Rail Cars Used To Ship Oil 'Unacceptable Public Risk,' Replacement Cars May Not Be Sufficient

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Rail tank cars being used to ship crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken region are an "unacceptable public risk," and even cars voluntarily upgraded by the industry may not be sufficient, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.

The cars, known as DOT-111s, were involved in derailments of oil trains in Casselton, N.D., and Lac-Megantic, Quebec, just across the U.S. border, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said at a House Transportation subcommittee hearing.

Forty-seven people were killed and 30 buildings destroyed in the blaze ignited by the Lac-Megantic accident. The Casselton accident, which occurred half a mile outside the town, created a massive fire that burned for more than 24 hours.

The NTSB has been urging replacing or retrofitting the tank cars since 1991, but the most recent federal effort to write tougher regulations for new cars didn't get underway until 2011. An initial public comment period closed in December, and regulators are currently at work writing proposed new standards, Cynthia Quarterman, head of the Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, told the panel. She said she expected her agency to propose new tank car standards before the end of this year, but refused to be pinned down under questioning by lawmakers on when those rules might become final.

Read more: http://www.brandonsun.com/lifestyles/breaking-news/rail-cars-used-to-ship-oil-unacceptable-public-risk-replacement-cars-may-not-be-sufficient-247320501.html?thx=y

[KamaAina]

1. Does this Robert Sumwalt support Keystone XL?

[7962]

2. Rail has always been a bigger risk; no news there.

As for the Keystone; Canada is gonna sell that oil either by pipe or train. Might as well take the global warming issue out of it; they are GOING to extract and sell that oil.

[sdfernando]

4. Fine, let them sell the oil

just don't ship it across the US. They want to sell it, ship it across their country!

[GoneFishin]

7. We can't control what Canada does. If they want that crap leaking into their ground water

that is their problem. But seeing as how the U.S. is not going to see any more or any less of that oil regardless of what route it is shipped by, let them poison some other country's aquifers. And let the taxpayers of some other country pick up the clean-up costs when that shit spills. And sooner or later it always does.

[leftyohiolib]

3. so is the tar sand oil

[Not Sure]

5. Meanwhile, DOT-111s are being cranked out as fast as possible...

I can't imagine many of the tank car lessors (i.e., banks) that bought any of the thousands of DOT-111s built in the past decade will be too thrilled to see their investment banned from the rails. Is a federal buyback or retrofit program on the horizon?

[maindawg]

6. Either way

what is the cost? And what is the gain?

[Earth_First]

8. A twenty year effort to increase rail shipping regulations on tank cars...

...and even the efforta that are being deployed are still considered insufficient?

Stop all rail car shipments immediately. Today. Until the regulations can be passed which provide absolute safety to the public.

[Blue_Tires]

9. Did the NTSB ever come to a conclusion on the Quebec disaster?

[truthisfreedom]

10. Oil is the risk. Leave it in the ground.

Dump money into alternative energy development. That's the future, not dinosaur dung.