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oil-train-railWASHINGTON – The Obama administration needs to take steps immediately to protect the public from potentially catastrophic oil train accidents even if it means using emergency authority, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said Wednesday.

The NTSB investigates accidents. The Transportation Department is drafting regulations to toughen standards for tank cars used to transport oil and ethanol, as well as other steps to prevent or mitigate accidents. But there isn’t time to wait for the cumbersome federal rulemaking process — which often takes many years to complete — to run its normal course, Hersman said.

Read the complete story at the Journal Star.

oil-train-railWASHINGTON Two Senate committee chairmen asked the secretaries of transportation and energy on Thursday to take “prompt and decisive action” to resolve recent safety problems with crude oil transported by rail.

A series of fiery derailments, including a deadly wreck in Quebec last summer and a near-miss last week in North Dakota, have gained the attention of lawmakers, who until this point had said little about the issue.

Read the complete story at the Ledger-Enquirer.

oil-train-railBILLINGS, Mont. – Following a string of explosive accidents, federal officials say crude oil being shipped by rail from the Northern Plains across the U.S. and Canada may be more flammable than traditional forms of oil.

A safety alert issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation warns the public, emergency responders and shippers about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch. The sprawling oil shale reserve is fueling the surging industry in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, which is now the nation’s second-largest oil producer behind Texas.

Read the complete story at the Associated Press.

oil-train-railWOLF POINT, Mont. – It’s tough to miss the trains hauling crude oil out of the Northern Plains. They are growing more frequent by the day, mile-long processions of black tank cars that rumble through wheat fields and towns, along rivers and national parks.

As common as they have become across the U.S. and Canada, officials in dozens of towns and cities where the oil trains travel say they are concerned with the possibility of a major derailment, spill or explosion, while their level of preparation varies widely.

Read the complete story at www.ngnews.ca.

CTRAN L.L.C., Cogent Energy Solutions L.L.C. and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners have announced they secured all permits, funding and customers to begin construction on a crude-by-rail terminal adjacent to the Casper Natrona County International Airport in Casper, Wyo.

To be completed in spring 2014, the terminal will be served by BNSF Railway Co. and accommodate unit train and manifest loadings of both heavy and light crude, said officials of CTRAN — a Granite Peak Development/BDW Co. joint venture — in a press release. The facility will feature an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels of crude and can be expanded to eventually handle 2 million barrels, they said.

Read the complete story at Progressive Railroading.

TORONTO – The oil carried by a freight train that derailed and exploded in Quebec this year had been misclassified as a less dangerous type of crude, Canadian officials said Wednesday, and they urged U.S. and Canadian regulators to ensure dangerous goods are accurately labeled.

Forty-seven people were killed in the July disaster when the unattended train rolled away and derailed in the town of Lac-Megantic near the Maine border and several of its oil cars exploded. The downtown was destroyed.

Read the complete story at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.