Aa
The never ending campaign trail, pandering for votes
Oil Train Safety Rule Delayed By 1 Year
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 29, 2013 3:27 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has delayed by nearly a year a plan to boost safety standards for the type of rail car involved in a fiery explosion that killed at least 47 people in Canada this month.
Officials began work on the rule more than a year before an oil train derailed and exploded in Quebec on July 6 — but the rule was never put in place. The proposal by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is intended to fix a dangerous design flaw in a rail car commonly used to haul oil and other hazardous liquids from coast to coast. The soda-can shaped car, known as the DOT-111, has come under scrutiny from safety experts because of its tendency to split open during derailments and other major accidents.
That's exactly what happened when an unattended Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train came loose, hurtling down a 7-mile incline before derailing and igniting in Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border. All but one of its 73 cars were carrying crude oil, and at least five exploded, setting off massive explosions that devastated the small lakeside town of 6,000 people.
The structure of the tank car is not believed to be a factor in the derailment, which is under investigation. But transportation experts say the car's underlying design makes it prone to damage and catastrophic loss of hazardous materials.
A proposed rule to beef up rail-car safety was initially scheduled to be put in place last October, but it has been delayed until late September at the earliest. A final rule is not expected until next year.
The pipeline safety agency said in a report this month that the latest delay was needed to allow "additional coordination" among officials and interested groups, including industry representatives who have resisted calls to retrofit existing cars, citing the expense and technical challenges such a requirement would pose.
In the first half of this year, U.S. railroads moved 178,000 carloads of crude oil. That's double the number during the same period last year and 33 times more than during the same period in 2009. The Railway Association of Canada estimates that as many as 140,000 carloads of crude oil will be shipped on Canada's tracks this year, up from 500 carloads in 2009. Much of that increase is from oil produced in the Bakken oil patch in North Dakota and Montana and surrounding areas. The train that crashed in Quebec was carrying oil from North Dakota to a refinery in New Brunswick, Canada.
The DOT-111 tank car represents more than two-thirds of the rail fleet carrying crude oil.
The Associated Press reported in September that the DOT-111 tank car has been allowed to haul hazardous liquids from coast to coast even though transportation officials were aware of the design flaw.
The AP had reviewed 20 years of federal rail accident data involving DOT-111 cars used to haul ethanol and found that the cars had been breached in at least 40 serious accidents since 2000. In the previous decade, there were just two breaches.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is urging the Obama administration to phase-out DOT-111 tank cars or require freight rail carriers to retrofit them to prevent potential explosions or spills. Schumer described the DOT-111 cars as "flawed, out-of-date and a factor in hazardous material spills during derailments," such as the one in Quebec.
While freight rail should not be "demonized," increased traffic of rail cars carrying crude oil "warrants increased safety measures, and that begins with putting the safest, most up-to-date tank cars on the tracks," Schumer said at a news conference last week in Albany, N.Y.
Democratic Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree of Maine said the government should conduct a wide-ranging safety review as transportation of oil by train increases dramatically in Maine and other states. Nearly 30,000 barrels of per day crossed Maine in March — 15 times more than the same period a year earlier, the lawmakers said in a letter to National Transportation Safety Board and other officials. The train that derailed in Quebec was scheduled to cross Maine on its way to a refinery in St. John, New Brunswick.
A spokeswoman for the American Association of Railroads, which represents the rail industry, said the group shares Schumer's belief in putting safety first.
"If safer and better DOT-111s can be had, then it makes good sense to ensure that the design and standards that these cars are built to, must be tougher than the federal standards that exist today," said spokeswoman Patricia Reilly.
Rather than waiting for the Obama administration to act, Reilly said, the industry has adopted voluntary standards ensuring that all DOT-111s ordered after October 2011 meet tough requirements recommended by the NTSB after a deadly ethanol train derailment and explosion in Illinois in 2009.
But those voluntary standards do not apply to an estimated 40,000 cars built before October 2011 that carry oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids.
The railroads and the oil industry have resisted calls to retrofit existing cars, saying that would present technological and engineering challenges and cost at least $1 billion.
The American Petroleum Institute, the largest lobbying group for the oil industry, declined an interview request. But in comments submitted along with the Renewable Fuels Association, the American Chemistry Council and other groups, the API asked the Obama administration to focus its rule-making on cars built after October 2011.
