Crude-oil tankers like those that derailed and exploded in Lynchburg, Va., on Wednesday likely roll through Columbus, but it’s unclear how often or how many pass through Ohio.
No state or federal agency tracks the crude oil or hazardous materials moving through the state, and the Association of American Railroads, which compiles self-reported data, provides only national numbers.
But Ohio is a key transit point between oil production in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and East Coast ports, and trains likely are carrying crude oil through some of Ohio’s most-heavily populated areas, said Fred Millar, a Virginia rail-safety critic.
“You guys are right in the bowling alley for a lot of these cargoes,” he said. “Somebody in Ohio ought to be asking the question, ‘Is coming through Ohio the safest way to get this cargo to the East Coast?’"
Representatives of CSX and Norfolk Southern, both of which have lines running through the Columbus area, did not respond to requests for comment.
“Unfortunately, we do not get notified at all,” said Kelly McGuire, spokeswoman for Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
“We don’t get notified when they’re coming. We don’t get notified of what they’re bringing through, how much, or anything.”
Transport of crude oil has been hotly debated amid derailments and explosions that have killed dozens of people.
In July, a runaway train killed 47 people in Quebec, and this week, several tank cars turned over and caught fire in Lynchburg.
Two years ago, three Norfolk Southern cars carrying 90,000 gallons of ethanol derailed and exploded north of Downtown Columbus. Trucks hauling hazardous material must drive around major cities, but trains are allowed to roll through them.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced in February that railroads would take voluntary measures to make sure crude oil is shipped safely. The measures include reduced speed limits and more inspections.
The department requires shippers and carriers to report unintentional spills of hazardous materials, but not all materials loaded on trains.
A 2007 federal law detailed criteria that railroads should use to determine whether hazardous material should be rerouted around major cities, but those routes are not made public. And rail critics have called for a ban on the cars commonly used to transport petroleum.
The industry uses new design standards for the cars, but many of the old tankers still are in use.
Most of the production in Ohio’s Utica shale play is of natural gas and natural-gas liquid, not crude oil, said Mike Chadsey, spokesman for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. Most of the oil captured in eastern Ohio is shipped by truck.
The Bakken formation has spurred a traffic increase and is the source for most crude oil shipped by rail in the United States. In January, federal regulators issued a safety alert that warned that Bakken crude might be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil.
Local officials can obtain a list of the top 25 hazardous materials transported through their area each year to help emergency responders prepare for disaster.
“We can find out what has been here after the fact, but we’re not able to know ahead of time what’s coming into our community, and that’s certainly a frustration,” said Dan Williamson, spokesman for Mayor Michael B. Coleman.
After the 2012 Norfolk Southern spill and fire, Coleman said city officials would look into chemical transport through the city. Coal shipments were the largest to start or end in Ohio in 2011, according to the Association of American Railroads. The report details only shipments from or to Ohio and does not account for shipments passing through the state.
Crude oil does not fall among the top five material shipments to start or end in Ohio.
Railroads nationwide carried 407,642 carloads of crude oil in 2013 — a 74 percent increase over 2012, according to the organization.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration does not track rail shipments, but John Duff, the agency’s transportation expert, said it is more expensive to ship crude and ethanol via rail than pipeline or barge.
However, refiners can’t access cheaper oil extracted from the middle of the country without rail and must pay a premium to ship it.
Railroads collect shipment data and provide it to consultants for a fee, he said.
“This is obviously something we need to do something about,” Duff said. “But at the present, we don’t survey the railroads, and I think it’s clear we need to.”
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/
©2014 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)
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