A fiery derailment of a CSX oil train in Mount Carbon, West Virginia, in February showed the destructive potential of these trains. Twenty-seven of the train’s 109 oil cars went off the tracks — some catching fire or exploding. A nearby home was destroyed in the fire, which continued to burn for five days.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
The derailment occurred right next to the Kanawha River, and environmental crews had to work quickly to keep hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude from seeping into the water. A downstream drinking-water treatment plant was also shut down as a precaution.
“This accident is another reminder of the need to improve the safety of transporting hazardous materials by rail,” said Christopher Hart, acting chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, in a news release.
Mount Carbon was one of five fiery oil train derailments in the US and Canada between January and May. Though the high-profile accidents have not claimed any lives, they do have a lot of people — from environmental and community activists to emergency responders —concerned about what might happen if an oil train derails in their communities.
“These are the kinds of things that keep us awake in the Fire Bureau,” says Sam DeRosa, Monroe County fire coordinator. “Seriously, they do. This is serious stuff and they don’t have a real good track record or history in the country.”
On any given day, up to two or three “unit trains” come through Monroe County, based on data provided to the Monroe County Fire Bureau by CSX, which owns the main rail line through the area. That can mean up to 300 black tanker cars, each carrying 30,000 gallons of volatile crude passing from one side of the county to the other.
If even one of those cars tips over and catches fire, the result would be an all-hands-on-deck scenario for local fire, police, and ambulance agencies, as well as other local, county, and state departments and agencies, DeRosa says.
Most oil trains make their trips without incident; derailments and large spills have occurred in only a fraction of the shipments. But the cars that carry the oil are known to puncture or rupture easily, and a single derailment can be very destructive. That’s why environmental groups are campaigning against the trains, and why some of the people who live near railroad tracks are terrified of them.
Environmentalists also have broader objections to hauling oil by rail, mostly having to do with climate change. Oil trains enable and encourage continued extraction and use of fossil fuels, says Sue Hughes-Smith, a member of the climate action group Mothers Out Front and coordinator of its fledgling oil trains team. And further buildout of fossil fuel infrastructure obstructs and detracts from development of climate-friendly clean energy, she says.
“Why are we continuing to go down a road that leads us to the opposite of where we need to be?” she says.
Until July 5, 2013, oil trains weren’t even a blip on the public’s radar. But that day, a train loaded with crude oil derailed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 people and destroying much of the community’s downtown.
Not long after, activists, concerned citizens, journalists, and politicians started asking whether trains haul crude through their communities, too. And in Upstate New York’s largest metros, the answer is yes.
In early 2014, a Rochester Fire Department spokesperson said that, in terms of hazardous substances, crude oil has become second only to ethanol in the quantity coming through Rochester by rail. A few years earlier, it wasn’t even on the list.
Nationwide, a few million barrels of oil were shipped by rail annually prior to 2010, when the number jumped to 20 million barrels. The numbers have skyrocketed since. Last year, trains hauled 371.2 million barrels of oil across the country, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Much of the growth has to do with fracking in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Montana. Previously untapped by energy companies, the shale lacks the pipelines and refineries that some of the more established oil- and gas-producing regions of the country possess. And so trains emerged as a simple, efficient, and cost-effective way to move the products to coastal refineries.
Monroe County is on a major CSX rail route for oil trains heading to the Port of Albany, where the crude is offloaded onto Hudson River barges bound for East Coast refineries. (The City of Albany and County of Albany have little control over rail traffic, which is governed under federal and state law. The port is run by a state-created authority.)
The Albany-bound train traffic passes through local neighborhoods, near schools, and through heavily populated areas in Gates, the City of Rochester, and East Rochester. The trains also run right through downtown Fairport.
The processions of tanker cars grabbed the attention of citizens and politicians, but awareness really took off when the volatility of the Bakken crude came to light. It has higher gas content than other crudes, which is why the cars carrying it ignite so easily if they overturn or are damaged.
Members of Mothers Out Front marched in Fairport’s Independence Day parade, some carrying signs celebrating wind and solar power, and others carrying signs condemning what opponents have started calling “bomb trains.”
The group began to coalesce last year when a group of local mothers, including Hughes-Smith, organized oil-train protests in downtown Fairport. Over the past year, public awareness of oil trains has grown, and opponents have become more visible and vocal. Mothers Out Front has made oil trains one of its priority issues.
The growth of the anti-oil train movement mirrors the growth of the influential anti-fracking movement. People are discussing the issue with friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, and as more people take an interest, they’re able to form grassroots networks that can pressure lawmakers, says Nedra Harvey, co-founder of the local anti-fracking group R-CAUSE.
