BY JEFF SIMPSON
What do places such as Aliceville, Alabama; Vandergrift, Pennsylvania; Weld County, Colorado; Bethlehem, New York; Casselton, North Dakota; Plaster Rock, New Brunswick; Lac-Megantic, Quebec; and Lynchburg, Virginia have in common? All represent towns, hamlets, or cities that have experienced a railroad train derailment within the past year or so involving volatile North American crude oil. Couple this with ethanol unit train derailments and fires in Arcadia, Ohio; New Brighton, Pennsylvania; and Cherry Valley, Illinois, and the fire and emergency medical service along with emergency managers and planners can become quickly overwhelmed. The following information provides better insight into what first responders potentially could be facing.
North American Crude Oil 101
The global demand for energy and worries over the potential supply disruptions in the Middle East, coupled with the spike in gas prices over the past several years, has stimulated drilling domestically to address our energy needs. Technology innovations have driven the growth of unconventional horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing from shale formations within sections of the United States and Canada. These successes have reshaped the North American energy industry relatively overnight.
Light oil production continues to grow in the Bakken, Permian, Niobrara, Eagle Ford, and other formations across the continent. In the United States, growth is projected to increase from 6.7 million barrels per day in 2012 to 11.6 million barrels per day in 2022. Canada is projected to produce 5.6 million barrels per day by 2025, up from 3.6 million barrels per day in 2011. This high-quality Bakken crude oil with output of 950,000 barrels per day mostly originates from North Dakota and Montana and weighs between 6.2 to 7.0 pounds per gallon. It is also less viscous than lower-grade oil making the refining process easier. In turn, the flashpoint and lowest possible temperature at which this oil can be ignited is reduced, making it more flammable. It is also noteworthy to point out that Canadian crude oil from the Alberta region contains greater than 1 percent sulfur compared with less than 0.5 percent for U.S. crude. The creation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as an odorless gas by-product during transport from Canadian oil operations is also being raised as a concern.
Railroad Transportation Economics
Today’s railroads incentivize shippers through their transportation rates to move the largest amount of a commodity in a single trainload. Railroads are most profitable when they can pick up a single trainload or unit train from a single origin and move it to a single destination in the most direct or timely manner. Limitations exist related to shipment size, train length, railcar dimensions, commodity weight, and railcar axle load ratings. It is not uncommon that unit trains of crude oil consist of 120 railcar loads carrying the potential of 85,000 barrels (3.6 million gallons) of volume oil during point-to-point shipment. Approximately 75 percent of Bakken oil production travels by railcar, and upwards of 400,000 barrels of oil a day heads to the East Coast, making it a highly lucrative business for the railroads. Another 300,000 barrels traverse the rails en route to the Gulf Coast, California, and Washington State.
Currently, the railroads are restricted because of the availability of crude oil tank cars; orders for new rail tank cars are being backlogged by 80 percent. Federal law mandates that all production of crude oil in the United States be refined within the boundaries of the country. No oil is allowed to be transloaded and shipped off shore for delivery elsewhere. With limited refining locations in the United States, the potential to bottleneck crude oil unit trains in congested urban areas is extremely high. Railroads have opted to reroute a percentage of their trains to port locations such as Albany, New York, or Norfolk, Virginia, for commodity transfer onto tankers and barges for delivery to refineries via water routes. This process reduces the congestion, makes rail tank cars available for return and refill faster, and maintains a timely and steady flow of material to processing locations.
Crude Oil Unit Train
Crude Oil Tank Car Specifications
Railroads are utilizing DOT 111AW General Service tank cars, also known as CTC-111A in Canada, to transport the bulk of the crude oil throughout their network. Since the majority of these cars are owned by the shippers or railcar-leasing companies, the mandated inspection and service regulations are the responsibility of the owner, not the railroads themselves. The railroads do periodic car inspections on a limited basis, but this does not guarantee 100 percent compliance of good operating condition. Tank cars manufactured before 1996 have a maximum capacity of 25,000 gallons and are made from lower-grade steel. Tank car capacities and steel strength have increased since then with most of the crude oil, ethanol, and gasoline being transported in DOT 111AW cars carrying 31,800 gallons of product. Since the demand for tank cars is greater than the supply, it is not uncommon to find lower-capacity and older tank cars being used to move these commodities as well.
DOT 111AW 31,800 gallon rail tank car
In October 2011, the American Association of Railroads (AAR) recommended enhancements for all new tank car construction designed for crude oil and ethanol transport service known as CPC-1232. These design improvements included advances in protection of top and bottom tank valves, ½- to 5/8- inch shell thicknesses, pressure-relief devices, and half-height head shield protection. In the May 2014 derailment in Lynchburg, Virginia, it was confirmed that 14 of the 17 rail tank cars that derailed were made to the CPC-1232 standard, including the breached car that leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the James River.
Half height head shield protection
Emergency Planning and Response
This born-yesterday industry has left many jurisdictions and agencies unprepared in planning for and mitigating a large-scale public safety and hazardous emergency. The Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Guide (ERG) classifies this commodity as 1267 Petroleum with standard precautions described. Most departments and hazmat teams train on a single isolated release of product and not one involving multiple containers carrying thousands of gallons of volatile merchandise. Emergency response plans (ERP) should be developed based on these new complexities and include worst-case scenarios. Localities need to quickly understand which routes the railroad is using to transport large volumes of crude oil, ethanol, and gasoline, and at what commodity flow rates. Departments and jurisdictions must refocus their efforts to be adequately trained to respond to flammable liquid incidents.
Development of core capabilities related to the five established levels of hazmat training can be found in National Fire Protection Association 472, Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s standard for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (29 CFR 1910.120). Because of the size and complexity of a rail tank car-related incident, the development of multiagency and regional response plans, including training exercises, is key in protecting the public and mitigating the hazard. It is recommended that localities identify and establish written impact zones along railroad track right-of-ways that exceed the standard ERG ½-mile evacuation guideline. Information on Bakken light crude oil and its hazards can be found as part of the Materials Safety Data Sheet at www.cenovus.com/contractor/docs/CenovusMSDS_BakkenOil.pdf.
References
“Crude Oil Tank Cars,” Paul F. Titterton, GATX Corporation, February 27, 2013.
“Bakken Crude Oil Rolling Thru Albany,” Jad Mouawad, The New York Times, February 27, 2013.
“Virginia’s Bomb Trains,” Fred Millar, June 10, 2014.
Bio
JEFF SIMPSON, a 31-year veteran of the fire and EMS service, is a past chief of Salisbury (MD) Fire Department. He is certified as a Virginia fire instructor and FEMA level safety and command officer. He sits on the American Military University Industry Advisory Council and advises on its emergency management and disaster preparedness curricula. He instructs at the Hanover County (VA) Fire Academy. He was a 2006 Governor’s Award Finalist for Excellence in the Virginia Fire Service
