Tuesday, February 24, 2015

CANADA TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: OIL TRAIN ACCIDENT SHOWS NEW SAFETY RULES INADEQUATE; CPC-1232 CARS ARE NOT SAFER THAN THE DOT-111 CARS






FEBRUARY 24, 201

TORONTO, CANADA

Update on derailment and fire of Canadian National crude oil train near Gogama, Ontario

The occurrence
On 14 February 2015, a Canadian National (CN) crude oil unit train was proceeding eastward on CN's Ruel Subdivision near Gogama, Ontario. The train crew was composed of a locomotive engineer and a conductor. The train was equipped with 2 head-end locomotives hauling 100 Class 111 tank cars, 68 loaded with Petroleum Crude Oil (UN 1267) and 32 loaded with Petroleum Distillates (UN 1268). The train was 6089 feet long and weighed 14 355 tons.
At about 23:50, while travelling at 38 mph, the train crew felt a heavy tug on the train and a train-initiated emergency brake application occurred near Mile 111.6. Subsequently, the crew observed a fire about 10 cars behind the locomotives, so they detached the locomotives from the train. The temperature at the time was -31°C and a slow order (speed restriction) of 40 mph was in place.

The train was designated as a “Key Train”Footnote 1 operating on a “Key Route”.Footnote 2 The accident occurred in a remote area, and the CN Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP) was implemented. There were no injuries reported, and no evacuation was required. The product in several cars was allowed to burn. All fires were extinguished by 20 February 2015.

What we know
Site examination determined that the 7th to the 35th cars behind the locomotives (29 cars in total) had derailed. During the derailment, a number of cars were breached, released product, and ignited a large fire that initially involved 7 of the derailed cars. Additional product was subsequently released, and a total of 21 cars sustained fire damage ranging from minor to severe. About 900 feet of track was destroyed.

While firefighters dealt with the fire, investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) were able to examine the site and recover a section of broken rail containing a rail joint and a broken wheel, that are of interest. All recovered rail components and the broken wheel were sent to the TSB Engineering Laboratory in Ottawa for further analysis.

Tank cars
The TSB conducted a preliminary damage assessment of all derailed tank cars. All of the Class 111 tank cars were constructed in the last 3 years, and were compliant with the industry’s CPC-1232 standard. In comparison with the other general service “legacy” Class 111 tank cars, these cars have some enhancements which include half-head shields, improved top and bottom fitting protection, and normalized steel.

The preliminary assessment revealed that 2 tank cars at the head-end of the derailment sustained minor damage and 2 tank cars at the tail-end of the derailment had no damage. The remaining 25 derailed tank cars sustained more significant damage. At least 19 of the 25 tank cars were breached or partially breached and released various amounts of product. It is estimated that a total of over 1 million litres of product was released, either to the atmosphere or to the ground. The amount of product released will be determined more precisely as site mitigation and clean-up continue.

The accident occurred at 38 mph. Initial impressions are that the Class 111 tank cars, which were compliant with the CPC-1232 standard, performed similarly to those involved in the Lac-Mégantic accident which occurred at 65 mph.

Transportation of flammable liquids by rail
The transportation of flammable liquids by rail has been identified as one of the key risks to the transportation system and it is included on the TSB’s 2014 Watchlist. The TSB has been pointing out the vulnerability of Class 111 tank cars for years, and the Board has called for tougher standards for all Class 111 tank cars, not just new ones, to reduce the likelihood of product release during accidents. In Lac-Mégantic, investigators found that even at lower speeds, the unprotected Class 111 tank cars ruptured, releasing crude oil which fuelled the fire. Consequently, until a more robust tank car standard with enhanced protection is implemented for North America, the risk will remain.
In response to the TSB’s recommendation, Transport Canada (TC) formalized the CPC-1232 standard in January 2014 as a requirement for all new tank cars built for the transportation of flammable liquids. The TSB has warned TC that this standard was not sufficient and that more needed to be done to provide an adequate level of protection.  Preliminary assessment of the CPC-1232-compliant tank cars involved in this occurrence demonstrates the inadequacy of this standard given the tank cars’ similar performance to the legacy Class 111 tanks cars involved in the Lac-Mégantic accident.
“The TSB has been calling for tougher standards for Class 111 tank cars for several years,” said Jean L. Laporte, TSB’s Chief Operating Officer.“ Here is yet another example of tank cars being breached, and we once again urge Transport Canada to expedite the introduction of enhanced protection standards to reduce the risk of product loss when these cars are involved in accidents.”
Next steps
The investigation is ongoing and the next steps include the following:
1.   Examination of rail components and suspect wheel recovered from the derailment site
2.   Sampling and testing of product from select cars
3.   Review of Wheel Impact Load Detector records for subject train and 2 previous trains
4.   Review of all track infrastructure maintenance records for the area
5.   Review of CN Engineering Track Standards and cold weather policy
6.   Review of TC-approved Track Safety Rules
7.   Review and evaluation of ERAP and emergency response
8.   Conducting additional interviews as required.
Once all remaining product has been removed from the tank cars and they have been cleaned and purged, the TSB will complete a detailed damage assessment of the cars. The object of the assessment is to compare the performance of these tank cars against the known performance of the legacy Class 111 tank cars that were involved in the Lac-Mégantic accident. This may also include further failure analysis, testing and metallurgical examination at the TSB Engineering Laboratory.

