Trains and railroad
tracks are one of the filthiest places around.
They are full of PCBs, oils from spills, lube oil or grease from lubricating
the lines, and so on. They are pretty
much impacted by environmental
regulations as very rarely an investigation is being done on their right of way,
unless it is done at a nearby property.
Spills and leaks happen all the time from faulty valves. Several examples are presented below.
A train hauling
crude oil across Idaho and Washington last month had to have 14 leaking tank
cars removed at three different stops, including Vancouver and Auburn, before
it reached its destination at an Anacortes refinery.
A train hauling
crude oil across Idaho and Washington last month had to have 14 leaking tank
cars removed at three different stops before it reached its destination at an
Anacortes, Washington, refinery.
BNSF Railway
officials said less than 25 gallons of oil was spilled from the cars over the
three-day period, but the incident remains under investigation by Washington
state regulators.
The first leak was
discovered about 20 miles east of Spokane at the refueling depot in Hauser. On
Jan. 12, train crews spotted oil on the side of a single tank car, which was
removed from the 100-car train, said Courtney Wallace, a BNSF spokeswoman.
After traveling
through Eastern Washington along the Columbia River, the train reached
Vancouver, where seven more cars were determined to be leaking. BNSF employees
and federal rail inspectors examined the train again in Auburn, south of
Seattle. Another six cars were found to be leaking and taken out of service.
The tank cars had
slow oil leaks from the top valves, Wallace said. Some of the leaks couldn’t be
seen from the ground and weren’t detected until railroad employees climbed up
onto the cars. No oil was spotted along the railroad tracks or right of way,
she said.
The train was
carrying crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields to a Tesoro refinery,
where the remaining cars arrived Jan. 14.
The cause of the
leaks remains under investigation. Jason Lewis, transportation policy adviser
for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, said he expects to
release more information later this month.
The leaks occurred
in the newer CPC-1232 tank cars, which are designed to higher safety standards
than the older DOT-111 cars. They have thicker shells, head shields, rollover
protections and more secure fittings on top.
The UTC wasn’t
notified of the leaks until Jan. 14, a delay that violated state reporting
requirements. Leaks or releases of hazardous materials must be reported to a
state or national hotline within 30 minutes, Lewis said.
The leaks come two
months after a rail car was found to have leaked more than 1,600 gallons of
crude oil somewhere between North Dakota and Western Washington. The oil-stained
car, which was missing a valve cap, was discovered in November at BP’s Cherry
Point refinery. State and federal officials didn’t learn about that incident
until December.
When BNSF reported
the recent leaks, railroad officials thought they were in compliance with state
requirements, Wallace said. BNSF has since amended its reporting protocols, she
said.
Lewis said the
recent incident highlights the need for additional state inspectors.
Washington’s only rail inspector specializing in hazardous materials was in the
Tri-Cities when the leak was reported. He dropped what he was doing to get to
Anacortes.
State agencies have
asked the Legislature for eight additional rail inspectors specializing in
track, hazardous materials, locomotive equipment, signals and other areas. The
$1.25 million annual cost would be paid for by railroads through fee increases.