The transport of crude oil by rail has spiked dramatically in recent years.
From 2012 to 2013 the amount carried by the country's major freight railroads increased nearly 75 percent. That’s according to the American Association of Railroads. Amid growing public concern about safety, new federal regulations went into effect this weekend to make sure local emergency authorities are notified when some trains come through. Grace Hood of KUNC reports for Inside Energy.
In a very remote part of Weld County, Colorado, along the Union Pacific, is the site of an oil spill where six cars carrying crude oil fell off the tracks releasing about 5,000 gallons of oil. The spill happened about one month ago. As Colorado’s oil production boom continues—exceeding the capacity of pipelines that traditionally have carried the oil—more companies are shipping crude by rail. Over the past two years, companies have built two crude loading facilities and doubled capacity at a third site in Colorado’s Niobrara formation along the eastern plains. That’s caught the attention of the county’s office of emergency management. Roy Rudisill is the office director.
“We really want to be able to say, ok we know individually at least from our county standpoint of what’s being transported through. Whether it be crude oil, whether it be other chemicals like chlorines, and hydrous ammonias—those kinds of things.”
But he doesn’t really know on a day-to-day basis. The railroads don’t share that data. When his team encountered the oil spill one month ago, he was surprised his agency wasn’t near the top of the railroad’s notification list.
“Having those conversations and having this incident has actually helped in the communication of if there’s another incident, we know how to get the proper communication—the right information during the incident.”
The Greeley spill is one of roughly a dozen crude tanker derailments over the past year in the U.S. and Canada. Federal regulators are especially concerned about shipments of crude oil from the Bakken formation in North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada. That wasn’t the oil involved in the Greeley spill. But Bakken crude is believed by some to be more volatile -- and connected to fiery tank car accidents—one of which killed 47 people in Quebec in 2013.
“Up until this time we’ve had a real problem in that local emergency responders have had almost no idea of the contents of the trains that were rolling through these communities.”
Lloyd Burton is a University of Colorado professor who studies rail transport of hazardous materials. He says the new department of transportation rule is a good start. That rule - it went into effect just last Saturday - requires railroads to share route details of large Bakken crude oil shipments.
“I think that would be something that in my view that railroads just owe the communities.”
But that information may be something many communities will never get. A number of states have signed agreements with the railroads to not make the information public. The railroads say it’s a security and competition issue. Wyoming has signed a nondisclosure agreement with Union Pacific Railroad. North Dakota and Colorado have not signed.
Dave Hard is Colorado’s Director of Emergency Management. Even though the state hasn’t signed an agreement, Hard says shipment details will only be released to emergency responders, specific state and local government officials.
“We have to balance everything with guidance we receive from the Department of Transportation. It’s important for us to follow federal guidance that’s been provided by the Federal Department of Transportation.”
Meantime in Colorado, not much is known or revealed about the transport of non-Bakken crude. Union Pacific Railroad declined to share shipment details. BNSF Railway- the nation’s largest oil by rail shipper - said on average it operates three crude oil trains per day through the state. They will not say where or when.
Back in Weld County, Director of Emergency Management Roy Rudisill says he’ll continue to use historical crude oil shipment information to plan for different scenarios. He’ll be watching for Bakken oil shipments—although he’s not expecting much. What keeps him up at night are the things he says he hasn’t planned for.
“You hope you plan everything. But somewhere along the line, there’s always something that comes up.”
The cause for the Greeley accident is still under investigation. The team is expected to wrap up its work by the end of July.
