NYS DOT RAIL SAFETY INSPECTION

State Rail Safety Program was created in 1910

RAIL INSPECTION In 1923, Dr.

Elmer Sperry,

started to

develop and

build a rail

inspection car

with the

capability of

detecting

transverse

fissures in

railroad rails.

RAIL SAFETY ACT OF 1970

Since the Rail Safety Act of 1970, NYSDOT has

partnered with the Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA) to enforce Federal Law

Inspection Disciplines:

*Track

*Motive Power & Equipment

*Hazardous Materials

* Signal & Train Control

* Operational Practices

Historically, the NYSDOT Rail Inspection

program has consisted of 6 inspectors:

3 Track inspectors

3 Rail Equipment Inspectors

We went about our business

inspecting rail cars and train

tracks…very few even knew that

New York had a rail inspection

program..

Until July 6th, 2013….

Lac-Mégantic

•On the evening of July 5, 2013, a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) train arrived at Nantes, Quebec, carrying over two million gallons of petroleum crude oil in 72 DOT111 tank cars. Originating in New Town, North Dakota, these were bound for Saint John, New Brunswick.

CRUDE OIL FROM NEW TOWN TO SAINT JOHN, NB

THE TRAIN

The freight train (MMA 2) was 4,701 ft long and

weighed 10,287 tons.

It was composed of five locomotives, one

remote-control "VB" car, one loaded box car

used as a buffer car followed by 72 non-

pressure DOT-111 tank cars loaded with

petroleum crude oil (Class 3, UN 1267).

Each tank car was filled with 30,000 gallons of

crude oil.

TRAIN PARKED ON THE MAIN LINE

• After arriving in Nantes, the engineer parked

the train on a descending grade on the main

track. A replacement engineer was scheduled

to continue the trip east in the morning.

• After parking the train, the engineer departed

the location and went to a local hotel for rest.

• This was the railroads normal operating

procedure for this route.

NOT ENOUGH HAND BRAKES APPLIED

The engineer applied hand brakes on all five

locomotives, plus two other cars, and shut

down all but the lead locomotive.

US and Canadian rules require hand brakes

alone be capable of holding a train, and this

must be verified by a test.

That night, the locomotive air brakes were left

on during the hand brake test.

IMPROPER BRAKE TEST

The air brakes were left on during the hand brake test,

meaning the train was being held by a combination of

hand brakes and air brakes.

This gave a

false

impression

that the hand

brakes alone

would hold the

train.

TRAIN BRAKES

ENGINE FIRE

At 11:30 p.m. a 911 call was made reporting a

fire on one of the locomotives. Firefighters from

the town of Nantes arrived, along with a track

foreman from the railroad

In keeping with railway instructions, emergency

responders shut off the engine, which

subsequently caused the air holding the

locomotive air brakes to leak off.

Just before 1 a.m., the brakes on the train failed

and the train began to roll downhill toward the

small town of Lac-Mégantic, just over seven

miles away.

As it moved down the grade, the train picked up

speed, reaching a top speed of 65 mph. It

derailed near the center of the town at about

1:15 a.m.

DESCENDING GRADE

DERAILMENT AND EXPLOSION

AFTERMATH AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Almost all of the 63 derailed tank cars were

damaged, and many had large breaches.

About one and one half million gallons of

petroleum crude oil was quickly released.

The fire began almost immediately.

The ensuing blaze and explosions left 47

people dead.

Another 2000 people were forced from their

homes, and much of the downtown core was

destroyed.

AFTERMATH

The pileup of tank cars, combined with the

large volume of burning petroleum crude oil,

made the firefighters' job extremely difficult.

Despite the challenges of a large emergency,

the response was well coordinated, and the fire

departments effectively protected the site and

ensured public safety after the derailment.

LAC MEGANTIC QUEBEC JULY 6, 2013

HAND BRAKES REQUIRED

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada

concluded that, without the extra force

provided by the air brakes, a minimum of 17

and possibly as many as 26 hand brakes would

have been needed to secure the train,

depending on the amount of force with which

they had been applied.

WHAT IS CRUDE OIL DOING ON THE RAILS?

Prior to Lac-Mégantic, we knew very little of the

commodities on each train.

Interstate Commerce

Common Carrier Obligation

Authorized Packaging for Hazardous Material

DOT 111 Tank car is an authorized Package for

Class 3 Flammable Material

NORTH DAKOTA OIL BOOM

The Parshall Oil Field in North Dakota was

discovered in 2006.

Rapidly expanding oil extraction from the

Bakken formation that continues today.

North Dakota has the lowest unemployment

rate in the United States

The boom has given the state of North Dakota,

a state with a 2013 population of about

725,000, a billion-dollar budget surplus.

North Dakota, which ranked 38th in per capita

gross domestic product (GDP) in 2001, rose

steadily with the Bakken boom, and now has

per capita GDP 29% above the national

average.

There are three reasons for the oil boom, not

just in North Dakota but nationwide:

The recent discoveries of shale gas reserves in

the United States

Initiatives to seek independence from unstable

energy sources, such as Venezuela and

nations in the Middle East

The successful use of horizontal drilling and

hydraulic fracturing, which have made energy

deposits recoverable

NORTH DAKOTA OIL BOOM

OIL RIGS IN THE UNITED STATES

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THAT OIL?

