Category Archives: Rail Safety

TSB releases analysis of crude oil samples from train accident in Lac-Mégantic

Repost from CNW (newswire.ca)
[BenIndy Editor’s note: this news release doesn’t really tell much about the results of the testing.  The first link below goes to the actual report, which is a thorough scientific analysis.  I will be watching for a good review that tells the story in simple layperson’s terms.]

GATINEAU, QC, March 6, 2014 /CNW/ – The Transportation Safety Board of  Canada (TSB) today released its engineering laboratory report (LP148/2013) on the analysis of the petroleum crude oil contained in tank cars of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) train that derailed on 6 July 2013 in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.

As the TSB noted in its 11 September 2013 news release announcing the issuance of safety advisory letters to Canadian and U.S. regulators, test results indicate that the level of hazard posed by the petroleum crude oil transported in the tank cars of the occurrence train was not accurately documented.

For this report, samples were collected from the 9 tank cars at the end of the occurrence train (MMA-002). These tank cars did not derail and were pulled back to Nantes, Quebec after the accident. Samples were also taken from 2 tank cars located at Farnham, Quebec. These 2 tank cars were part of another unit train operated by MMA (MMA-874) that was transporting petroleum crude oil of the same origin as the oil carried by train MMA-002. All the samples were tested and examined. The TSB is releasing the engineering laboratory report documenting this comprehensive analysis in advance of the final investigation report.

The Lac-Mégantic train derailment remains a priority for the TSB, and a team of experts continues to be dedicated to the investigation, which is now in the report-writing phase. If at any stage during the remainder of the investigation the TSB identifies additional safety deficiencies, it will communicate directly with regulators and the industry, and inform the public.

The TSB is an independent agency that investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

SOURCE  Transportation Safety Board of Canada

NTSB: Public Forum in D.C. April 22-13

Repost from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

NTSB Press Release

National Transportation Safety Board Office of Public Affairs


NTSB to Examine the Safe Transportation of Crude Oil and Ethanol by Train

MARCH 6, 2014

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board today announced it will hold a public forum on April 22-23 in Washington that will examine the safety issues associated with the transportation of crude oil and ethanol by rail.

The forum, Rail Safety: Transportation of Crude Oil and Ethanol, will explore DOT-111 tank car design, construction and crashworthiness; rail operations and risk management strategies; emergency response challenges and best practices; and federal oversight.

“While the soaring volumes of crude oil and ethanol traveling by rail has been good for business, there is a corresponding obligation to protect our communities and our environment,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “This forum will explore both the risks and opportunities that exist to improve the safety of transporting these important commodities.”

A detailed agenda and list of participants will be released closer to the date of the event and will be made available on our website at www.ntsb.gov.

The forum will be held in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W. Washington, D.C. It will be free and open to the public. No registration is necessary. For those who are unable to attend in person, the forum can be viewed via webcast at www.ntsb.gov.

Office of Public Affairs 490 L’Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20594 Eric M. Weiss (202) 314-6100 eric.weiss@ntsb.gov

Mayor Patterson’s Op Ed, SF Chronicle, 03Mar2014

Repost from San Francisco Chronicle, Opinion, Open Forum

Governor must ensure rail tanker safety

Elizabeth Patterson
March 3, 2014                                 

There isn’t a moment to lose. Gov. Jerry Brown should issue an executive order to ensure that the state is prepared to deal with the highly flammable and explosive Bakken crude oil from North Dakota coming by rail and water into California.

There should be no hesitancy in taking this step, and no excuse. The exponential increase in the shipment of this “peculiar” crude is documented and has the attention of my community, and my sister communities in Solano, Contra Costa, Yolo and Sacramento counties. Citizens have organized to ask local and state officials to address their concerns about the safety of the increased rail transport of crude in what many experts – and the National Transportation Safety Board – say are the notorious DOT-111A tank cars, whose design makes them prone to puncture in accidents.

Last year’s explosive tanker rail accident in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killed 47 people, destroyed its small downtown and spilled fuel that burned on the lake and its shore. As the Davis Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk noted in his letter to me, “A similar accident in Davis as the one in Quebec would likely produce even more catastrophic results, in terms of loss of life and the destruction of our downtown.”

According to the California Energy Commission, crude by rail shipments will increase in 2014 to more than 50 million barrels from the 6 million barrels in 2013.

We have seen fiery accidents documented last year with 10 major explosions involving oil trains in the United States and Canada. Clearly these increased crude-by-rail shipments in unsafe tank cars pose imminent danger to the small rural communities, such as Dunsmuir (Siskiyou County), the site of a 1991 derailment that dumped thousands of gallons of pesticide into the Sacramento River, dense urban settings in the Bay Area and all that lies in between.

