It’s been less than three weeks since the derailment of a train carrying oil from the Bakken oil patch sparked horrific explosions near Casselton, North Dakota. No one died, but warnings about oil transport safety almost immediately began swirling in the still smoky air.
Federal investigators reported last week that 400,000 gallons of oil were lost in the fiery crash, grossly contaminating air and soil. About 1,400 residents voluntarily evacuated. At least 1,300 tons of oily dirt have been taken to an industrial landfill, but the cleanup is ongoing.
Two Burlington North Santa Fe (BNSF) trains were involved in the crash. The eastbound train, carrying the oil, derailed after crashing into a grain car that had fallen onto the track from a derailed westbound train, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report.
Twenty of the 106 cars were carrying oil. Of those, 18 sustained punctures, prompting a survey of major rail accidents involving DOT-111 type tank cars (the industry choice). Federal officials seem to agree that they don’t meet current safety standards.
So how does this crash fit into the larger debate about energy in this country?
Petroleum engineers cite the Bakken light, sweet crude oil as highly volatile, igniting at a lower temperature than traditional heavy crude. The oil is extracted from shale through a process called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” which has been blamed for polluting ground water.
Politicians and energy industry executives praise the oil boom in eastern Montana and North Dakota as reducing America’s reliance on imported oil and creating job growth. Rail shipments of oil (about 106 cars each) to coastal refineries have soared from about 10,000 tanker cars in 2009 to about 400,000 last year.
When the numbers escalate at that rate, people worry their lives may be forever changed. Even without a disaster, their quality of life is degraded as traffic, noise and pollution increase.
In July, a 72-car train of Bakken crude oil derailed in Quebec killing 47 people and incinerating most of downtown Lac-Megantic. That deadly crash and ten others in 2013 all involved flammables shipped in DOT-111 model tank cars. An attorney for the Association of Hazmat Shippers said the flaws that render these cars prone to rupture have been known for more than two decades. A government proposal to strengthen these cars has been delayed for too long, safety advocates say. The time for mandatory regulation has come.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met last week with rail and oil industry executives who agreed to make “voluntary” safety changes within 30 days. They discussed one plan that would reroute trains hauling flammable crude around highly populated areas; another plan would lower speed limits for oil trains to lessen the danger of derailments where public safety could be threatened. Real change apparently wasn’t considered.
Trains hauling up to 3 million gallons of crude per shipment pass through hundreds of small towns and several large cities on their way to coastal refineries. Firefighters and other first responders have been warned of the lower flash point of Bakken crude. Still, some oil industry leaders have resisted retrofitting the DOT-111 tank cars they own or lease as too costly. Life isn’t worth much where profit is concerned.
Meanwhile, some are promoting completion of proposed pipelines as a safer alternative than train shipments to coastal refineries.
Secretary of State John Kerry said last week we would not be pushed into making a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline connecting Canadian tar sands oil fields to Texas refineries. Still pending is a crucial environmental impact statement from Canada. The State Department has jurisdiction over the northern section of pipeline from Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska, because it crosses an international border; but the southern portion, 485 miles from Cushing, Oklahoma to Houston, has already been built and TransCanada is set to begin shipments this week. An existing 298-mile spur would connect the two sections.
During a lengthy public comment period, environmentalists cited risks from the pipeline such as pollution of the Ogallala aquifer from a spill and the likelihood of leaks from highly corrosive tar sands oil.
How much carnage must occur before we support and promote renewable energy over pipelines or rails hauling volatile, climate-disrupting fuels?