U.S. oil trains must be drained of explosive gas, mayors say

Continental Energy

16/09/2014 21:46

By Patrick Rucker 
    WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Dangerous gas should be 
removed from oil train shipments to prevent a future disaster on 
the tracks, U.S. mayors and safety officials will tell 
regulators in comments on a sweeping federal safety plan.  
    The Department of Transportation in July proposed measures 
meant to end a string of fiery accidents as more trains carrying 
oil from North Dakota wind across the United States. 
    Tank cars carrying flammable cargoes would be toughened and 
forced to move at slower speeds under the plan. But critics say 
the failure to address vapor pressure, a measure of how much 
volatile gas is contained in the crude, is a major omission, and 
intend to drive their point home.  
    "That's an oversight we're going to push them to fix," 
Elizabeth Harman, an official with the International Association 
of Fire Fighters, told Reuters.  
    Responses to the DOT's plan are due by Sept. 30, and so far 
more than 100 comments have been received. Typically in a 
contentious rulemaking major stakeholders submit their views 
just before the deadline.       
    U.S. officials have studied vapor pressure since July 2013, 
when a runaway oil train derailed in the Quebec village of Lac- 
Megantic, killing 47 people in a fireball that shocked many with 
its explosive power. 
    Until recently, official findings on vapor pressure were in 
line with industry-funded studies: That the North Dakota fuel is 
similar to other U.S. light crude oil deemed safe to move in 
standard tank cars. 
    But the DOT said last week that it did not properly handle 
prior samples and that a precision device, a floating piston 
cylinder, is needed to reliably detect vapor pressure dangers. 
    Given that disclaimer, many officials simply want dangerous 
gas removed from crude oil before it is loaded onto rail cars. 
    "The technology exists so it boils down to costs," said Mike 
Webb, a spokesman for Davis, California, who expects nearby  
cities will join a call for safer handling of Bakken crude from 
North Dakota. 
    Under one scenario, energy companies would siphon gas from 
crude oil and send the fuel to market via different channels. 
But building such infrastructure, like separators or processing 
towers, could cost billions of dollars. 
    The North Dakota Petroleum Council has sampled some Bakken 
fuel using a floating piston cylinder and the results have been 
inconclusive, said Kari Cutting, vice president for the trade 
group. 
    "But nothing we've seen supports the idea that Bakken crude 
is more volatile than other light crude oils or other flammable 
liquids," said Cutting. 
    But leaders of many railside towns say uncertainty demands 
the fuel only move under the most stringent safety measures. 
    "There is a way to haul dangerous cargo safely and that 
means using state-of-the-art tools," said Karen Darch, mayor of 
the Chicago suburb of Barrington, where fuel-laden freight 
trains cross commuter tracks as many as 20 times a day. 
    North Dakota officials will next week hold a hearing to 
consider measures to de-gasify crude oil in the state. 
 
 (Reporting by Patrick Rucker, editing by Ros Krasny and Cynthia 
Osterman) 
 ((patrick.rucker@thomsonreuters.com; +202 354 5858; Reuters 
Messaging: patrick.rucker.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: USA ENERGY/RAILWAYS