Fiery derailments renew Americans’ focus on railroad safety

Mar 31, 2023, 2:49 PM

A BNSF train carrying ethanol and corn syrup derailed and caught fire in Raymond, Minn., Thursday, ...

A BNSF train carrying ethanol and corn syrup derailed and caught fire in Raymond, Minn., Thursday, March 30, 2023. BNSF officials said 22 cars derailed, including about 10 carrying ethanol, and the track remains blocked, but that no injuries were reported due to the accident. The cause of the derailment hasn't been determined. (Mark Vancleave /Star Tribune via AP)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Mark Vancleave /Star Tribune via AP)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Americans are renewing their focus on railroad safety after a string of recent derailments, especially two fiery ones involving hazardous chemicals in Minnesota that prompted evacuations.

do more to prevent derailments. They want standards for the trackside detectors used to help identify equipment problems, more notice to states about hazardous chemicals they are hauling, and at least two people at the helm of freight trains.

A Senate bill would toughen the penalty for safety violations to up to 1% of a railroad’s annual operating income and set standards for the maximum length and weight of freight trains, which have grown significantly in recent years. Trains now routinely stretch beyond two miles (3 kilometers) long.

The railroads themselves say they will take steps that include installing roughly 1,000 more trackside detectors. But the industry has a long history of resisting new regulations. The Association of American Railroads trade group has already spoken out against the crew size rule and requiring electronically-controlled brakes.

Railroads are generally regarded as the safest way to transport hazardous chemicals across land, and statistics show that 99.9% of those shipments arrive safely. Most derailments don’t cause major problems, but there are still nearly three a day somewhere in the country. Just one derailment involving hazardous chemicals can be disastrous.

FLAMMABLE TRAIN RULES

Regulators established a set of safety rules for trains hauling large amounts of crude oil, ethanol or other flammable liquids in 2015 after several fiery derailments, including one of the worst disasters in railroad history.

In 2013, the brakes failed on a parked crude oil train in the hills above the Canadian town of Lac Megantic. The unmanned train rolled downhill and derailed, killing 47 people and causing millions of dollars in damage.

Other crude oil crashes, like one that created a massive fireball outside the town of Casselton, North Dakota, in 2013, alarmed regulators because the number of crude oil shipments had skyrocketed as more oil was being produced in areas without many pipelines, like North Dakota.

The 2015 rules require railroads to notify states about how many flammable liquid trains they expect to transport each week and to find the safest route possible for them. They also establish a maximum speed limit of 50 mph (80 kph).

Neither the Ohio or Minnesota trains that derailed were covered by these rules. To be considered a high-hazardous flammable train, a train must have either a block of 20 or more flammable liquid cars or at least 35 flammable liquid cars in all.

Lawmakers and regulators have discussed expanding the definition, so more trains would be covered.

ELECTRONIC BRAKES

Federal regulators originally proposed that any high-hazardous flammable train would need upgraded electronically-controlled brakes that can stop trains more quickly by applying all cars’ brakes simultaneously. Conventional systems apply air brakes sequentially. But they dropped that proposal in 2018 after Congress required them to conduct a detailed cost-benefit analysis.

Mike Rush, a senior vice president of safety and operations with the AAR trade group, told Federal Railroad Administration officials this week that considering electronic brakes now would be “a complete waste of time.”

He said the major freight railroads spent a decade testing electronic brakes and found only limited benefits. Electronic brakes also were prone to breaking down, he said.

Since 2015, it has become much more common for railroads to use multiple locomotives spread throughout a train. That helps stop trains more quickly because the locomotives can send a braking signal at once — though likely not as quickly as electronic brakes would.

TANK CAR UPGRADES

One thing in the 2015 rules was a requirement to upgrade DOT-111 tank cars used to haul crude oil and ethanol to make them less likely to leak in a derailment. The tank cars involved in Thursday’s BNSF derailment in Minnesota were upgraded triple-hulled DOT-117 cars, but they still ruptured and caught fire.

