http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/02/train-derailment-crude-oil-explosion-west-virginia
[One fresh concern: the tanker cars which exploded and are burning in
the most recent West Virginia oil train derailment are of the new 'safe'
design, not the vintage DOT-111 type. So recent government moves in
Canada and the U.S. to require removal of the antique tanker cars are
not enough to make oil by rail carriage safe. Even the interim CP 1232
car - not slated for removal from service - now appears to be
problematic based on recent experience.
Images, video and links in on-line article]
Trains Hauling Crude Oil Across North America Just Keep Exploding
More evacuations, fireballs, and oil spills.
—By James West
Tue Feb. 17, 2015 1:18 PM EST
A train hauling more than 100 tankers from North Dakota's booming oil
fields derailed during a snowstorm on Monday in West Virginia. The
accident sparked massive explosions that prompted the evacuation of two
nearby towns, and an oil spill that threatened the water supply of
thousands of local residents. The train was heading to Yorktown,
Virginia, and came off its tracks 33 miles southeast of Charleston, West
Virginia. A state of emergency was declared.
Oil spilled into the Kanawha River, and one home was destroyed during
the inferno that continued for 10 hours after the derailment, according
to CNN. One person was injured. Dramatic footage shows fire and smoke
billowing through the snowy sky:
Bakken crude is regarded as potentially more flammable than traditional
crude, thus posing an increased hazard. And since the derailment of a
train hauling Bakken crude killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, in
July 2013, the type of tankers involved in these accidents has become
the subject of intense scrutiny. Both Canada and the United States have
called for tougher safety standards, including upgrading the tankers. In
mid-January, Canada announced it would take older tankers, known as the
"DOT-111", off the network years sooner than the United States will,
putting the two countries at odds over increased safety measures on the
deeply integrated system.
Here's a diagram of the weaknesses in the older DOT-111 model tanker,
which is still in operation across the network:
You can read an in-depth Mother Jones report about the DOT-111 tankers here.
The train operator, CSX, has said that the train was not pulling DOT-111
tankers. Instead, the company says it was using a tougher, newer model,
the "CPC 1232", according to Reuters.
But even newer cars like these are evidently not invincible: when a
105-car CSX train derailed in Lynchburg, Va., last April, a fiery
CPC-1232 tanker careened into the James River and spilled 30,000 gallons
of Bakken crude oil. And Washington state regulators are investigating
CPC-1232 tankers, after a BNSF train carrying Bakken crude oil across
Idaho and Washington in January was found to have leaking cars. The
CPC-1232 also doesn't quite live up to the US regulators' proposed rules
to upgrade the system, according to Bloomberg, which reports that:
The draft rule also would require that new cars be built with steel
shells that are 9/16th of an inch thick, people familiar with the plan
said. The walls of the current cars, both DOT-111s and the newer
CPC-1232 models, are 7/16th of an inch thick.
The West Virginia accident on Monday is the second major derailment in
three days across North America's booming oil-by-rail network. A
Canadian National Railway train detailed northern Ontario, Canada, on
Saturday night, again resulting in an inferno and an oil spill: 29
railway cars in the 100-car train derailed. Seven caught fire, according
to CTV.
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