The Hill "Congress Blog," 4/7:
Preventing derailments is the key to crude oil shipment safety
By Chet Thompson
Not since the 1970s’ oil embargoes has there been such a loud public discussion about how fuel gets to local gas stations. But 40 years ago, the issue was scarcity. Today, the landscape looks much different because of new sources of crude oil, increasingly shipped by rail, that have helped our nation prosper and lessened consumers’ financial burden.
But we must ensure the safe transport of crude by rail, otherwise, consumers may once again have reason to be concerned. That’s why we’re disappointed with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) recently announced Enhanced Tank Car Standards. These standards fall well short of requiring the modernization of the rail infrastructure that is necessary to provide maximum safety of crude oil shipments.
The refining industry, DOT, and the rail industry have a common goal of ensuring the safe transport of crude oil and other flammable liquids. According to DOT, the principal causes of derailments are track integrity and human factors. The Department, however, chose to forego establishing measures designed to prevent derailments, and instead focused almost exclusively on tank car standards and other mitigation measures. This was a missed opportunity to improve public safety.
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We’re doing our part to get rail safety right. Now it is time for DOT and the rail industry to make sure that cars carrying crude do not go off the tracks in the first place. DOT must do better than its recent rule. It needs to put together a comprehensive plan to address track improvement and reduce human error.
Thompson is president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents more than 400 companies that encompass virtually all U.S. refining and petrochemical manufacturing capacity.
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