The industry's proposal "ignores the safety risks posed by the current fleet," the NTSB said in a report on safety recommendations last year. Older tank cars "can almost always be expected to breach in derailments that involve pileups or multiple car-to-car impacts," the report said.
The NTSB cited the car's "inadequate design" in the 2009 crash outside Rockford, Ill., which killed a woman and injured 11 others. The NTSB called for a redesign or replacement of the DOT-111 cars. A decision on whether to require a redesign is up to the pipeline safety administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The DOT-111 car's steel shell is too thin to resist puncture in accidents, the NTSB said, and the ends of the car are vulnerable to ruptures. Valves used for unloading and other exposed fittings on the tops of the tankers can also break during rollovers.
The flaws were noted as far back as a 1991 safety study.
The pipeline safety administration is considering whether to split the proposed rule into one that addresses new tank cars and another that addresses possible retrofits, said spokesman Gordon Delcambre Jr.
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 29, 2013 3:27 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has delayed by nearly a year a plan to boost safety standards for the type of rail car involved in a fiery explosion that killed at least 47 people in Canada this month.
Officials began work on the rule more than a year before an oil train derailed and exploded in Quebec on July 6 — but the rule was never put in place. The proposal by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is intended to fix a dangerous design flaw in a rail car commonly used to haul oil and other hazardous liquids from coast to coast. The soda-can shaped car, known as the DOT-111, has come under scrutiny from safety experts because of its tendency to split open during derailments and other major accidents.
That's exactly what happened when an unattended Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train came loose, hurtling down a 7-mile incline before derailing and igniting in Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border. All but one of its 73 cars were carrying crude oil, and at least five exploded, setting off massive explosions that devastated the small lakeside town of 6,000 people.
The structure of the tank car is not believed to be a factor in the derailment, which is under investigation. But transportation experts say the car's underlying design makes it prone to damage and catastrophic loss of hazardous materials.
A proposed rule to beef up rail-car safety was initially scheduled to be put in place last October, but it has been delayed until late September at the earliest. A final rule is not expected until next year.
The pipeline safety agency said in a report this month that the latest delay was needed to allow "additional coordination" among officials and interested groups, including industry representatives who have resisted calls to retrofit existing cars, citing the expense and technical challenges such a requirement would pose.
In the first half of this year, U.S. railroads moved 178,000 carloads of crude oil. That's double the number during the same period last year and 33 times more than during the same period in 2009. The Railway Association of Canada estimates that as many as 140,000 carloads of crude oil will be shipped on Canada's tracks this year, up from 500 carloads in 2009. Much of that increase is from oil produced in the Bakken oil patch in North Dakota and Montana and surrounding areas. The train that crashed in Quebec was carrying oil from North Dakota to a refinery in New Brunswick, Canada.
The DOT-111 tank car represents more than two-thirds of the rail fleet carrying crude oil.
The Associated Press reported in September that the DOT-111 tank car has been allowed to haul hazardous liquids from coast to coast even though transportation officials were aware of the design flaw.
The AP had reviewed 20 years of federal rail accident data involving DOT-111 cars used to haul ethanol and found that the cars had been breached in at least 40 serious accidents since 2000. In the previous decade, there were just two breaches.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is urging the Obama administration to phase-out DOT-111 tank cars or require freight rail carriers to retrofit them to prevent potential explosions or spills. Schumer described the DOT-111 cars as "flawed, out-of-date and a factor in hazardous material spills during derailments," such as the one in Quebec.
While freight rail should not be "demonized," increased traffic of rail cars carrying crude oil "warrants increased safety measures, and that begins with putting the safest, most up-to-date tank cars on the tracks," Schumer said at a news conference last week in Albany, N.Y.
Democratic Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree of Maine said the government should conduct a wide-ranging safety review as transportation of oil by train increases dramatically in Maine and other states. Nearly 30,000 barrels of per day crossed Maine in March — 15 times more than the same period a year earlier, the lawmakers said in a letter to National Transportation Safety Board and other officials. The train that derailed in Quebec was scheduled to cross Maine on its way to a refinery in St. John, New Brunswick.
A spokeswoman for the American Association of Railroads, which represents the rail industry, said the group shares Schumer's belief in putting safety first.
