Category Archives: Crude By Rail

Bakken Crude, Crude By Rail, Hazmat notification

CSX’s oil shipping information made public in Virginia

Repost from The Roanoke Times

[Editor: Significant quote: “In addition to describing oil train movements, the CSX notice to Virginia officials named contacts within the Jacksonville, Fla., company who oversee hazardous materials shipments; published a number for its emergency call center; and furnished nine pages of general and technical information about crude oil’s makeup, chemical properties, handling, dangers and mitigation measures in the event of a spill…. A red placard bearing the number 1267 is plastered on the side of every oil tanker car for easy identification.”  – RS]

CSX’s oil shipping information publicized by government

The disclosure of routes and frequency of oil trains through Virginia was first mandated by the Department of Trasnsportation
By Jeff Sturgeon | The Roanoke Times  |  June 20, 2014 

Between two and five CSX tanker trains loaded with 1 million gallons or more of flammable crude oil cross Virginia’s midsection weekly, taking a west-to-east route to a Yorktown refinery, state records show.

No railroad has previously revealed its oil shipping volumes and routes in the state. But the U.S. Department of Transportation last month told the nation’s railroads that ship flammable Bakken crude oil to notify states of oil-filled trains moving within their borders as a safety precaution, effective this month.

The first notice, received by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management about June 4, was made public Friday in response to a public records request.

The information is supposed to empower local emergency responders to better respond to a future train crash like the derailment that caught fire in Lynchburg almost eight weeks ago.

In disclosing its oil-hauling practices, CSX mapped the route along which it carries oil. The trains, which contain domestically pumped crude oil, appear to enter the state from West Virginia in Alleghany County, pass through or near Covington, and roll east to the Yorktown area, the site of an oil distribution terminal.

The trains traverse 20 counties.

Virginia officials are passing the information to local emergency responders in counties where oil trains pass. Quarterly updates will be shared as well, VDEM said.

The state’s emergency response agency plans to ask CSX to help develop a procedure by which a community holding a special event could ask CSX to modify its train schedules and not ship crude through that community during the event.

A high number of Bakken crude-filled trains in North America have crashed in recent years, leading to enactment of enhanced safety measures. The federal transportation agency issued an emergency order May 7 that directed the nation’s railroads to notify states about all oil trains carrying 1 million gallons or more of crude oil.

A train carrying 1 million gallons of oil would typically be comprised of about 35 tanker cars.

Norfolk Southern Corp. has notified the state it does operate such trains in Virginia.

Just a week before the new rule, a CSX oil train derailed, released oil and caught fire on the bank of the James River in Lynchburg. That train, which came from Chicago, was carrying 3 million gallons of crude oil on its way to Yorktown, VDEM said.

CSX continues to use the route through Lynchburg.

CSX officials asked Virginia officials to not make public the notification. But VDEM released it, saying the same information was available from other public sources.

In addition to describing oil train movements, the CSX notice to Virginia officials named contacts within the Jacksonville, Fla., company who oversee hazardous materials shipments; published a number for its emergency call center; and furnished nine pages of general and technical information about crude oil’s makeup, chemical properties, handling, dangers and mitigation measures in the event of a spill.

A red placard bearing the number 1267 is plastered on the side of every oil tanker car for easy identification.

Crude By Rail, DOT-111, Federal Regulation (U.S.), Local Regulation, Tank car design

Suburban Chicago mayors criticize crude oil tanker policy making

Repost from ABC7 Chicago Eyewitness News
[Editor: Be sure to read the mayors’ letter to the Obama Administration.  – RS]

Suburban mayors criticize crude oil tanker policy making

By Chuck Goudie, Friday, June 20, 2014

BARRINGTON, Ill. (WLS) — The ABC7 I-Team has new developments in the fight to protect Chicago and the suburbs from dangerous railroad cargo. The very people and groups who would be most affected by a rail tanker calamity, now say they are being excluded from the process of finding a safe solution.

Two suburban Chicago mayors have told the White House that rail industry executives are just “playing the odds” that a fiery tanker explosion will happen away from populated areas- and they say that is a “fool’s game.” Those stinging comments come in a letter to the Obama Administration that is critical of a curtain of secrecy they say has been built around the rulemaking process.

In the suburbs Friday morning, a procession of DOT-111 tankers hauling crude oil toward Chicago is daily evidence here that crude oil transport by rail is up 4000 percent in the past six years. With it, an increase in derailments, fires, explosions, damage and deaths. The original DOT-111 tankers weren’t constructed to handle hazardous, flammable cargo.

So, federal regulators are moving faster on new rules to protect the public. But in a dozen recent meetings between the Obama Administration and officials from the rail, petroleum and chemical industries, the public hasn’t been at the table.

The lack of transparency has Barrington President Karen Darch angry and Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner says their suburban downtowns could be obliterated in a major tanker accident.

