DOT looks to tighten crude oil train laws
In late April, a two-locomotive, 105-car train was loaded with crude oil out of the Bakken shale in South Dakota, and headed for Yorktown, Va. It never got there.
The CSX Corp. train derailed in Lynchburg, Va., where thousands of gallons of crude spilled into a river near the tracks. Three of the tanker cars caught fire, and although no one was injured, part of the town was evacuated as environmental cleanup began. It was the latest of three incidents in nine months involving crude oil transportation derailments in the U.S., each involving the DOT-111, one of the most commonly used tank cars. Derailments also occurred in Alabama and North Dakota.
In New York state, environmental groups and state agencies watched the events in Virginia from afar. Environmental groups called for greater safety measures of crude oil transportation and the banning of DOT-111s. By the time of the derailment, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, had already commissioned a report evaluating prevention measures for crude oil accidents as well as potential responses. The day of the Virginia derailment, he sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking for federal action to increase regulation of the industry as petroleum production continues to increase.
“New York and all the states subject to this crude oil boom are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of a derailment, spill, fire or explosion, as demonstrated by three catastrophic incidents in the last nine months involving such trains,” Cuomo wrote.
On July 23, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed a package of new rules to improve the safety of transportation of crude oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids. The DOT is proposing to phase out older DOT-111s unless the tankers are retrofitted to comply with new safety standards. More rigid standards would apply for braking controls, and the speed of many trains would be limited to 40 mph ”” although, according to local reports, the train that derailed in Virginia was travelling at a speed of less than 25 mph when it jumped the tracks. The proposed rulemaking is available on the DOT website for a public comment period of 60 days from its first proposal.
The DOT said transporting Bakken crude posed a safety risk because it is more volatile than other types of crude and is shipped over long distances ”” the average shipment travels 1,000 miles from mine site to refinery. The amount of Bakken moving through the country has risen from 9,500 rail carloads in 2008 to 415,000 rail carloads in 2013, according to the DOT. The Hudson Valley sees between 15 and 40 trains carrying crude travel through the area each week, according to reports.
The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas industry group that represents 600 members, said the DOT”™s assessment that Bakken was volatile was based on speculation, not science.
“The best science and data do not support recent speculation that crude oil from the Bakken presents greater than normal transportation risks,” Jack Gerard, API president and CEO, said. “Multiple studies have shown that Bakken crude is similar to other crudes.”
An API announcement said it planned to submit detailed comments to the DOT but was committed to improving safety through increased preparation and working with the rail industry.
Riverkeeper, an environmental nonprofit, said that in 2013, 1.15 million gallons of crude oil were spilled due to rail accidents in the U.S. ”” more than the amount spilled during the previous four decades combined. The office of U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, said the terminals at the Port of Albany plan to increase their capacity to handle 2.8 billion gallons of oil per year. The CSX lines run through numerous communities in the state including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and New York City. The crude oil tankers also run along the Hudson and over some of its tributaries, including the Catskill, Coxsackie, Esopus and Rondout, according to Riverkeeper.
Ned Sullivan, president of the land trust organization Scenic Hudson, had urged for a moratorium on all shipments of Bakken crude through the Hudson Valley. Sullivan called crude oil “the biggest threat in a generation” to the Hudson.
“An explosion or spill of this toxic material on or along the Hudson would forever change the way we live, work and play,” he said. Scenic Hudson teamed with Riverkeeper and other groups asking for the moratorium and urging its members to contact DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx. In an email to supporters, the environmental groups noted that beyond environmental risks, lives could be at stake. A 2013 tanker explosion in Canada killed 47. Sullivan was unavailable for a phone interview prior to press time.
Although the moratorium was not enacted, the tighter rules proposed by the DOT received a nod of approval from Gillibrand, who said the plan protected communities from “dangerous rail cars.” “This proposed rule is a common-sense approach that puts into place many of the reforms that communities across New York have demanded,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, a Demcorat who represents parts of Rockland and Westchester, had asked for federal action from Obama as well. She said the DOT needed to do more for emergency preparedness and developing comprehensive spill-response plans. “Preparation for a worst-case scenario must be one of the department”™s top priorities,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat, issued a news release calling on the DOT to go further with its regulations, requiring oil companies stabilize the crude prior to shipping it.
In addition to federal reform looming, New York state has upped its level of rail and car inspections to ensure compliance with safety regulations. According to the governor”™s office, targeted inspections across upstate tracks found a slew of equipment issues. The state also received 3,000 gallons of firefighting foam in June, donated from Wyeth Labs/Pfizer to supplement local fire departments in the event of a crude oil incident. The donation was worth approximately $105,000, according to the governor”™s office.
Cuomo said in a statement, “New York state is not waiting for another potentially disastrous crude oil accident to take action and protect our communities.”