Tag Archives: North Dakota

Spill prevention and response, State regulation

Tacoma Editorial: Washington should impose per-barrel fees like California

Repost from The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington

Paying to protect ourselves from North Dakota crude

EDITORIAL, The News Tribune, July 1, 2014
Tank cars loaded with crude oil head east at Hurricane, West Virginia, on May 11. Oil trains have become an increasingly common sight traveling through South Sound communities – and their numbers are projected to continue growing. CURTIS TATE — MCT

There’s good news about the explosive oil tankers rolling through our communities: We can finally find out what the bad news is.

Until Tuesday, the public knew only that the state had suddenly become a magnet for thousands of antique tanker cars, each filled with 680 barrels of volatile crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region.

We’ve all seen them: huge black tanks topped with what look like black caps. Their design is a half-century old. The National Transportation Safety Board has been yelling for years about their tendency to split open and explode in crashes.

Federal regulators finally took the risk seriously after one oil train — more or less identical to countless others — exploded in Quebec last year and incinerated 47 human beings.

The new gusher of North Dakota crude has sent a storm surge of tankers across the continent. The rail industry and some states haven’t been eager to tell the public where the trains are going and how many there are.

One particularly specious claim is the information might fall into the hands of terrorists — as if any terrorist with time on his hands couldn’t simply stand by the track in a given locale and count.

The U.S. government last month declared that the train movements aren’t state secrets. Washington state’s emergency preparedness people last week released the details. In Pierce County, for example, BNSF Railway is currently moving 11 to 16 major oil trains through University Place, Tacoma and other communities.

The typical train pulls about 100 cars. Trains that pull fewer than 35 or so aren’t reported. Keep in mind: Shipments are still curving up. In 2011, zero crude was sent to Washington refineries by rail. In 2013, that zero had grown to 29 million barrels.

It’s crucial that the public have this information. Without it, we couldn’t assess either the threat or the preventive measures.

BNSF appears to be trying to get ahead of the problem. (As common carriers, railways are legally obligated to carry oil trains.) It is upgrading its tracks aggressively and is funding training for the state’s first responders.

Railway companies don’t normally deploy cars of their own, but BNSF is buying a small fleet of modern, much-safer oil tankers. Credit where it’s due.

Washington is reacting to the surge faster than the federal government did. This year’s Legislature appropriated nearly $1 million to develop response plans. State agencies are on task.

Unfortunately, lawmakers failed to take one obvious step: imposing a per-barrel fee on rail-borne oil, as California does and as this state already does with the seaborne crude that arrives at our refineries. As a result, taxpayers are footing the bill for much of the emergency preparation.

Heaven knows how many oil barons and CEOs are enriching themselves by rolling these potential bombs through our cities. It’s galling that we have to pay to protect ourselves from them.

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Rail Safety, Reid vapor pressure levels, Volatile gases

‘Micro refineries’ a solution to oil-train woes, energy firm says

Repost from Reuters in The Jamestown Sun

‘Micro refineries’ a solution to oil-train woes, energy firm says

By Reuters Media Today

WASHINGTON – A handful of small refineries in North Dakota could remove dangerous gas from oil train cargoes and make shipments from the state’s productive Bakken shale area safer on the tracks, according to a company which has pitched the idea to regulators.

The proposal from Quantum Energy Inc would strip propane and other volatile gas from North Dakota crude and send much of the remaining fuel to distant refineries.

Williston, North Dakota-based Quantum hopes to build five “micro refineries” near railheads already handling Bakken crude to strip about 100,000 barrels a day of fuel from that stream.

Some of the resultant gas could add to household fuel supplies in the upper Midwest while making Bakken-origin rail cargoes safer, Quantum’s executive vice president Russell Smith told Reuters.

“Our plan solves a couple of important problems,” said Smith, who earlier this month pitched the idea in meetings with White House officials and Transportation Department regulators mulling oil train safety.

Besides light fuels, Smith said, the Quantum facilities would also pull a stream of diesel gasoline from Bakken sources to help slake demand in the region. Executives hope to have permits and financing to break ground on at least one of the proposed refineries before year-end.

The company expects that each processing center would cost about $500 million.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation said officials could not comment on their deliberations about oil train safety or meetings with industry.

In the coming weeks, though, officials are expected to outline measures to improve oil train safety such as demanding tougher tank cars, slower speeds and diversions around urban centers.

Several oil cargoes from North Dakota’s Bakken have exploded during rail accidents in the last year. Some officials say toughened tank cars should be used to move such fuel.

Regulators have homed in on the vapor pressure of Bakken fuel, one index of the explosion risk.

Industry-funded tests of Bakken fuel have returned vapor pressure readings of 15 pounds per square inch on the commonly-used Reid scale, while Quantum Energy believes it could bring that reading below 6 psi, similar to fuels like ethanol and heavy crude.

