Friday, March 27, 2015

WASHINGTON PUSHES FOR HOLISTIC RESPONSE TO RAIL ACCIDENTS. INTEREST GROUPS AND LAWMAKERS HAVE DIFFERING IDEAS






MARCH 26, 2015 12:00 AM

U.S. railroad and energy companies joined Congressional lawmakers and environmentalists on Wednesday in calling for a more comprehensive response to a string of fiery derailments of trains carrying crude oil.

In dual announcements, industry groups announced a new educational course for first responders, while two Democratic senators introduced legislation that, among other changes, would immediately ban older tank car models and require more track and commodity inspections.

The proposals in Washington doubled down on growing public awareness and alarm over freight rail safety as shipments of the volatile oil have dramatically increased between North Dakota’s Bakken Shale and refineries throughout the country.

Two Washington, D.C.-based trade groups, the American Petroleum Institute and Association of American Railroads, introduced a new educational course for local first responders that is expected to debut this weekend at a firefighting conference in Nebraska and an annual short-line railroad conference in Florida.
The two groups have worked since last summer to develop a combined course, which explains the characteristics of crude oil, the designs of oil tanker cars, strategies for responding to a spill and handling a crude oil fire, according to a 55-slide PowerPoint presentation posted online.

In a conference call with reporters, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Jack Gerard acknowledged that a boom in crude oil production has put more of it on rail lines as supply has outpaced existing pipeline capacity. But he said both the energy and rail industries have “knowledge and expertise that can help prepare firefighters and other first responders to take the appropriate actions if a derailment involving a crude oil train does occur.”

Accident prevention is “not a goal that can be reached through any single action or step,” Mr. Gerard said. “Eliminating the last elements of risk requires a holistic and science-based approach.”

The course is meant to be taught by emergency response experts certified by the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response group, known as Transcaer, which is in charge of coordinating sessions and distributing DVD recordings of the class to any emergency response group that would want it. Transcaer is a national volunteer emergency response group that helps local communities handle transportation accidents involving hazardous materials.




Guy Miller, one of two Pennsylvania state coordinators for Transcaer, said the Keystone State is among 15 states that will roll out the course, but logistics are still in the works. Mr. Miller, who works full time with Vertellus Specialties Inc., an Indianapolis-based specialty chemicals manufacturer, said the lecture could be delivered during quarterly training exercises organized by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

While training exists for local response agencies, Mr. Miller said, it’s important they have access to streamlined guidelines specifically on crude oil for the 27 counties statewide that see crude oil traffic.

“This whole Bakken crude has really gotten ahead of the curve,” Mr. Miller said. “We’re fighting a battle to get first responders prepared with this information.”
Production in the Bakken has leveled off at about 1.3 million barrels per day, an increase from about 1.1 million per day last April and about 200,000 per day in 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Coinciding with the industry groups’ announcements, U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, introduced a bill that would immediately ban the older tank car models, the DOT-111s, as well as the newer train models, the CPC-1232s, not fitted with a puncture-resistant steel jacket.
The West Virginia accident last month involved the CPC-1232 model.

It called for more inspections of infrastructure, increased public disclosure of local train movements and a maximum volatility standard for oil prior to shipment by rail.

The proposals, hailed in statements from environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Earthjustice and ForestEthics, emphasize the focus of safety advocates who have called for more stringent federal regulations on rail tanker cars.

“The freight rail industry shares Sen. Cantwell’s vision for safe movement of crude oil by rail,” said Ed Greenburg, spokesman for AAR. “We recognize the concerns that’s been expressed by the general public over recent high-profile incidents.”






Some — including Pittsburgh’s Deputy Director of Public Safety Michael Huss — have proposed diluting the oil before putting it on the tracks as well as rerouting trains carrying hazardous materials around major population centers.

City Spokeswoman Sonya Toler said safety officials could not comment on the new educational material because they had just learned about it. In an interview earlier this month, Mr. Huss said he believed first responders had all the information and training necessary in the event of an accident.

“We have planned the best we can to handle this type of emergency,” Mr. Huss said.

A study earlier this month by Pittsburgh investigative journalism outlet PublicSource found that at least 1.5 million Pennsylvanians fall into the evacuation zone should a crude oil train derail near their home.
Source: http://powersource.post-gazette.com