Will Feds, DNREC Get Answers On Dangerously Corrosive Chemical Additives To Bakken Crude-By-Rail Through Delaware?

(News Journal) Jeff Montgomery's story today ~ Safety on rail industry leaders’ agenda - DC meeting centers on Quebec derailment

The Federal Railroad Administration has scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday in Washington for a Rail Safety Advisory Commit­tee review of findings from the Lac-Megantic derailment. The commit­tee also will take up mat­ters raised in a July 29 FRA call for information about the “proper classifi­cation,” flammability and safety requirements for crudes that could contain hazardous compounds that can increase corro­sion in tank cars or endan­ger workers exposed to fumes. “Without further infor­mation in that regard,” one FRA official said in a letter to the American Pe­troleum Institute last month, “FRA can only speculate as to the num­ber of potential crude oil shipments that are being made” in violation of fed­eral hazard prevention rules. The action comes more than two years after in­dustry groups began warning that crude oils from some parts of the Bakken shale oil fields in and around North Dakota could contain higher lev­els of flammable and toxic hydrogen sulfide. More recently, warnings have emerged about use of vol­atile thinners to dilute heavy Canadian oil sand crudes, easing pipeline movements and loading and unloading of tank cars but potentially increasing risks..........PBF spokesman Mi­chael Karlovich referred questions about crude oil transportation safety to rail carriers earlier this month. The company re­lies exclusively on Nor­folk Southern Corp. to haul crude oil into its new tank car offloading hub east of Del. 1 just south of the split at Tybouts Cor­ner. Officials with Norfolk Southern have generally refused to discuss the is­sue, citing rail security concerns.

Delaware’s Depart­ment of Natural Re­sources and Environmen­tal Control and the New Castle County Local Emergency Planning Commission also are seeking information on the issue. “We’ve had a series of conversations with feder­al officials, trying to make sure that we’re getting ac­cess to the best science on these rail cars and storage tanks,” said DNREC Sec­retary Collin P. O’Mara. “If there’s this kind of cor­rosive property, we want to know if there are addi­tional steps we should be taking.”........“The science is coming fast and furious,” O’Mara said. “The first concerns that I heard about this came maybe a month ago. I do think there’s a grow­ing awareness of the dif­ferent chemical proper­ties” of crudes that might require different level of care.   

David Carter, conser­vation chairman for Dela­ware Audubon, said that concerns about hydrogen sulfide gas and corrosive­ness in crude oil from the Bakken shale oil fields of the upper Midwest have gotten too little attention in Delaware. Delaware Audubon and Sierra Club Delaware challenged part of Delaware City’s rail op­eration under the Coastal Zone Act, but saw their case tossed in July out for lack of standing. An ap­peal is under considera­tion. “The fact that there may be other chemicals involved that have the possibility of corrosive impacts and synergistic effects is something that we’re very, very deeply concerned about,” said Carter, who described current oversight as “a perfect storm of risk.” .

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