A recent article (“More oil train crashes predicted,” Feb. 23) by The Associated Press says it all: “The federal government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the U.S.”
Crude oil transport by rail must be stopped in New York state, immediately. In light of the report by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the recent crude oil train derailments and explosions in Illinois and West Virginia, state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens and Gov. Andrew Cuomo can no longer hide behind the mantra that crude oil transport by rail is the federal government’s problem and the state has no authority in the matter.
The governor and commissioner are legally required to protect the health, safety, welfare and property of citizens. U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., as well as Larry Mann, principal author of the Federal Railroad Safety Act, have publicly stated crude oil by rail is dangerous and potentially deadly. A summary abatement order by Martens to ban all rail transport of crude oil until it is proven that such transport is safe is well within Martens’ power.
The people cannot wait for another catastrophe before our leaders take action.
Dominick Calsolaro Albany Former Albany Common Council member
Repost from The West Central Tribune, Willmar, MN [Editor: Quote: “‘It is sheer dumb luck’ that no major oil train issues have occurred in Minnesota, Senate Transportation Chairman Scott Dibble said.” See also this MPR report, which includes a map of major rail lines in Minnesota. – RS]
326,170 Minnesotans live near oil train tracks
By Don Davis, Forum News Service, March 19, 2015 11:56 a.m.
A pair of locomotives move past a variety of freight and tanker cars on tracks in December in Willmar.
ST. PAUL — State officials estimate that 326,170 Minnesotans live within a half mile of railroad tracks that carry crude oil, a distance often known as the danger zone.
People within a half mile of tracks usually will be evacuated if an oil train could explode or catch fire after a derailment.
The estimate, released this morning after state officials could not answer a Forum News Service question about the issue last week, is the first time Minnesotans had an idea about the number of people that state transportation and public safety officials say could be in danger of oil train explosions like those seen elsewhere in the United States and Canada.
“This data provides a greater emphasis on the need for a strong rail safety program,” Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle said. “If trains derail and an emergency occurs, many lives could be in danger.”
Zelle’s department did not immediately release data showing how many in any specific geographic area live in the danger zone.
State funds were appropriated last year to begin improving firefighter and other public safety workers’ training in dealing with crude oil explosions and spills.
“It is sheer dumb luck” that no major oil train issues have occurred in Minnesota, Senate Transportation Chairman Scott Dibble, D-Minneapolis, said.
Democrats are pushing for more oil train safety training money this year, as well as railroad crossing improvements, funded by increasing assessment on the state’s largest railroads, taxing more railroad property and borrowing money.
Crude oil trains travel on 700 miles of Minnesota tracks, carrying oil that originates in western North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield. Oil trains are destined for the East and Gulf coasts.
Most oil trains enter Minnesota in Moorhead and travel through the Twin Cities, although some come into Minnesota and head south through the Willmar area.
State transportation officials say each train carries about 3.3 million gallons of oil.
Most of Gov. Mark Dayton’s rail safety plan deals with improving railroad crossings, including adding overpasses and underpasses at crossings in Moorhead, Willmar, Prairie Island Indian Community and Coon Rapids. More than 70 other crossings also would be improved under the Dayton plan.
“Improved crossings will mean fewer chances for train and wheeled vehicles crashes, which will mean less likelihood of derailments,” Zelle said. “If an incident does occur, well-trained emergency personnel will be better able to protect the citizens and communities that lie along rail lines.”
None of the recent oil train explosions have occurred at road crossings. Five oil trains have derailed and caught fire in the past six weeks.
A Quebec train carrying North Dakota crude exploded in 2013, killing 47. A nonfatal derailment and fire near Casselton, N.D., brought the issue closer to home late that year.
The governor also proposes adding an oil train response training facility at the National Guard’s Camp Ripley.
Rotting ties, loose bolts found on CSX track near Rockland
Khurram Saeed, March 17, 2015 4:50 p.m. EDT
Inspectors found five problem spots, including a number of deteriorated cross ties, between Newburgh and Haverstraw on CSX’s River Line, which carries oil trains through Rockland County.
(Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)
Crumbling railroad ties and loose bolts were some of the defects recently discovered on the freight line used by oil trains to travel through Rockland.
State and federal inspectors found five problem spots along 22 miles of track, including two switches, on CSX’s River Line from Newburgh to Haverstraw. The most serious defect was a number of deteriorated cross ties along a short section of track near the Rockland border in Fort Montgomery, Orange County.
The flaw, deemed a “critical defect,” doesn’t necessarily indicate a safety lapse but an important maintenance issue that “must be addressed,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said in a news release Tuesday. The cross ties have since been repaired.
Inspectors from the state Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration last week also identified four non-critical defects in Haverstraw and Fort Montgomery, including loose switch bolts and insufficient ballast.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day said CSX should be making these fixes “without being prompted” by the state.