"If safer and better DOT-111s can be had, then it makes good sense to ensure that the design and standards that these cars are built to, must be tougher than the federal standards that exist today," said spokeswoman Patricia Reilly.
Rather than waiting for the Obama administration to act, Reilly said, the industry has adopted voluntary standards ensuring that all DOT-111s ordered after October 2011 meet tough requirements recommended by the NTSB after a deadly ethanol train derailment and explosion in Illinois in 2009.
But those voluntary standards do not apply to an estimated 40,000 cars built before October 2011 that carry oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids.
The railroads and the oil industry have resisted calls to retrofit existing cars, saying that would present technological and engineering challenges and cost at least $1 billion.
The American Petroleum Institute, the largest lobbying group for the oil industry, declined an interview request. But in comments submitted along with the Renewable Fuels Association, the American Chemistry Council and other groups, the API asked the Obama administration to focus its rule-making on cars built after October 2011.
The industry's proposal "ignores the safety risks posed by the current fleet," the NTSB said in a report on safety recommendations last year. Older tank cars "can almost always be expected to breach in derailments that involve pileups or multiple car-to-car impacts," the report said.
The NTSB cited the car's "inadequate design" in the 2009 crash outside Rockford, Ill., which killed a woman and injured 11 others. The NTSB called for a redesign or replacement of the DOT-111 cars. A decision on whether to require a redesign is up to the pipeline safety administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The DOT-111 car's steel shell is too thin to resist puncture in accidents, the NTSB said, and the ends of the car are vulnerable to ruptures. Valves used for unloading and other exposed fittings on the tops of the tankers can also break during rollovers.
The flaws were noted as far back as a 1991 safety study.
The pipeline safety administration is considering whether to split the proposed rule into one that addresses new tank cars and another that addresses possible retrofits, said spokesman Gordon Delcambre Jr.
I guess east is as good as west (lol)
TransCanada to push ahead with major new oil pipeline to Eastern Canada
TransCanada Corp. is proceeding with a $12-billion plan to ship 1.1-million barrels of western crude per day to eastern Canada and will join with Irving Oil Ltd. to build a new deep-water export terminal off Saint John, N.B., the company said Thursday.
After receiving commitments from shippers, TransCanada has increased the capacity of the project by 30 per cent from previous levels, an indication that western producers are keen to diversify their markets beyond the U.S. and are uncertain about prospects for a route through British Columbia to the west coast.
More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/transcanada-to-push-ahead-with-major-new-oil-pipeline-to-eastern-canada/article13545064/
TransCanada to push ahead with major new oil pipeline to Eastern Canada
TransCanada Corp. is proceeding with a $12-billion plan to ship 1.1-million barrels of western crude per day to eastern Canada and will join with Irving Oil Ltd. to build a new deep-water export terminal off Saint John, N.B., the company said Thursday.
After receiving commitments from shippers, TransCanada has increased the capacity of the project by 30 per cent from previous levels, an indication that western producers are keen to diversify their markets beyond the U.S. and are uncertain about prospects for a route through British Columbia to the west coast.
More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/transcanada-to-push-ahead-with-major-new-oil-pipeline-to-eastern-canada/article13545064/
Considering all the shale oil deposits being found in the US, if I was in Canada's shoes I'd be thinking screw the xl pipeline. Send the oil west to Kitimat or such and ship it to Asia. Ship the LNG and oil out. I'm guessing Enbridge and Trans Canada are considering this, in fact I thought they had begun the permitting process--which is a battle north of the border as well.
As to rail tanker cars and vessel cars you can follow TRN and ARII ,they offered a great trade at one time, was easy to front run the boom in oil shipped by rail.
TRN is the big dog in the patch though.
As for Obama, he's after votes for Hillary..Lame duck and apparently petrified to make a decision these days.
As to rail tanker cars and vessel cars you can follow TRN and ARII ,they offered a great trade at one time, was easy to front run the boom in oil shipped by rail.
TRN is the big dog in the patch though.
As for Obama, he's after votes for Hillary..Lame duck and apparently petrified to make a decision these days.
Im not losing faith in government but I sure think we do need to clean it up a bit for sure..... Im all for voting all of em out and starting over.
This kind of goes back to the ineffectiveness within government that I just typed about on a previous post regarding our food sources. The government knows that these tankers are basically bombs on wheels and are doing nothing about it? Wow!!!
