address the role of gaseous, volatile crude in railroad accidents, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, which regulates energy production in the state, said it would require Bakken Shale well operators to strip gases from crudes that show high vapor pressures.

“We believe the vast majority of our Bakken oil will fall well below the standard,” Lynn Helms, director of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources, said at a news conference.

The proposed state rule will require all operators to run crude oil through equipment that heats up the crude and forces out gases from the liquid. An estimated 15% of current producers without such equipment will have to submit quarterly test results showing their wells don’t exceed the state’s proposed 13.7 pounds a square inch vapor pressure limit, Mr. Helms said.

Those changes could make the new rules more costly for the state’s smaller producers. Jack Ekstrom, vice president of government affairs for Whiting Petroleum Corp. said the rules don’t appear to be “a major material cost” he said. “This is perhaps more of a concern to a marginal or smaller operator.”

A representative for the North Dakota Petroleum Council, an industry lobbying group, criticized the proposed rules for “micromanaging the industry,” and said they could lead to unintended consequences such as increased burning of excess natural gas at well sites.

The proposal also would prohibit blending condensate or natural gas liquids back into crude and require rail loading terminals to inform state regulators of any oil received for shipment exceeding the vapor pressure limits, Mr. Helms said.

He said the new rules would cost industry, but not enough to make drilling Bakken oil uncompetitive.

Scott Skokos, an organizer with landowners’ group Dakota Resource Council, called the move by the regulator “a step in the right direction.”

The state’s decision follows months of officials’ playing down the possibility that Bakken crude was more volatile and could explode more readily than other North American crudes.

Several oil trains have derailed and exploded since 2013, spurring concern about the safety of growing numbers of oil-carrying trains delivering oil produced by the shale boom.

‘…a step in the right direction.’

—Scott Skokos, Dakota Resource Council

The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Bakken crude contained several times the amount of combustible gases as oil from elsewhere. Relying on an analysis of data collected at a pipeline in Louisiana, the Journal pointed out that oil from the Bakken Shale had a far higher vapor pressure, making it much more likely to emit combustible gases, than dozens of other crude oils.

The proposed rules specify how wells should treat the oil to ensure it is “in a stable state,” according to Mr. Helms.

Executives from the top oil companies working in the Bakken Shale told state regulators in a September hearing that their crude is safe to transport by train using existing treatment methods, opposing potentially costly requirements that they make the oil less volatile before shipping it.

But studies by the U.S. and Canada have indicated that Bakken crude is more volatile than other grades of oil. Industry-funded studies, including one commissioned by the NDPC, have said Bakken oil is no different than other types of light oil.

The state expects to issue final rules by December 11th.

Production of light shale oil through hydraulic fracturing has soared, accounting for most of the additional three million barrels a day of oil that the U.S. produces today compared with 2009. Much of that is shipped to refineries by railcars, especially crude produced from Bakken Shale due to the area’s few pipelines.

Bakken Crude, Derailment, Ethanol

LATEST DERAILMENT: Casselton … again

Repost from The Bismarck Tribune
[Editor: Note that this derailment took place near an ethanol plant!  According to one report, “The cars hit some propane tanks on the property, which is owned by BNSF, but there were no leaks or explosions.”  UPDATE, photos and video,Valley News Live, Fargo: Broken Rail Caused Trains to Derail.  – RS]

Two trains involved in derailment near Casselton, North Dakota

2014-11-14, By Adrian Glass-Moore, Forum News Service
Derailment
Lumber and debris is cleaned up Friday from the site of a BNSF derailment west of Casselton, N.D. David Samson / The Forum

CASSELTON, N.D. – For the second time in under a year, two BNSF Railway trains have derailed just west of Casselton.

“Welcome to Casselton, again,” is how Casselton Fire Chief Tim McLean greeted reporters at a news conference following Thursday night’s incident.

No one was injured when 12 or 13 empty crude oil cars from a westbound train and an unknown number of cars from an eastbound train carrying lumber derailed, McLean said.

“We dodged a bullet again,” said Casselton Mayor Lee Anderson, recalling the fiery explosion last December when a BNSF train carrying oil derailed west of here.

The mayor said he felt “disappointment” overall at Thursday’s incident, but was “pleased that it happened out of town and didn’t cause any serious problems like it did last time.”

Authorities found no hazardous materials or leaking tanker cars Thursday, McLean said. Lumber was scattered in the area, he said.

“There was severe track damage,” McLean said. “I’m sure they’ll be replacing the rails on both tracks.”

Authorities don’t know which train caused the derailment, said McLean, who added that BNSF will investigate the cause of the derailment.

Propane tanks on BNSF property were struck in the derailment, but do not appear to be compromised, a news release from the Sheriff’s Department said.

“Fortunately, this one here turned out better than last year’s,” McLean said.

Cass County sheriff’s deputies and other officials responded at 5:34 p.m. to a report of a derailment in the 3500 block of 153rd Avenue Southeast, near the Tharaldson Ethanol plant.

Steve Fox said he was working on the nearby McIntyre Pyle farm when the trains derailed.

Fox and his co-workers went out to retrieve two pickup trucks from a field about 5:30, he said.

“There was an eastbound train and I saw sparks off the last car of the eastbound train, so I assume that was the breaks,” he said.

As soon as Fox noticed tanker cars on the westbound side of the tracks, he and his co-workers quickly left because the memory of the explosion in December was still fresh, he said.

Fox said his reaction was, “Let’s get the pickup and let’s get the heck out of here.”

Last Dec. 30, a BNSF train hauling crude oil from western North Dakota derailed about a half-mile west of Casselton, causing a massive explosion. No one was hurt in the explosion, though it has prompted increased calls for safety in shipping oil by rail.