Their letter this week to the White House calls for new rules to retrofit or retire the entire current fleet of DOT-111s, and build new tank cars to higher standards. “Anything less,” they state “is a grave disservice to the American public and its expectations that federal regulators are serving their public safety interests.”

One of the nation’s major rail freight operators- CSX- has it’s “safety train” rolling toward stops in northwest Indiana and Chicago. In New York this week, the rolling classroom trains first responders on what to do if a hazmat tanker derails, ruptures and blows up.

“We know there are hazardous materials on rail, on the road, every day in our community. Our key is to be prepared to handle any eventuality,” said Kevin Wisley, Syracuse Emergency Management.

“These cars can still haul products because they meet standards of federal regulations,” said Michael Bethge, CSX HAZMAT manager.

Reporter: “Do you think they are a safe car?”

Bethge: “They are a safe car.”

The CSX safety train will be making stops in Rochester, Buffalo, New York City, and Cleveland before heading through Indiana and to Chicago this summer. By the time the whistle stop tour is over, government officials may be close to fixing a problem that the National Transportation Safety Board first identified 20 years ago when it described the tankers as inadequate.

Bakken Crude, California Regulation, Crude By Rail, Emergency Readiness & Response, Federal Regulation (U.S.), Massive increase in crude-by-rail, Rail inspection, Tank car design, Train speed

Public Radio: Lawmakers Seek Ways to Address Oil Train Risks

Repost from Capital Public Radio News
[Editor: About halfway through this 2-minute Public Radio report, UC Berkeley Law professor Jayni Hein offers several ways in which state regulators CAN make effective contributions to public health and safety.  The 3-hour California Joint Legislative Oversight Hearing on Transport of California Crude Oil by Rail  can be viewed here.  – RS]

Lawmakers Seek Ways to Address Oil Train Risks

California Update
By Mark Prell & Capital Public Radio News , June 20, 2014

California lawmakers are taking a closer look at the risks posed by importing crude oil by rail. At issue is what the state can do to prevent and respond to oil rail accidents when so much regulation happens at the federal level.

Audio Report – LISTEN

California Regulation, Crude By Rail, Federal Regulation (U.S.)

LA Times: Joint Legislative Oversight Hearing on Transport of California Crude Oil by Rail

Repost from The Los Angeles Times
[Editor:  The 3-hour California Joint Legislative Oversight Hearing on Transport of California Crude Oil by Rail  can be viewed here.  – RS]

California safety officials ill-prepared for increasing oil imports

By Patrick McGreevy  |  June 19, 2014
Oil by rail
A view of Union Pacific West Colton Yard Bloomington. California lawmakers considered a report that officials are not prepared to deal with increased oil imports by train. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

California safety agencies are currently ill-prepared for a significant increase in transporting oil by rail through the state, but steps are being taken to catch up, experts told state lawmakers Thursday.

Oil imports by rail to California have grown from 70 tank cars in 2009 to nearly 9,500 tank cars in 2013, and they could increase to up to 230,000 carloads by 2016, according to the California Energy Commission.

The state needs to step in to address safety issues inadequately handled by the federal government, a California Interagency Rail Safety Group reported during a joint hearing of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee and the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

“In sum, while the federal actions taken to date are significant, they do not go far enough to address the risks of increased oil by rail transport,” the group’s report concluded. “The state should press both the federal government and the railroad industry to take additional safety measures.”

The study group said trains transporting crude oil travel via the Feather River or Donner Pass to the San Francisco Bay Area, and via the Tehachapi Pass to Bakersfield and into Los Angeles.

The working group recommended the state strengthen its inspection and enforcement staff. There are only 52 positions to handle railroad operations and safety inspections, which the group’s study said is “seriously inadequate given current and projected numbers of oil shipments.”

The state budget approved Sunday by the Legislature allows for the hiring of seven additional rail inspectors for the California Public Utilities Commission, which should meet the need, said commission spokesman Paul King. He added that better tank cars and clear markings are needed to increase safety.

The working group also recommended more funding for local emergency responders, and better planning.

“Emergency responders currently lack basic, critical information needed to help plan for and respond to oil by rail incidents, including what resources railroads can provide in the event of an accident, and how they would respond to potential worst case scenarios,” the group found.

Lawmakers including Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) and Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) said they have introduced bills to improve the ability to prevent and respond to rail accidents involving oil.

“It’s not acceptable for us to wait until something bad happens,” Pavley, chairwoman of the senate committee, said during the three-hour hearing at the Capitol. “Unless the locals have adequate resources to be prepared” and the state and federal officials cooperate, “we’re not going to be able to deal with it if a catastrophe strikes.”

She noted that a Federal Railroad Administration official declined to attend the hearing.

“We don’t have that cooperation yet,” she said.