news

Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY) today called for stronger safety standards for rail transport of crude oil after several recent accidents. Citing the risk to public safety and the environment, Tonko called on the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to strengthen and enforce safety standards for the transport of crude oil by rail through the Capital Region.

In a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Congressman Tonko and Congresswoman Lowey, along with other Members of Congress, called on the DOT to take a range of actions to improve rail safety and reduce the risks of crude oil transport, including:

·        Adopting the recent National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that require improved route planning for hazardous materials; rerouting to avoid densely populated and environmentally sensitive areas when possible; response plans for rail carriers to ensure that adequate provisions are in place to respond to worst-case spill scenarios;  and ensure testing and classification by shippers and rail carriers of their shipments of hazardous materials;

·        Moving forward with rule making efforts for improved safety standards for new and existing tank cars; and,

·        Implementing a 2007 recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board that would require railroads to share information on the exact location and kinds of hazardous materials with first responders. 

The full text of Tonko’s letter is below:

February 26, 2014

The Honorable Anthony Foxx
Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

Dear Secretary Foxx:

We write to express our concerns about the current safety regulations for transporting crude oil by rail raised by the rapid escalation of the transport of crude oil by rail through our region. Last December, 400,000 gallons of crude were spilled in a derailment near Casselton, North Dakota. In July, a derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec resulted in 47 deaths and incredible destruction. These are just two of a growing number of high profile derailments that illustrate the risks to public safety and the environment unless safety standards are increased. We commend the new voluntary operating initiative announced last week by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and believe it represents a good first step; however, we believe additional formalized regulations are needed. Therefore, we urge you to take action to better align safety standards to reduce the risk associated with this crude oil transport.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the Bakken formation in North Dakota has been producing more than 1 million barrels of oil per day since December 2013.  This production has increased dramatically in recent years and can be expected to continue to grow. This oil boom has led to an exponential increase in the amount of crude oil transported by railway throughout North America from approximately 11,000 carloads in 2009 to over 400,000 in 2013. Furthermore, there are questions about unique safety challenges posed by Bakken crude. The derailments from 2013 prompted the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to issue a safety alert on January 2, 2014, noting, “Crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil.” The growth in shipments of crude by rail in such a short time period, an essentially nonexistent industry five years ago, has made it clear that our safety regulations must be reassessed.

This issue affects every region of the nation, including New York’s Hudson and Mohawk River Valleys and the North Country. Private industry is making significant investments in rail infrastructure throughout the Capital Region, the Port of Albany, and lower Hudson Valley to increase the region’s capacity to handle additional crude shipments. The Port of Albany in particular has become a major hub for transporting crude, with the capacity to handle 120 carloads every day, or over 40,000 carloads annually. This oil then passes through the Hudson Valley region, bound for refineries in the Northeast and Canada by rail, ship, and barge.

In light of these developments, we strongly support and encourage you to move forward in adopting the recent National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and PHMSA. These include: expanding hazardous materials route planning and selection requirements and requiring rerouting to avoid densely populated and environmentally sensitive areas when possible; requiring response plans for rail carriers to ensure that adequate provisions are in place to respond to worst-case discharge scenarios; and ensuring shippers and rail carriers are testing and classifying their shipments appropriately.

There is reason to believe that improper classification of Bakken crude shipments is systemic, as evident by DOT’s recent “Operation Classification” inspections, which found 11 of 18 samples taken from trains transporting crude oil were not assigned to the correct Packing Group. As you know, proper classification is essential for safe handling and effective emergency response.

In addition to improved routing, emergency planning, and hazardous materials classification, it is necessary that tank car safety standards are increased for new and existing cars. It is well known that only 14,000 of 92,000 DOT-111 tank cars are currently built to the latest industry standards. The remaining 78,000 have demonstrated that they are prone to splitting open during derailments. Last month, Wendy Tadros, Chairwoman of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, was quoted by the New York Times as stating, “Clearly based on the science in Lac-Megantic, these materials should not be carried in class 111 tank cars.”

Increased tank car standards were suggested in NTSB’s March 2012 recommendations to PHMSA. These recommendations were recently considered as part of a PHSMA Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making, and AAR has publicly stated its support for tank cars being built to a higher standard. We urge you to move forward expeditiously to adopt regulations to require all new tank cars be built to this higher standard. Similarly, it is important that all existing cars are retrofitted to this higher standard or phased out as quickly as possible.

In addition to these recommendations, we believe it is imperative that first responders and local offices of emergency management have accurate and immediate information on the contents of hazardous materials moving through our communities. We encourage you to implement the regulatory change recommended by NTSB in April 2007 to require that railroads provide emergency responders accurate, real-time information regarding the identity and location of hazardous materials.  Improved information sharing will help ensure that appropriate emergency response plans are in place to enable responders to react swiftly and safely in the event of an accident. This information is not only critical for public safety and environmental protection but also important for our first responders’ safety when responding to an incident.

The communities we represent throughout the Hudson and Mohawk River Valleys have made extraordinary contributions to our nation’s heritage, and people in our region have come to appreciate the importance of environmental stewardship. They place a very high value on our historic waterways. While there are clear benefits to increased commerce in our region, we are sure you would agree it cannot come at the expense of public safety and environmental preservation. Therefore we respectfully urge you to move forward aggressively with the appropriate administrative steps necessary to improve rail safety and crude oil transportation.

Thank you for your consideration and prompt attention to our request.

###