DOT-111: the “Ford Pinto of Railroad Cars”?

This is the second of a two-part blog about fracking and NJ.

Years before the surge in oil-by-rail accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board reported in 2009 that “...the heads and shells of DOT-111 tank cars…can almost always be expected to breach in derailments that involve pileups or multiple car-to-car impacts”, and could fail even when traveling at low speeds.

The Association of American Railroads has advised that 85 percent of tank cars currently in service in North American are unsafe. In November of 2013 they recommended retrofitting or phasing out current tank cars, urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to strengthen federal regulations for rail tankers moving flammable liquids like shale crude. Suggestions included requiring an outer steel jacket around the tank car, and modifications that would prevent bottom outlets from opening during an accident. The NTSB posted an outline of the flaws in the DOT-111 in 2012.

The AAR even wants safety upgrades to tank cars built after October 2011, when the rail industry had implemented its latest design standards. Of the 92,000 DOT-111 tank cars used to move crude oil and ethanol, only about 14,000 have been built to this newer standard. But even these newer DOT-111s still have those bottom outlet valves that tend to fail during derailments.

The AAR also advised the USDOT that rail shippers should not be allowed to continue classifying shale crude as a combustible liquid - having a flash point above 100 degrees Fahrenheit – as most crude oil is usually classified. Since crude from the Bakken fields can have a flash point below 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it needs to be identified and labeled as a flammable liquid during transport. The International Association of Fire Chiefs has alerted emergency responders that “recent derailments and resulting fires indicate that the crude oil originating in the Bakken region may be more flammable than crude oil from other regions” but may not be classified in the correct packing group because “its flashpoint and boiling points may be lower than other traditional light crude oil.”

The Emergency Management website has advised coordinators for local, county and state offices of Emergency Management (OEM) to begin planning for the transportation of Bakken crude oil in their “next” meeting of their Local Emergency Planning Committee. The LEPC, authorized under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, is responsible to develop emergency response plans and provide information about chemicals in the community. But will planning for hazmats at facilities with shale oil be uniquely complicated? One of the seven exemptions to major federal regulations that fracking has been given includes the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Another “exemption”: railroads aren't required to file detailed emergency response plans with the Federal Railroad Administration unless their tankers hold more than 42,000 gallons of oil. DOT-111s only hold up to 34,500 gallons. The FRA does require railroads hauling crude to have a basic spill plan, with a description of personnel and equipment that are available for a response, but there's no requirement for the FRA officials to review the plan. The Association of American Railroads provides haulers with recommendations for the transportation of hazardous materials.

Railroads are regulated by the federal government, not by state or local government. In the recent Businessweek article “Trains That Go Boom”, a rail safety consultant concluded that the government should be “embarrassed by how unprepared they were for this”. As regulations play catch-up to the rush for energy independence, and with the exemptions to federal regulations - including such staples as the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act - it is prudent to ask if the next generation of publicly-funded Superfund cleanups has begun.

Meanwhile, almost 75% of Bayway's tank cars in their expanded rail yard along Raritan Bay could be carrying flammable fracking crude in a few months. The Center for Biological Diversity announced yesterday that it will sue the Coast Guard and the EPA for not updating a 2011 spill plan for the Hudson River:

“In the face of rapidly expanding shipments of highly explosive crude oil through Albany and along the Hudson River, the Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency for failing to update oil spill plans. The existing antiquated protocols - developed before the oil transport boom that now funnels billions of gallons through the region annually - fail to adequately protect endangered species and people dependent on the river.”

Thanks to Louise Usechak for her insights. The first of a two-part blog about fracking and NJ is at http://middletown-nj.patch.com/blogs/bill-simmonss-blog.