Senators: Quicker action needed on rail safety rules

Last edited Fri Mar 7, 2014, 12:24 PM - Edit history (6)

This is well over 12 hours old, so forget about LBN.

This article went out over the AP wire. I'm linking to the Vancouver, Washington, Columbian, as Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies plan to build a terminal just west of downtown Vancouver to handle crude oil coming from the Bakken shale formation. Tesoro has announced that it will phase out use of DOT-111 tank cars. See: Tesoro acquiring safer rail cars for Vancouver terminal.

Here's today's story:

Senators: Quicker action needed on rail safety rules

Oil train explosions, commuter train derailment put issue in spotlight

By By JOAN LOWY Associated Press
Published: March 6, 2014, 4:32 PM

WASHINGTON — Government regulators are taking too long to write new rail safety regulations in light of recent fiery oil train accidents and a deadly commuter train derailment, senators complained Thursday.

Railroads are also taking too long to implement safety improvements Congress ordered under legislation passed seven years ago, lawmakers said at a hearing before the Senate's surface transportation panel.
....

Cynthia Quarterman, head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration, said her agency is working as fast as possible to draft new standards for tank cars used to transport crude oil. She said it takes time to address the more than 100,000 public comments the agency has received, as well as fulfill other requirements of the federal rulemaking process.

The cars, known as DOT-111s, were involved in explosions and fires following derailments of oil trains near Casselton, N.D., in December and Lac-Megantic, Quebec, just across the U.S. border, in July. Forty-seven people were killed in Lac-Megantic and much of the town center destroyed. The North Dakota accident occurred a half mile from Casselton, causing the evacuation of more than 2,000 people.

Related items:

Eleven oil trains a day “is a big deal”: Cantwell

Posted on March 6, 2014 | By Joel Connelly

A DOT-111 rail tanker passes through Council Bluffs, Iowa. DOT-111 rail cars being used to ship crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region are an “unacceptable public risk,” and even cars voluntarily upgraded by the industry may not be sufficient, according to a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. The cars were involved in derailments of oil trains in Casselton, N.D., and Lac-Megantic, Quebec, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said at a House Transportation subcommittee hearing. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Aging, 1964-vintage* tanker cars must be quickly phased out as oil trains move through downtowns of Seattle, Spokane, Vancouver and other cities, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told a senior executive of the American Petroleum Institute on Thursday.

“About 11 trains a day, to our population centers, is a big deal,” Cantwell said at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee. ... “We’ve gone from four years ago — having basically nothing on rail by crude — to now having something like 408,000 carloads of crude. Knowing when those DOT-111 cars are going to be off those rails — those cars that the NTSB has said are unacceptable — that is the key issue.”

Oil trains are being used to transport light, highly flammable crude oil from the rapidly developing Bakken Oil Field in North Dakota to ports on the West Coast. The Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, and BP’s refinery at Cherry Point near Bellingham, are getting Bakken crude by rail.

Tesoro has pledged to phase out use of old DOT-111 tank cars by summer. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad has pledged that it will purchase 5,000 newer, safer tank cars.

* The design might date to 1964, but the cars are still being built, if I am not mistaken. The Wikipedia entry notes that the Association of American Railroads (AAR) issued a new standard that went into effect on October 1, 2011. Whoever is behind that page is doing a pretty good job.

Port of Vancouver asked to cancel Tesoro-Savage lease

Opponents of an oil terminal speak at commission hearing

By Aaron Corvin, Columbian port & economy reporter
Published: March 4, 2014, 5:25 PM