TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
MOUNT CARBON, WEST VIRGINIA:
A CSX Corp (CSX.N) oil train that derailed and erupted in
flames in West Virginia on Monday was hauling newer model tank cars, not the
older DOT-111 versions widely criticized for being prone to puncture, the firm
said.
All of the oil tank cars on the 109-car train were CPC 1232
models, CSX said late Monday. The train, which was carrying North Dakota crude
to an oil depot in Yorktown, Virginia, derailed in a small town 33 miles (54
km) southeast of Charleston.
What is CPC-1232?
CPC stands for Casualty Prevention Circular. The AAR
(Association of American Railroads) issued Circular letter CPC-1232 which
specifies new rail tank cars standards for transporting crude oil or ethanol.
As of October 10, 2011, new tank cars built for transporting crude oil and
ethanol comply with these new specifications:
·
Half-Height Head Sheilds
·
Thicker tank and head material
·
Normalized steel
·
Top fitting protection
·
Pressure Relief Device(recloseable type)
Thus, the CPC 1232 is the newer, supposedly tougher version
of the DOT-111 cars that were manufactured up until 2011. The DOT-111 cars have
been faulted by regulators and operators for a number of years. U.S. and
Canadian authorities, under pressure to address a spate of fiery accidents, are
seeking to phase out the older models.
On Monday, as many as nine or 10 cars on the CSX train
erupted in flames following the derailment, and at least one careened into the
nearby Kanawha River. No one was reported seriously injured, but the fire
destroyed one house and two nearby towns were evacuated. The governor’s office released a statement
Tuesday saying that 26 tankers had derailed and that “19 of those tankers were
involved in the fire.”
The twitter photos show that explosions occurred, presumably
of the tank cars. A tank car can carry up
to 30,000 gallons of oil. Billowing flames could still be seen coming from
several rail cars late Monday. The cars were being allowed to burn themselves
out, probably because people are afraid of any explosions.
When a tank car catches fire, then the liquid
inside will boil. The expanding vapor
then can cause an explosion. This
sometimes is referred to as BLEVE and it stands for Boiling Liquid Expanding
Vapor Explosion. The huge fireballs seen in the West Virginia derailment and in
the Castleton, ND derailment were due to oil tank cars that began to boil
causing a BLEVE or a violent explosive fireball.
It was the second significant oil-train incident in three
days following a Canadian National Railways (CNR.TO) train from Alberta's oil
sands that derailed in a wooded area of northern Ontario on Feb. 14. CN said 29
of 100 cars were involved and seven caught fire. No injuries were reported.
It was also the second derailment in a year along the same
CSX line. A similar incident in Lynchburg, Virginia, involved a train that was
also headed to Plains All American Pipelines LP's (PAA.N) oil depot in
Yorktown, Virginia.
A boom in oil shipments by rail and a spate of derailments
across North America have put heightened focus on rail safety. In July 2013, 47
people were killed in the Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic after a train carrying crude
oil derailed and exploded.