“The crude is much less volatile once you take these light tops off,” said Smith, referring to the gassy share of Bakken fuel.

Some oil industry officials, though, see little need to reduce vapor pressure in oil train cargoes and think Quantum might have misjudged demand for gas.

“There will be a market for propane, potentially in North Dakota, but what about the other components they’ll be removing?” said Kari Cutting, vice president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.

Pentane, butane and other light gases are not easily marketable in North Dakota currently and may have to be shipped to buyers such as far-off chemical plants in tank cars fit to carry dangerous gas.

Smith said Quantum expects to find buyers that would welcome the portion of Bakken fuel not marketed close to the source. The Bakken field extends into Montana and Canada’s Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces.

Crude By Rail, Hazmat notification, Oil prices

Farm Bureau posts Wenatchee Washington opinion: No Oil Trains Here

Repost from The Farm Bureau’s FBACT Insider (The Unified National Voice of Agriculture)
[Editor: I was heartened to learn that the Farm Bureau has a progressive agenda on energy.  See http://www.fbactinsider.org/issues/energy.  – RS]

OPINION: Move along, no oil trains here

June 27, 2014 – The Wenatchee World

June 26–Peak oil? Not yet. Like it or not, the United States now is among the world’s leading oil producers, pumping around 9 million barrels a day and rising. That’s not far behind Saudi Arabia, and makes a lot of sheikdoms look puny. And like it or not, this compressed energy will be burned to turn the economic wheels of the world. To get from producer to customer, however, it has to go somewhere.

Just not here.

The information reluctantly released Tuesday shows that in the absence of pipelines the railways of the northern tier have become, not exactly pipelines on wheels, but getting closer. Information on oil shipments by rail was provided to states and emergency responders by order of the Department of Transportation earlier this month, with the expectation that it be kept confidential for security reasons. Then DOT ruled there really weren’t any security reasons, and so the train data hit the wires on Tuesday.

The report from BNSF detailed one week of shipments late in May of light crude from the Bakken field of North Dakota. It showed not what rail lines were used, but where trains traveled by county. These are loaded trains of at least 1 million gallons of crude, but often around 3 million gallons. Around 18 such trains a week enter Washington, mostly through Spokane, and apparently traveling south through the Tri-Cities and down the Columbia Gorge. Some then make their way north.

Spokane County saw 16 trains for the week; Lincoln, 17; Adams, Benton, Franklin, Skamania and Clark, 18; Pierce, 15; King, 11; Snohomish, 10; Skagit, 9; Whatcom, 5. Kittitas, Grant, Douglas and Chelan — 0.

So as expected, no heavy oil trains make the heights of Stevens Pass, although we have seen empties headed east.

The mounting news makes it look likely that we will see more and more tank cars passing through. Just this week is was announced that the Commerce Department had agreed to allow two Texas companies to export small amounts of lightly refined oil, possibly creating a tiny fracture in the 40-year-old ban on U.S. oil exports. The Obama administration and experts were quick to downplay this, saying it didn’t constitute an end to the embargo, which would require congressional approval. But it was a big enough crack in the door to raise Texas crude prices and drop oil stocks.

No one still alive can recall exactly why the United States forbid its oil to be exported, except that the people in government are always excessively paranoid about gasoline prices rising for reasons other than increased taxation. Also, at its peak the United States imported 60 percent of its oil needs. Now that’s down near 40 percent. The experts say a full-fledged end to the export embargo would raise crude prices at home, and make world markets less volatile. All that just increases the incentive to hunt, drill, frack and pump.

Exports are, almost always, good for a nation’s economy, and so oil transport will have a future on the West Coast. We will see. Remember that rail shipments of oil in Washington were zero as recently as 2011. The state estimates they hit 17 million barrels in 2013, and some say that could triple.

Remember, it will be burned. Some 25 years ago, the International Energy Agency estimated that fossil fuels provided 82 percent of the world’s energy consumption. After decades and billions invested in renewable energy, the IEA announced in February, that of all the world’s energy consumption, fossil fuels provide … 82 percent.

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Hazmat notification, Oil train contents, Rail routing

North Dakota Oil-By-Rail Routes & Chemical Composition Published for First Time

Repost from DESMOGBLOG
[Editor: This is an incredibly detailed report on North Dakota train routes and contents.  I am seeing similar reports for Washington State, Illinois and points east.  I am assuming – and hoping – that we will see something like this for California soon.  – RS]

Exclusive: North Dakota Oil-By-Rail Routes Published for First Time

Fri, 2014-06-27, Steve Horn

For the first time, DeSmogBlog has published dozens of documents obtained from the North Dakota government revealing routes and chemical composition data for oil-by-rail trains in the state carrying oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in the Bakken Shale.

The information was initially submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) under the legal dictates of a May 7 Emergency Order, which both the federal government and the rail industry initially argued should only be released to those with a “need-to-know” and not the public at-large.

