In January 2014, the US National Transportation Safety Board and Canadian Transportation Safety Board jointly issued recommendations for improving rail transport of dangerous goods. In the US, in addition to urging the government to put in tougher safety measures, state governments are looking at developing response plans specific to oil spills from rail tank cars.
The recommendations emerged from a probe of the Lac-Megantic accident in which a train carrying crude petroleum products derailed and exploded, resulting in nearly 50 deaths and as yet unknown environmental impact. A ‘hazardous materials freight fee’, similar to the fees levied on oil transported by sea, has been proposed in the US to help fund the increased planning and response readiness anticipated as more oil is transported in large quantities by rail.
Transport of oil by rail has increased 443% in the US, according statistics provided by the Association of American Railroads. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that US railroad based oil spills are also on the increase, from 9 incidents in 2010 to 108 in 2013. Most are not as dramatic as the La Megantic, and there has been very little publicity regarding environmental impacts, including the effects on wildlife of such spills.
Just as the Exxon Valdez oil spill resulted in safety improvements in the transport of oil by sea, in the aftermath of the Lac-Megantic disaster, the construction and retrofitting of rail tank cars is likely to be more heavily regulated. But in both the US and Canada, those regulations must come from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transport Canada. The two safety boards can only make recommendations.
Resources:
Transport Canada calls for increased rail tanker safety
Exploding oil trains push states to create response plans