I'm not blaming Obama. These bombs have been "flawed" (defective) for a long time and our government knew of it. I don't know about you kids, but that doesn't really give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I'm losing more faith in our government by the day it seems.
I'm not blaming Obama. These bombs have been "flawed" (defective) for a long time and our government knew of it. I don't know about you kids, but that doesn't really give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I'm losing more faith in our government by the day it seems.
Wow... This one was just way to long for me. Too early in the am. I am still trying to digest the fact that one third of all us workers earn 24 thousand and below for the year, or that 37 percent of african americans live in poverty and 17 percent of whites the same. My plate is full!!!! :D
A billion $ retrofit to 40,000 cars could keep Detroit working for quite a while.
Obama Says He’ll Evaluate Pipeline Project Depending on Pollution
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JACKIE CALMES
Published: July 27, 2013
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GALESBURG, Ill. — President Obama said in an interview that he would evaluate construction of the Keystone XL pipeline on the basis of whether it would significantly contribute carbon to the atmosphere.
Obama on the Keystone XL Pipeline
Related
Obama Says Income Gap Is Fraying U.S. Social Fabric (July 28, 2013)
Transcript: Interview With President Obama (July 28, 2013)
But he mocked Republicans’ arguments that the approval of the pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, would create many jobs in the United States.
“Republicans have said that this would be a big jobs generator,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with The New York Times. “There is no evidence that that’s true. The most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline, which might take a year or two, and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people.”
He said 2,000 jobs were “a blip relative to the need.”
The president also disputed the argument that the pipeline would help lower retail gasoline prices. He said most of the oil would be destined for refineries on the Gulf Coast and then exported. In fact, he said, the pipeline might increase prices somewhat in the Midwest, which would suddenly be able to ship more of its oil to other parts of the world.
But Mr. Obama suggested that he was also open to ways to ease concerns about the pipeline’s environmental impact.
In previous remarks, Mr. Obama has said he will approve the pipeline only if it does not “significantly exacerbate” the problem of carbon pollution. In the interview, Mr. Obama said it was possible that Canada could “potentially be doing more to mitigate carbon release.”
But he said it was not clear whether Canadian efforts would be enough to resolve concerns about pollution. And he reiterated the point that the decision about whether to proceed with the pipeline would be made after a recommendation by Secretary of State John Kerry.
“We haven’t seen specific ideas or plans,” Mr. Obama said. “But all of that will go into the mix in terms of John Kerry’s decision or recommendation on this issue.”
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JACKIE CALMES
Published: July 27, 2013
GOOGLE+
SAVE
SHARE
REPRINTS
GALESBURG, Ill. — President Obama said in an interview that he would evaluate construction of the Keystone XL pipeline on the basis of whether it would significantly contribute carbon to the atmosphere.
Obama on the Keystone XL Pipeline
Related
Obama Says Income Gap Is Fraying U.S. Social Fabric (July 28, 2013)
Transcript: Interview With President Obama (July 28, 2013)
But he mocked Republicans’ arguments that the approval of the pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, would create many jobs in the United States.
“Republicans have said that this would be a big jobs generator,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with The New York Times. “There is no evidence that that’s true. The most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline, which might take a year or two, and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people.”
He said 2,000 jobs were “a blip relative to the need.”
The president also disputed the argument that the pipeline would help lower retail gasoline prices. He said most of the oil would be destined for refineries on the Gulf Coast and then exported. In fact, he said, the pipeline might increase prices somewhat in the Midwest, which would suddenly be able to ship more of its oil to other parts of the world.
But Mr. Obama suggested that he was also open to ways to ease concerns about the pipeline’s environmental impact.
In previous remarks, Mr. Obama has said he will approve the pipeline only if it does not “significantly exacerbate” the problem of carbon pollution. In the interview, Mr. Obama said it was possible that Canada could “potentially be doing more to mitigate carbon release.”
But he said it was not clear whether Canadian efforts would be enough to resolve concerns about pollution. And he reiterated the point that the decision about whether to proceed with the pipeline would be made after a recommendation by Secretary of State John Kerry.
“We haven’t seen specific ideas or plans,” Mr. Obama said. “But all of that will go into the mix in terms of John Kerry’s decision or recommendation on this issue.”
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