Communication of safety deficiencies
Should the investigation team uncover safety deficiencies that present an immediate risk, the Board will communicate them without delay so they may be addressed quickly and the rail system made safer.
The information posted is factual in nature and does not contain any analysis. Analysis of the accident and the Findings of the Board will be part of the final report. The investigation is ongoing.

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A fiery oil train derailment in Ontario this month suggests new safety requirements for tank cars carrying flammable liquids are inadequate, Canada’s transport safety board announced Monday.

The accident was the latest in a spate of fiery derailments in Canada and the U.S., a trend which American safety officials say drives home the need for stronger tank cars, more effective braking systems and other safety improvements.

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board said the tank cars involved in the Feb. 14 train derailment met upgraded standards that started to be instituted in Canada last year for new tank cars carrying crude and other flammable liquids. But it said the Class 111, 1232 standard cars still “performed similarly” to those involved in the derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec that killed 47 people two years ago. That accident predated the changes.

“This was supposed to be a better quality car. So far we haven’t seen that better performance,” Rob Johnston, a senior Transportation Safety Board official, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The U.S. and Canada are trying to coordinate on even newer tank car standards. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with safety officials in Canada in December to discuss the issue but neither country has yet settled on a new tank car design, though the U.S. is getting closer. Transportation officials recently sent a proposal for new tank car standards to the White House budget office for review.
In both cases in Canada, the tank cars ruptured and released crude oil, which fed the flames. Much of downtown Lac Megantic, Quebec, was destroyed on July 6, 2013, by a raging fire caused when an unattended train derailed. Several train cars exploded and 40 buildings were leveled.
The Canadian government has warned the Obama administration that if pipelines like the controversial Keystone XL pipeline are not built Canadian oil would instead continue to be shipped by rail cars.
The latest Canadian derailment, involving a Canadian National Railway Co. train, happened in a remote area 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Timmins, Ontario. There were no injuries or evacuations. It took almost a week in subzero temperatures for the fires to burn out.
Two days after the Ontario derailment, a train loaded with crude derailed in West Virginia, sparking a spectacular fire and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of families.
Both the West Virginia accident and the oil train derailment and fire in Ontario involved recently built tank cars that were supposed to be an improvement to a decades-old model in wide use that has proven susceptible to spills, fires and explosions.
But the Canadian safety board said at least 19 of the 25 cars in the Ontario derailment were breached or partially breached and estimated that more than 1 million liters (0.26 million gallons) of crude were released. The board said the train was traveling at a lower speed than the train in Lac Megantic.
The agency said this month’s incident “demonstrates the inadequacy” of the new standards and is urging Canada’s transport regulator to quickly introduce enhanced protection standards. The amount of crude traveling by train has soared in recent years.
Safety officials are pushing to make the tanker-car fleet even stronger but are confronting opposition from energy companies and other tank car owners. Industry representatives say it could take a decade to retrofit and modify more than 50,000 tank cars, not the three years anticipated by U.S. federal officials, who assumed many cars would be put to new use hauling less-volatile Canadian oil-sands oil.
A U.S. proposal for new tank car standards is still under wraps but is in the works, and it’s expected to include significant safety enhancements to the 1232 design beyond what the oil industry has said is acceptable.
Zach Segal, a spokesman for Canada’s Transport minister, said Monday that Transport Canada, in collaboration with the U.S., is developing a next generation standard of tank car for the transport of flammable liquids that would be more robust than the current 1232 standard.
Chris Hart, the acting chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, in a blog post on Monday called the 1232 cars a “marginal” improvement over the legacy DOT-111 cars. He urged federal regulators to act swiftly to set new tank car standards, noting that while the government is deliberating there are more 1232 cars being produced and entering service.
The U.S. federal government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the U.S. The projection, first reported by the AP, comes from a previously unreported analysis by the Department of Transportation that reviewed the risks of moving vast quantities of both fuels across the nation and through major cities.