“They’re breaking a trust with the public at this point and they really need to step up their game,” Day told The Journal News.
CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle said the railroad’s inspections on all crude oil routes exceed federal standards. He said those routes undergo visual inspections at least three times a week; track-geometry inspections two or three times a year; and ultrasound inspections three to 12 times a year.
“As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we look for lessons that can be applied to our programs going forward whenever an external authority identifies a defect in our infrastructure,” Doolittle said in an email.
The state review was the latest in a series of inspections of nearly 1,000 miles of tracks and the tank cars that carry Bakken crude oil across New York. Up to 30 trains, typically made up of 100 tank cars, each week make their way south through four of Rockland’s five towns on their way to refineries.
Officials said statewide they uncovered 93 defects, seven of which were critical. They included thin brake shoes o NYn the tank cars and missing bolts on the rails. In all, state and federal inspectors examined 453 crude oil tank cars and approximately 148 miles of track.
DOT Commissioner Joan McDonald praised inspectors for finding “numerous track and rail car maintenance issues that were quickly addressed.” Non-critical defects have to be fixed with 30 days, while a tank car can’t leave the rail yard until its problem has been repaired.
Derailments this year involving mile-long trains hauling Bakken crude in the U.S. and Canada have further heightened concerns about their safety. That’s because some of the tank cars were newer models equipped with greater protections designed to reduce the risk of explosions and fires.
Here are the major accidents involving oil trains so far this year:
Feb. 14: A 100-car Canadian National Railway train hauling crude oil and petroleum distillates derailed in a remote part of Ontario, Canada.
Feb. 16: A 109-car CSX oil train derailed and caught fire near Mount Carbon, West Virginia, leaking oil into a Kanawha River tributary and burning a house to its foundation.
March 5: Twenty-one cars of a 105-car Burlington Northern-Santa Fe train hauling oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota derailed about 3 miles outside Galena, Illinois, a town of about 3,000 in the state’s northwest corner.
March 7: A 94-car Canadian National Railway crude oil train derailed about 3 miles outside the Northern Ontario town of Gogama and destroyed a bridge. The accident was only 23 miles from the Feb. 14th derailment.
Last year, railroads moved nearly 500,000 tank cars of crude oil compared to just 9,500 in 2008, according to the Association of American Railroads. Amid this domestic oil boom, new federal safety regulations for the tank cars are being finalized and expected to be made public in May.
The Associated Press contributed information to this article.
Track May Have Played Role in Canadian Oil-Train Derailments
Transportation Safety Board concerned about state of rails in the Gogama region
ByPaul VieiraPaul Vieira, March 17, 2015 5:51 p.m. ET
Canadian investigators say the state of the train tracks in the part of northern Ontario where two oil trains operated by Canadian National Railway derailed in separate incidents recently may have played a role in the accidents. Photo: Reuters
OTTAWA—Canadian investigators said the state of the train tracks in the part of northern Ontario where two oil trains operated by Canadian National Railway Co. derailed recently in separate incidents may have played a part in the accidents.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the second incident, which occurred near Gogama, Ontario, earlier this month, ignited a fireball that led to the destruction of a steel bridge.
It also said Canada’s latest move to toughen standards for railcars carrying crude, unveiled last week after the second derailment in northern Ontario, is promising, but it expressed concerns about the speed at which they will come into effect.
‘Petroleum crude-oil unit trains transporting heavily-loaded tank cars will tend to impart higher than usual forces to the track infrastructure during their operation.’ —Canada’s Transportation Safety Board
The state of the track in the Gogama region, about 120 miles north of mining center Sudbury, Ontario, was of such concern to the safety board that the agency said it sent a letter to Canada’s Transport Department asking officials take a closer look at the rail infrastructure to determine whether further risk-mitigation measures were required, given the increased popularity of shipping crude oil by rail.
“Petroleum crude-oil unit trains transporting heavily-loaded tank cars will tend to impart higher than usual forces to the track infrastructure during their operation. These higher forces expose any weaknesses that may be present in the track structure, making the track more susceptible to failure,” the board said.
A spokesman for Montreal-based Canadian National said the company is cooperating with investigators and wants to identify “any measures that must be taken to protect the public and the environment.” Meanwhile, the railroad said it has boosted inspection procedures on this northern Ontario rail corridor.
A representative for Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said the government has asked the railroad to report to officials about concerns raised to date over the March 7 derailment. The spokesman added Ms. Raitt has encouraged lawmakers to call Canadian National executives before a parliamentary committee to testify about rail safety.
The March derailment in northern Ontario involved 39 cars, the safety board said, and caused a fire that burned until March 10. There were no reported injuries.
The incident followed a derailment of another crude-carrying train on Feb. 14. That incident also caused a fire but no injuries.
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