“If we have politicians who aren’t doing their duty and we don’t speak to them about it, then we really are partially at fault,” Harvey says.
In Albany, activists pressed government officials into delaying a project that could bring tar sands oil to the Port of Albany via rail. Global Partners wants to build a boiler facility that would heat up the sludgy tar sands crude, making it easier to transfer onto barges. The DEC initially said that it wouldn’t require an in-depth environmental review of the project, but reversed its decision in May.
People of Albany United for Safe Energy spoke out against the project, which members say would bring additional oil-train traffic to the port. The group opposes oil trains because of their safety risks and their contribution to climate change.
But the group also pushed back on the port proposal on environmental justice grounds. The trains that queue up outside of the port park next to a low-income housing complex, and the idling cars emit irritants and carcinogens known as volatile organic compounds.
“There was no public input on these trains, and I think that’s criminal,” says Sandra Steubing, one of the group’s founders.
State and federal officials appear to have heard some of the public’s concern about oil trains, and have advanced dozens of policies and recommendations aimed at making the transportation of crude by rail safer.
At the state level, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered periodic inspections of railways and oil trains, which have caught damaged tracks and malfunctioning rail car brakes. This spring, lawmakers increased the cap on New York’s oil spill cleanup fund to $40 million, though environmental groups say the amount should be much higher. And the state is investing in additional firefighting equipment and foam to deploy in the event of a train derailment or fire.
The US Department of Transportation has proposed new design standards for oil and ethanol tanker cars. The DOT-111 design currently used is decades old, and the National Transportation Safety Board first recommended replacing it in 1991.
Under the proposal, rail cars would have to meet the new design standards by later this year, but existing cars would be able to stay on the rails through 2023 as long as they’re retrofitted.
The USDOT has also proposed a 40 mph speed limit for some urban areas — Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany are not included — and new requirements for braking systems.
US Senator Chuck Schumer, who has repeatedly called for stronger oil-train regulations, immediately said that the standards are inadequate. He’s introduced legislation that includes provisions to phase out DOT-111 cars within two years and extends the lower speed limit to more areas.
Schumer’s legislation directs the USDOT to set a federal standard on volatility, which means that energy companies would have to remove some of the gas content before loading the oil onto trains.
Still, many opponents say that the regulations aren’t enough and that crude can’t be transported by rail safely. The rail system needs significant investment, they say, and the trains are travelling over deteriorating bridges. And neither the state nor federal governments can devote adequate staff to inspecting the trains and railways, they say.
Besides, government officials and energy companies should be looking beyond fossil fuels to renewable energy, oil-train opponents say.
“The stuff doesn’t actually have to come out of the ground, and it doesn’t have to move through our communities in containers that are designed for high-fructose corn syrup,” says Hughes-Smith of Mothers Out Front.
Emergency responders don’t have a say in what rides the rails, but must prepare to handle any disaster that comes along.
County, local, and state emergency agencies worked together to develop plans for all kinds of incidents, from bomb threats to Ebola. They’ve also laid out how they’d respond to incidents involving large amounts of toxic or highly flammable materials, such as the chlorine and ethanol that routinely pass through Monroe County.
As oil trains have emerged as a new hazard, county, local, and state emergency officials developed plans for responding to spills, fires, and derailments. They’re continuing those planning efforts and will have training exercises later this year, says county fire coordinator DeRosa. CSX is working hand in hand with officials, he says.
“We do this routinely,” DeRosa says. “This is just a brand-new topic.”
If a Monroe County community ever does experience an oil-train fire, the response will be massive and involve fire departments, emergency medical services, law enforcement, and local highway department workers.
The response would require lots of resources and equipment. Experts say that putting out a fire involving one tanker car full of oil would take 600 gallons of fire-suppression foam and 40,000 gallons of water to mix it with, DeRosa says. For perspective, a fire hydrant flows at 500 gallons per minute, he says, and 600 gallons of foam would probably include the inventory of every fire department in the county.
“There’s no fire department in the county that’s going to be able to handle this alone,” DeRosa says.
Fire officials have been told that if more than three cars are involved, crews should let the blaze burn out, he says. Such an incident would likely involve an evacuation, he says, and would take a while: when an oil train derailed and caught fire in Galena, Illinois, the blaze took three days to extinguish.
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2015.
PIPELINE
Yet more subsidies for fossil fuels that we pay invisibly in our taxes and not at the pump: “At the state level, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered periodic inspections of railways and oil trains, which have caught damaged tracks and malfunctioning rail car brakes. This spring, lawmakers increased the cap on New York’s oil spill cleanup fund to $40 million, though environmental groups say the amount should be much higher. And the state is investing in additional firefighting equipment and foam to deploy in the event of a train derailment or fire.” And this is only if we’re lucky and don’t have an actual disaster, in which case the subsidy will be enormous and cannot possibly cover the cost of the damaged lives, livelihoods, etc. What disaster do solar panels and wind turbines threaten? Ours is a completely insane society.