Public safety must be addressed. Rail incidents involving crude oil spills increased exponentially from fewer than five in 2000 to 90 in 2012, as reported by the Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration. And there is more: While the burning of Mégantic Lake is an environmental disaster, our stressed and endangered rivers, delta and wetlands alongside the tracks in California are also at risk.

These shipments of Bakken formation oil are carloads of hazardous chemicals, often incorrectly labeled. How would the Suisun Marsh survive a potential spill, explosion and fire? What contaminants could enter our delta waterways – a water source for 25 million Californians – from several vulnerable rail crossings?

The governor should waste no time in issuing an executive order that would address:

Are we prepared? The governor should direct state agencies, working with federal authorities, to assess the state’s prevention and response rules, as well as inspection programs, involving the transport of petroleum products.

Who responds? Which are the relevant local agencies? Are there well-trained, well-equipped personnel ready to respond to rural, urban and environmental incidents?

What’s the law? Does the Legislature need to change the law or regulations to enhance safety and improve coordination with federal agencies to improve the state’s ability to prevent and respond to incidents?

As mayor of a small city affected by the increase in crude-by-rail traffic, oil and hazardous materials off-loading, I expect nothing less than my state to focus its attention and resources on these public health and safety concerns – for the sake of us all.

Elizabeth Patterson is the mayor of Benicia, a refinery town.

SF Chron article about Benicia / Crude by Rail

Repost from SFGate.com

[Editor’s note]  This SF Chronicle report includes a short video interview with Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson.  Unfortunately, the interview is preceded by advertising, and can’t be set to manual play – so I will not embed it here.  After reading the text here, click on the link above to see the video on SFGate.  The text here very nicely places Valero’s proposal in a wider Bay Area and California context, and then lays out some startling numbers.  Worth the read!

Is California prepared for a domestic oil boom?

Published Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The North Dakota oil boom has resulted in more trains going boom. At least 10 trains hauling crude oil from the Bakken Shale across North America have derailed and spilled, often setting off explosions. The deadliest killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013. As California refineries seek to adapt their operations to bring in Bakken crude by rail, Bay Area residents in refinery towns want to know: Will they be safe?

In Solano County, Benicia residents packed a Planning Commission meeting when Valero Refining Co. unveiled a plan to adapt its Benicia refinery to receive crude by rail rather than by ship. In Contra Costa County, Pittsburg residents (as well as state Attorney General Kamala Harris) are concerned about a proposal by West Pac Energy to convert a closed tank farm to an oil storage and transfer facility. Similar worries are voiced in Crockett and Rodeo about a proposed propane and butane project at the Phillips 66 refinery.

Air pollution is the top-line concern for these communities, followed by fear of spills and explosions. Some protests are tied to the larger political debate over importing tar sands oil from Canada.

The refinery operators maintain they are merely trading ship transport for rail transport or upgrading aging facilities.

We do know this: The tangle of laws and agencies that oversee rail transport make it easy to assign blame to someone else and tough to hold any one agency or business accountable. Rail oversight is primarily the federal government’s job, which makes sense for an industry with track in every state. While the state handles pollution, some safety inspections and emergency response, it is unclear how much legal authority it or any other state government has. The Obama administration announced some voluntary safety measures Friday that would slow trains in cities, increase track inspections and beef up emergency response. There’s still work to do be done sorting out who would enforce such rules.

A state Senate committee will meet Monday to begin investigating whether California is prepared to receive hundreds of railcars a day of highly flammable Bakken crude. The legislators are asking: Should we have confidence that the agencies with oversight, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Public Utilities Commission and Caltrans, are up to the job?

We need to know how theses railroads will run safely before more Bakken crude comes in by rail.

More crude riding the rails

85-fold – the increase in the amount of crude oil transported on U.S. railroads since 2006, from 4,700 carloads to 400,000 carloads in 2013, according to a rail industry regulatory filing.

135 times – the increase in the amount of crude transported by rail in California since 2009, from 45,491 barrels in 2009 to 6,169,264 barrels in 2013, according to the California Energy Commission.

1 percent – the portion of crude oil transported into California by rail (most comes by ship). This is projected to increase as more refineries adapt to bring in Bakken crude by rail.

73 degrees Fahrenheit – the flash point of Bakken crude, a lighter oil that contains more volatile organic compounds than other crude oils, as compared with 95 degrees Fahrenheit. “Crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil,” reported the U.S. Department of Transportation.