In the December derailment, 13 cars from a westbound soybean train derailed, and one of the derailed cars ended up on the adjacent track. An oncoming train hauling crude oil struck the derailed train, causing the two lead locomotives of the oil train and its first 21 cars to derail. In addition to the 20 oil-carrying tank cars, a train car carrying sand also derailed. In all, the soybean train had 112 cars and the oil train had 106 cars.

A National Transportation Safety Board report on the derailment said the soybean train was traveling about 28 mph when the crew applied emergency brakes. The oil train was going about 43 mph when the crew applied emergency brakes, and its estimated speed at the time of the crash was only 1 mph slower, 42 mph.

“We have a lot of things go through, a lot of them are oil, a lot of them are I don’t know what,” Anderson said Thursday night. “That’s obviously a concern. … They go through fast and they’ve wanted to go through faster.”

Anderson said his city’s request that trains go no faster than 40 mph within city limits has been respected.

“We can’t do anything outside of city limits,” where the two recent derailments took place, said Anderson, who took over as mayor in June. The city doesn’t even “have the authority to enforce the speed limit” in the city, he said.

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Derailment, Emergency Readiness & Response, Massive increase in crude-by-rail

Indiana derailment emergency response plan: evacuate homes and let it burn

Repost from WANE-TV, Fort Wayne, IN
[Editor: Significant quote by Auburn Indiana Fire Chief Mike VanZile: “’Defensively, to let something burn is usually the safest for the environment. If we start adding a bunch of foam, a bunch of water to a product and it goes into city sewers, lakes, streams, rivers, waterways, the environmental impact could last for years,’ VanZile explained. ‘If it’s one car involved, we would have the resources to help start putting that fire out. If it’s multiple cars, we don’t have close to the resources to do that.’”

Evacuations likely if an oil train derails

By Adam Widener, November 13, 2014


FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Northeast Indiana is a major corridor for railroads. It’s no stranger to hazardous shipments and derailments.  One particular product is traveling through at increasingly high rates: crude oil.

Explosive and even deadly derailments have recently brought oil train concerns into the national spotlight. It’s a scenario first responders are preparing for now, more than ever.

If an oil train catches fire, the emergency response plan includes evacuating homes and letting the trains burn out, instead of fighting the blaze.

More crude oil produced in North Dakota is being shipped through northeast Indiana and across the U.S. Since the beginning of 2013, there have been at least 10 major oil train derailments in the U.S. and Canada.  One incident in Quebec killed 47 people.

The trend has caught the attention of federal safety regulators, who have proposed a handful of new regulations to make oil trains safer.

A Norfolk Southern train derailed east of New Haven on September 15.
A Norfolk Southern train derailed east of New Haven on September 15.

15 Finds Out: First responders left in the dark regarding oil train stats

Northeast Indiana isn’t exempt from train derailments. In September, a Norfolk Southern train derailed just east of New Haven. Fortunately, most of the tank cars were empty. Officials said no chemicals or hazardous materials spilled.

Serious hazmat incidents

Other areas across the state haven’t been as fortunate.  15 Finds Out looked up records with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). They state there have been six “serious” hazmat incidents on Indiana railroads since January 1, 2010. Fortunately, none involved crude oil.

One of the worst accidents happened in Ligonier in March of 2012.  More than 200,000 pounds of molten sulfur spilled when a Norfolk Southern train derailed.  Some of it caught fire and more than 100 people from 56 homes had to be evacuated because of the toxic plume of smoke.

Other areas impacted include:

  • Portage – 6/6/10: A CSX train derailed and spilled 22,000 pounds of Polymeric Beads in super sacks
  • Oakland City – 6/1/12: A mixed freight train derailed and spilled 16,424 gallons of ethanol. It caused $876,000 in damage
  • Avon – 10/5/13: A CSX train leaked 0.1 gallons of hydrochloric acid
  • Westville – 1/6/12: Three trains collided, caught fire, and spilled almost two gallons of flammable alcohols. 54 people were evacuated.
  • Hammond – 12/28/11: An Indiana Harbor Belt train derailed and spilled 150 gallons of diesel fuel
More than 200,000 pounds of molten sulfur spilled when a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ligonier in 2012.
More than 200,000 pounds of molten sulfur spilled when a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ligonier in 2012.

But what if the incidents had involved crude oil?  Michael “Mick” Newton, Noble County Emergency Management Director, handled the Ligonier incident.  He said the local response would be similar no matter what hazardous material derails.

Emergency crews plan to call railroad leaders, who will respond to clean up the derailment. They will also immediately get people out of the “danger area,” which could include anyone living near the toxic plume of smoke.

Newton exclusively showed 15 Finds Out an app EMA directors would use in the case of a derailment and toxic fire.

“This program gives us an idea how far, worst case scenario, to evacuate,” Newton explained. One oil train simulation had evacuations up to five miles away from the potential derailment.

Auburn Fire Chief Mike VanZile said his team has recently trained more on crude oil derailments than ever before. He said if an oil train derailed and caught fire, his crews will have to let it burn.

“Defensively, to let something burn is usually the safest for the environment. If we start adding a bunch of foam, a bunch of water to a product and it goes into city sewers, lakes, streams, rivers, waterways, the environmental impact could last for years,” VanZile explained. “If it’s one car involved, we would have the resources to help start putting that fire out. If it’s multiple cars, we don’t have close to the resources to do that.”

With a greater number of oil trains traveling through places like Fort Wayne, Auburn, and Garrett, federal officials say the risk for these extreme responses is growing.

Newton made it clear that he’s not overly concerned by the rising number of oil trains traveling through his county. But when asked for the worst case scenario, he said, “If it were to happen here in the town of Albion or in a community, that would be my worst nightmare because the area we would have to evacuate.”

For safe and healthy communities…