Finally, a thorough investigative report on Bomb Trains running through Rochester. This issue needs your immediate attention.
The practice of putting highly volatile crude oil on train cars not built for them are (along with plans to drill for more oil in the warming Arctic) the signs of a lethal addiction.
With Climate Change upon us, more dire reports every day from scientists, the public is often so overwhelmed that they don’t know what fire to put out first. For Rochesterians, the answer is now clear, for us at this moment, putting out an imminent Bomb Train disaster should take top priority.
This very likely catastrophe of an exploding ‘unit train’ (see photos Google “Bomb Train crude oil photos”.) in our region should be galvanizing the public to act.
Sign a petition (http://www.pausenergy.org/petition_cuomo) to Governor Cuomo from PAUSE.
And come to Brighton Farmer’s Market (in the Brighton High School parking lot, 1150 S Winton Rd, Rochester, NY) this Sunday between 9am-1pm in massive numbers and sign a local petition. Don’t sit this one out.
I hope I never have a collision with an electric car, or, shall I say, a battery on wheels. Can’t possibly be good.
Excellent article on a very serious topic. Living less than 1/4 mi from the CSX tracks, I shudder each day when I hear the oil trains go through. These trains are heavy laden and have quite a different sound. It’s not grandpa’s clicky clack anymore!
When I drive into the city each Sunday and go under the railroad overpass on the Inner Loop near Plymouth, I sigh a big relief there is no train above me! The bridges look to be in terrible condition and it certainly causes one to wonder – how much longer will they hold up?
Crude oil trains from the Bakken are a serious danger to every community along the transport route. For what benefit??? Oh right, corporate profit…
May I suggest adding this similar issue to a follow-up story:
https://www.facebook.com/chuckschumer/phot…
Can you imagine three tanker cars hauling toxins or flammable liquids being safe at any speed?
Fortunately, there is a safer transportation alternative to shipping oil by rail. It also is less expensive and has lower environmental impact. It is called the pipeline. I can’t imagine for the life of ,e why a journalist interested in the environment would fail to mention that. Unless, of course, said journalist is not interested in safely moving oil around the country, but rather wishes to restrict its shipment in all forms. Are you that journalist?
Those that believe that solar and wind turbines will provide enough to fill our needs are living on a different planet. A pipeline, yes, but then there are those that oppose that as well. Write a solution driven article and stop the not this and not that moaning and groaning.
As far as the “climate change” crowd is concerned, this note. When the biggest proponents of climate change, as in Vice President Gore and the like, travel the country, no the world, leaving a carbon foot print that makes the jolly green giant look like a midget and change their action and attitude more in line with the average joe schmoo, come talk to me again. Live the life you preach, actually live it and you will do more to preserve this world than any other action.
As another Bomb Train derails in Montana yesterday (“Montana train derailment spilled 35,000 gallons of crude oil”), it can be added to these — July, 2013 – Lac Megantic, Canada |November, 2013 – Aliceville, AL | December, 2013 – Casselton, ND | January, 2014 – New Brunswick, Canada | April 2014 – Lynchburg, VA | February 14, 2015 – Timmins, Ontario, Canada | February 16, 2015 – Mount Carbon, WVA | March 5, 2015 – Galena, IL |March 7, 2015 – Gogama, Ontario Canada | May 6, 2015 – and Heimdal, ND.
Please note that the thrust of “Unsafe at any speed?” is the clear and present danger of exploding Bomb Train in our communities for which there is not sufficient emergency measures or evacuation plans. The immediate answer to this problem is stopping transporting this dangerous crude oil through our communities that will never be safe. Pipelines are not an answer either. Go here to see the “List of pipeline accidents in the United States in the 21st century” There are hundreds and hundreds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pipe…
Because climate denial is still so prevalent in our community there are those who dismiss the most important issue about increase use of fossil fuels in a time of warming. I hope the public will take the time to read Pope Francis’s encyclical, which is the most profound insights into the moral, scientific, economic, and social implications of the Climate Change disaster published recently: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/… (It’s free, it’s in English, It’s very readable, and it’s profound.)