North Dakota’s Department of Emergency Services, working in consultation with the North Dakota Office of the Attorney General, made the documents public a couple weeks after DeSmogBlog filed a June 13 North Dakota Public Records Statute request.

“There is no legal basis to protect what they have provided us at this point,” North Dakota assistant attorney general Mary Kae Kelsch said during the June 25 Department of Emergency Service’s quarterly meeting, which DeSmogBlog attended via phone. “It doesn’t meet any criteria for our state law to protect this.”

Initially, oil-by-rail giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and other rail companies sent boilerplate letters — one copy of which has been obtained by DeSmogBlog from the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security through the state’s Public Records Act — to several State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs), arguing train routes should be kept confidential.

BNSF also sent several SERCs a boilerplate contract proposal, requesting that they exempt the information rail companies were compelled to submit to the SERCs under the DOT Emergency Order from release under Freedom of Information Act. A snippet of the proposed contract can be seen below:

Dan Wilz, homeland security division director and state security advisor of the Department of Emergency Services, said the claims did not hold legal water.

“Joe can stand on a street corner and figure that out within a week’s period,” Wilz said at the quarterly meeting. “They watch the trains go through their community each and every day.”

BNSF, Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail) and Northern Plains Railroad all submitted information to the Department of Emergency Services.

CP Rail: 7 Trains/Week, “Highly Flammable”

In its submission to the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, CP Rail revealed it sent seven oil-by-rail trains through 13 counties in North Dakota the week of June 9-15. CP Rail also estimated it generally sends 2-5 trains through those same counties during an average week.

Some oil-by-rail trains, dubbed “bomb trains” by some due to their propensity to explode, carry over 2,677,500 gallons of fracked oil. The trains are often over a mile in length and contain over 100 cars.

The company also released information on the chemical composition of the Bakken oil it sends on its rail cars, conceding that Bakken oil is “highly flammable” and “easily ignited by heat, sparks or flames.”

Further, CP Rail admitted that Bakken oil has “a very low flash point” and that “water spray when fighting [its] fire may be inefficient.”

BNSF: Bakken Oil-By-Rail King

BNSF, owned by Warren Buffett — a major campaign contributor to President Barack Obama both in 2008 and 2012 and one of the richest men on the planet — is widely considered the king of oil-by-rail in the U.S. The documents BNSF released to the Department of Emergency Services back up the notion.

One document shows BNSF sent 31 oil-by-rail trains through Cass County, North Dakota during the week of May 29 – June 4, also saying it sends between 30-45 trains per week on average through the County. That same week, 30 BNSF trains zoomed through Barnes County, North Dakota.

A document filed the next week, covering June 5 – June 11, shows 45 trains passed through Cass County that week. Another 37 passed through Ward County, North Dakota and another 33 through McHenry, Pierce and Mountrail counties.

Northern Plains: Chemical Composition Revealed

In its DOT submission, Northern Plains included an expansive Bakken crude oil sample chemical composition test submitted by Musket Corporation, which has a terminal and transload site in North Dakota.

Northern Plains also submitted a Bakken Crude Safety Data Sheet, created by Musket, as well. The Sheet echos CP Rail in stating that Bakken oil is a “highly flammable liquid and vapor.”

Further, the Sheet explains that Bakken oil contains Benzene, a carcinogen.

A record amount of Bakken oil spilled into waterways that are a drinking source for many as a result explosions of oil-by-rail trains in 2013. Most recently, the exploding oil-by-rail train in Lynchburg, Virginia spilled into the James River.


Photo Credit: Erin Ferrell – ABC 13 News | Twitter

Compared to CP Rail and BNSF, Northern Plains is a minor player in terms of the amount of oil it carries by rail in North Dakota. It submitted that it carries 12 trains per year and all within Walsh County, North Dakota, also including a map of its route.

“Right to Know” vs. “Need to Know”

Despite the fact dozens of oil-by-rail trains pass through North Dakota counties on a daily basis, carrying a substance that contains a known carcinogen and is “highly flammable,” Big Rail and Big Oil used its legal might to claim only a select few “need to know” where these cars travel.

“For some reason this entire rail oil industry, they just fill these rail cars and send them without really knowing what’s in them,” Scott Smith, chief scientist for Water Defense said in an article appearing in the summer edition of the Earth Island Journal. “And it’s the only industry I’m aware of that gets away with that.”

But this time around, due to the North Dakota Public Records Statute, Big Rail and Big Oil didn’t get away with it.

Photo Credit: Kyle Potter | Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

Attachment Size
BNSF ND Oil-by-Rail Filing.pdf 10.69 MB
Northern Plains ND Oil-by-Rail Filing.pdf 14.68 MB
Canadian Pacific ND Oil-by-Rail Filing.pdf 10.7 MB