Since 2015, nearly 48,000 of the newer tank cars have been built, and some 41,000 older tank cars have been upgraded to meet a 2029 deadline set by Congress. Another 35,000 older tank cars need to be upgraded or replaced.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested speeding up those upgrades to complete them by 2025 after the Ohio derailment. But the Railway Supply Institute, which represents big tank car manufacturers that own most of the nation’s tank cars, says that’s not possible because of current labor and supply chain shortages.

CHEMICAL CONCERNS

The ethanol that spilled and caught fire in the Minnesota derailment is less of a concern than the vinyl chloride that was released after the Ohio derailment or other toxic chemicals railroads routinely carry, like chlorine gas that was released during a 2005 derailment in Graniteville, South Carolina, killing nine people and injuring more than 250.

Ethanol is relatively clean burning, but contaminated soil in the area will have to be removed.

The vinyl chloride released from tank cars in Ohio out of fear it might explode is associated with two concerning gases — hydrogen chloride and phosgene, which was used as a weapon in World War I — might be released in the process.

That’s why so many East Palestine residents test for dioxins, which may have been released during the February incineration.

___

Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski contributed to this report from Minneapolis and Heather Hollingsworth contributed from Mission, Kansas.

United States News

Associated Press

Biden to enforce ban on oil, gas drilling to protect tribal sites around New Mexico’s Chaco

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Biden administration is implementing a 20-year withdrawal banning oil and gas development outside the boundaries of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. The action taken by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in the nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state was announced Friday. It is intended to protect […]

6 hours ago

FILE - White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at a press briefing at the White ...

Associated Press

White House wants to engage Russia on nuclear arms control in post-treaty world

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is ready to have talks with Russia without preconditions about a future nuclear arms control framework even as it is the last nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will make clear the Biden administration’s desire for talks on building a […]

6 hours ago

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from the airplane at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport in...

Associated Press

US reopens embassy in Seychelles after 27-year absence

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has reopened its embassy in the Seychelles after a 27-year absence during which China and other U.S. rivals made significant inroads in the Indian Ocean islands. The U.S. State Department announced the move late Thursday, after having unveiled plans to open a diplomatic mission in northern Norway, which will […]

1 day ago

Associated Press

US expands slots for asylum app at land crossings as demand overwhelms supply

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — U.S. authorities on Thursday expanded slots to seek asylum at land crossings with Mexico through a mobile app for the second time in less than a month, seeking to dispel doubts it isn’t a viable option. There are now 1,250 appointments daily at eight land crossings, up from 1,000 previously and […]

1 day ago

In this photo provided by Vernon Tyau, Jarek Agcaoili, left, with his mother Danielle, sister Jessi...

Associated Press

3 dead, 2 missing after family fishing trip in Alaska becomes a nightmare

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska fishing adventure became a nightmare for a family of eight when disaster struck one of the two boats they chartered over the Memorial Day weekend, leaving three people dead and two more missing despite a desperate search over hundreds of square miles of ocean. The tragedy tore the Tyau […]

1 day ago

The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Markets are opening mostl...

Associated Press

Stock market today: Wall Street up ahead of May jobs report and chance for a rate hike pause

Wall Street pointed higher Friday ahead of a U.S. jobs market update, one day after U.S. lawmakers approved a deal to avert a government debt default. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% before the bell. Late Thursday, the Senate gave final approval to an agreement to raise the […]

1 day ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Here are the biggest tips to keep your AC bill low this summer

PHOENIX — In Arizona during the summer, having a working air conditioning unit is not just a pleasure, but a necessity. No one wants to walk from their sweltering car just to continue to be hot in their home. As the triple digits hit around the Valley and are here to stay, your AC bill […]

...

re:vitalize

Why drug-free weight loss still matters

Wanting to lose weight is a common goal for many people as they progress throughout life, but choosing between a holistic approach or to take medicine can be a tough decision.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.

Fiery derailments renew Americans’ focus on railroad safety