The Bomb Train threat is the most immediate threat to our community’s safety and it must not be hijacked by those who cannot see beyond their fossil fuel addiction. The Paris Treaty is coming up in a few months and it will be one of the most historic human events ever to bring greenhouse gas levels to a sustainable level. It would be nice in Rochester if we could have a thoughtful discussion about the dangers of fossil fuels at all levels and bring our community into the world community’s discussion about a phenomenon that must be addressed. The climate deniers have lost. That is a fact.
Because they won’t give in, they continue to hijack all local discussions about how we must adapt and mitigate this crisis of our age—even though all official climate studies for our region map these adaptation strategies out. More folks need to speak up on addressing Climate Change locally and worldwide—and drown out the voices who continue thwart our efforts for a rational conversation on this crisis and viable future.
Shame on those who won’t give up on their denial ideology that threatens all their friends, and neighbors, and children.
Stop listening to climate deniers and start reading climate studies http://www.rochesterenvironment.com/weathe…
Frank;
Yup, the Pope is now entrenched in the Climate Change issue. That closes the argument,….you’re kidding right? Like I said, live your life by example as opposed to preaching that the sky is falling. Climate change is here and always has been. The question is are we responsible for that change or is it out of our control. Can we do better taking care of mother earth,…you bet we can and we should. I am in the recycling business and have a smidgeon of insight on this issue. We are making progress. President Obama flying to Florida and pointing out the Climate Change issue at the cost of a carbon foot print the size of Rochester aint cutting the mustard. I can name you dozens of such idiotic events that are political in nature and counter productive to the health of mother earth.
Now lets talk about the threat aspect. The most important issue of the day is EDUCATION,…period. It is at the root of all evil and poverty. If we don’t turn this education crisis around there will be continued growth in poverty. There will be civil unrest and an increase in crime, teenage pregnancy and all the other misery associated with the scourge of poverty. There is no debate on this issue. We can take care of it now, but the RCSD doesn’t take suggestions from the “bleachers”. They continue to bore the kids academically and the dropout continues. Relevant education is absent and post high school urban success is as well.
Climate change? Live your life by example. Stop the preaching, it doesn’t impress me not motivates me. Sticking your (or the government) hands in my pocket for the cause doesn’t do much for the cause either. You don’t believe that the politicians actually have a cure for Climate Change, do you? I believe that most things that are “touched” by our government through the politician are met with more waste. I will continue to do my best when it comes to taking care of mother earth. If we all do out part, I don’t see the necessity for a “falling sky” policy.
“Live the life you preach, actually live it and you will do more to preserve this world than any other action” is of course a ridiculous thing to say with regard to transitioning off of fossil fuels. Can hardly believe we are having the “Al Gore takes planes” discussion in 2015. If you think individual actions can adequately address climate change impacts, you have clearly not given this issue much thought at all. BTW, most people concerned about climate change purchase carbon offsets when they fly, which is helpful but nowhere near enough. Large systemic changes are needed, and they are needed yesterday.
Regarding the Bakken oil, it needs to stay in the ground. We already have more conventional sources of oil than we can safely burn. Rail cars and pipelines both present unacceptable risks given that the actual product, even if it gets delivered safely, is toxic to our life support system.
Oh,.. so you would propose that no one needs to change their life style, that massive changes need to be implemented and that this will save us from self destruction. You are correct by saying that we are not having an Al gore plane issue/discussion, I am. I find Al Gore to be a hypocrite at the highest level. You make the sacrifices, you cut back, the government should do this, massive changes at a level that we, the average joe schmoo, cannot phantom. Trust “us” we know what needs to be done. Anyone saying that each of us, you know us peasants at the lowest of levels, have no place in contributing to the improvement of this planet, is on that plane sitting just behind Al Gore. There is something “special” about these Climate Change people and it aint team ball. They live in a world all by themselves. You just sit back and fork over the money and we’ll take care of the planet.
It’ s all of us collectively that can and will make a difference. Sorry Charlie.
I drive through the Village of Pittsford several days each week. This brings me to a rail crossing of Route 31 with the CSX “West Shore Line.” This line winds through the greater Rochester area, crossing Route 31, Winton Road, Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road and other well traveled thoroughfares. . It passes through the village at the side of the Erie Canal. On one side of the rail line is an office park. On the other, is the proposed Westport Crossing residential development.
In the drawings of of the development on its website and in ads asking people to support the project, there is what appears to be a trail or path at the top of the drawing. In fact, this is the railroad line mentioned above. It appears to come within less than 100 feet of several of the buildings. I have seen an oil train go through this crossing. Imagine a derailment at this point.
Even if no oil train or any other train derails, I cannot imagine living this close to an active railroad line. Trains blow their horns as they approach the crossing. Noise from the diesel engines can be heard from a great distance. Vibration can be felt more than 1/4 mile away. Is this the best place for a residential development?