06.15.16

Cantwell, Colleagues Call on DOT, PHMSA to Take Action to Protect Communities from Dangers of Volatile Crude Oil

Senators: It is clear that the shipment of crude without a national standard regulating volatility poses an imminent hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) led a group of ten senators urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to set an interim standard for volatility of crude oil under the DOT’s authority to issue emergency orders.

The letter follows up on Cantwell’s questioning of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on how the DOT is improving oil train safety to protect communities along rail lines following a dangerous derailment in Oregon last week.

“We urge you to immediately set an interim standard for volatility of crude oil to ensure its safe transport. While standards for tank cars improve, derailments, fires and explosions continue to occur. It is clear that the shipment of crude without a national standard regulating volatility poses an imminent hazard. For the safety of our communities, we urge you to move now to issue an interim standard for volatility,” the Senators wrote.

The senators note that while PHMSA and the Department of Energy are currently studying volatility of various types of crude being transported by rail, the studies are years from completion – leaving communities along rail lines at risk. 

Senators joining Cantwell include Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

Full text of the senators’ letter is available below:

Dear Secretary Foxx and Administrator Dominguez,

As trains carrying highly volatile Bakken crude oil continue to move through communities across America, we are writing to request that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) move to issue an interim standard for the volatility of crude oil shipped by rail. We must establish more stringent regulations on these oil trains, which pose an enormous danger to cities, towns, rural areas, and the environment.

The June 3, 2016 derailment of a train carrying Bakken crude in Mosier, Oregon is a sobering reminder of the danger that volatile crude oil poses when it is transported by rail. In total, 16 cars of a 96-car train derailed. Of those, four cars caught fire and spilled 42,000 gallons of crude oil. This oil contaminated the soil and the local water treatment facility, through which oil reached the Columbia River.  Due to the derailment and the fire, 100 residents – nearly a quarter of Mosier’s population – had to be evacuated.

The regulation of volatility for crude oil is inconsistent and there remains a gap in regulating the volatility of oil transported by rail. The North Dakota state Industrial Commission has regulated volatility of Bakken crude oil at 13.7 psi Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP).  The New York Mercantile Exchange has limited the volatility of crude oil contracts traded on its exchange to 9.5 psi RVP, and pipeline operators in the Eagle Ford require shippers to limit volatility to between 9 and 10 psi RVP.  However, there is no federal regulation to restrict the volatility of crude oil shipped by rail.    

Currently, PHMSA and the Department of Energy are engaged in a multi-year effort to study the volatility of various types of crude being transported by rail. Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (P.L. 114-94), PHMSA must issue a report and recommend regulations governing the volatility of crude oil being transported by rail. However, due to the fact that these studies are years from completion, we remain gravely concerned about the safety of our communities along rail lines carrying this volatile crude oil.

Under USDOT’s authority to issue emergency orders (49 U.S.C. 5121 (d)), we urge you to immediately set an interim standard for volatility of crude oil to ensure its safe transport. While standards for tank cars improve, derailments, fires and explosions continue to occur. It is clear that the shipment of crude without a national standard regulating volatility poses an imminent hazard. For the safety of our communities, we urge you to move now to issue an interim standard for volatility.

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