DeSmogBlog.com 10/02/14 Justin Mikulka
On the final day of the public comment period for the new proposed
oil-by-rail regulations, the oil industry came out swinging. At a press
conference held by American Petroleum Institute (API) president Jack Gerard, Gerard said: “Overreacting creates more challenges than safety.”
One of the main “overreactions” Gerard and the API want to avoid is the discontinuation of the DOT-111 tank cars for transporting dangerous products like Bakken crude oil.
Based on that, you might think that banning DOT-111s is some kind of reactionary new idea, not something that’s been on the books for more than two decades.
Take this line from a 1991 National Transportation Safety Board document: “The inadequacy of the protection provided by DOT-111A tank cars for certain dangerous products has been evident for many years in accidents investigated by the Safety Board.”
Yet, here’s the American Petroleum Institute, 23 years later arguing that halting the shipment of explosive Bakken crude oil in DOT-111 tank cars is “overreacting.”.....
....Earlier this year, Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board testified before congress about the use of DOT-111 tank cars for shipping crude oil stating that, “multiple recent serious and fatal accidents reflect substantial shortcomings in tank car design that create an unacceptable public risk.”
The oil and rail industries are now arguing that they feel this risk is acceptable for at least another four years. And they also think the risk of using the newer CPC-1232 tank cars, one of which ruptured and burst into flames in the Lynchburg, Va., rail accident that occurred at a speed of only 24 mph, is acceptable for at least another seven years..... read more here
One of the main “overreactions” Gerard and the API want to avoid is the discontinuation of the DOT-111 tank cars for transporting dangerous products like Bakken crude oil.
Based on that, you might think that banning DOT-111s is some kind of reactionary new idea, not something that’s been on the books for more than two decades.
Take this line from a 1991 National Transportation Safety Board document: “The inadequacy of the protection provided by DOT-111A tank cars for certain dangerous products has been evident for many years in accidents investigated by the Safety Board.”
Yet, here’s the American Petroleum Institute, 23 years later arguing that halting the shipment of explosive Bakken crude oil in DOT-111 tank cars is “overreacting.”.....
....Earlier this year, Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board testified before congress about the use of DOT-111 tank cars for shipping crude oil stating that, “multiple recent serious and fatal accidents reflect substantial shortcomings in tank car design that create an unacceptable public risk.”
The oil and rail industries are now arguing that they feel this risk is acceptable for at least another four years. And they also think the risk of using the newer CPC-1232 tank cars, one of which ruptured and burst into flames in the Lynchburg, Va., rail accident that occurred at a speed of only 24 mph, is acceptable for at least another seven years..... read more here
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