Oil companies have to get the oil from the

Midwest to be refined. Canada, US East/West

coast, Gulf coast)

Remote locations

Pipelines are not always available

North Dakota oil companies are shipping huge

amounts of oil by tanker rail car as they can

direct the oil to the market that gives the best

price.

BAKKEN CRUDE OIL

Rail Transportation is one of the safest forms

of transporting bulk hazardous material.

Rail cars can be used to avoid a congested oil

pipeline to get the oil to a different pipeline

and get the oil to market faster at different less

busy oil refineries.

Oil is generally shipped via Unit Train.

Unit Trains usually consist of 50-100 or more

tank cars shipped from one origin to a single

destination as a “unit”

BNSF RAILROAD PICKS UP THE PACE!

BNSF’s tracks sit on top of North Dakota’s Bakken formation, where energy

producers are using fracking and other extraction methods to pull crude from

the ground in unprecedented volumes. Because pipeline capacity is limited in

the area, oil companies have turned to BNSF to ship their product to refineries.

On November 3, 2009,

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire

Hathaway Holding

Company purchased the

final 70% of BNSF

Railroad that it did not

already own.

Why would Warren Buffett buy a railroad?

TRUCK TO RAIL NORTH DAKOTA

BOE RAIL LOADING FACILITY DICKINSON, ND

CIRCLE TRACK LOADING FACILITY-ALBERTA CA

TAR SANDS OIL FROM ALBERTA

TAR SANDS OIL DILUTED BITUMEN

Tar sands Oil is much heavier than

Bakken Oil. Rail Tank Cars carrying this

heavier substance typically have heat

coils surrounding the tanks so the product

can be unloaded.

ONE COMMIDITY TO A SINGLE DESTINATION

“VIRTUAL PIPELINE”

WHAT IS THE DESTINATION?

US OIL LOADING AND OFF-LOADING

OIL TRAINS PER WEEK-WSJ

Yellow 1-10 Orange 11-25 RED >25

MORE ACCIDENTS

After the Lac Megantic disaster, state and

federal regulators began taking a hard look

at the crude by rail business.

On January 28, 2014 Governor Cuomo

issued Executive Order 125. A thorough

examination of crude oil by rail takes place.

Since the tragedy in Canada, there has been

a significant number of rail accidents

resulting in the release of crude oil and

subsequent fires and explosion.

NOVEMBER 7, 2013 ALICEVILLE, ALABAMA

26 OF 90 CARS DERAILED AND CAUGHT FIRE

LARGE RELEASE OF BAKKEN OIL

DECEMBER 30 2013 CASSELTON, ND

21 OUT OF 106 CARS DERAILED

SUBSEQUENT FIRE AND EXPLOSION

CASSELTON-LARGE PLUME OF SMOKE

SUSPECTED CAUSE: BROKEN RAIL

JANUARY 7 2014 PLASTER ROCK NB

5 /122 CARS DERAILED

SUSPECTED CASUE BROKEN WHEEL

JANUARY 20,2014 PHILADELPHIA PA

7 OUT OF 101 CAR DERAILMENT ON A BRIDGE

NO RELEASE OF MATERIAL

WEATHER RELATED EQUIPMENT FAILURE

FEBRUARY 13, 2014 VANDERGRIFT, PA

19 OF THE 120 CARS DERAILED

NO FIRE OR EXPLOSION

THERE WAS A RELEASE OF CRUDE OIL

TRACK CAUSED

APRIL 30, 2014 LYNCHBURG, VA

13 OUT OF 105 CARS DERAILED

EXPLOSION AND SUBSEQUENT FIRE ENSUED

SUSPECTED CAUSE: TRACK FAILURE

JAMES RIVER LYNCHBURG VA

FEBRUARY 14, 2015 GOGAMA, ON

29 OF 100 CARS DERAILED

EXPLODED AND CAUGHT FIRE

ACCORDING TO TSB

WHEEL AND RAIL COMPONENTS SUSPECTED

FEBRUARY 14, 2015

CROWSNEST RIVER VALLEY ALBERTA CANADA

12 CARS DERAILED

NO RELEASE OF OIL

FEB 16, 2015 MT. CARBON WV

27 OF 109 CARS

DERAILED.

EXPLSIONS AND

FIRE ENSUED.

SUSECTED

CAUSE: BROKEN

RAIL

Mt. Carbon West Virginia

Mt Carbon West Virginia

MARCH 5, 2015 GALENA, IL

21 OF 100 TANK CARS DERAILED

EXPLOSION AND FIRE

CAUSE SUSPECTED BROKEN WHEEL

MARCH 5, 2015 HORNEPAYNE, ONTARIO

16 EMPTY OIL TANK CARS DERAILED

ON CANADIAN NATIONAL’S MAINLINE

INVESTIGATION ONGOING

MARCH 7, 2015 GOGAMA, ONTARIO

39 OF 94 CARS DERAILED

EXPOSION AND FIRE

SUSPTECTED CAUSE BROKEN RAIL

GOGOMA ONTARIO

GOGOMA ONTARIO

COULD SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN IN NEW YORK?

New York state is intersected by railroads from

the North to the South, from the West to the

East.

Tracks pass through or close to most major

cities within the state.

There are over 4000 miles of track in our state

Approximately 850 miles over which crude oil

traffic passes.

OIL TRAINS IN NEW YORK

Oil is carried by Canadian Pacific Railroad via

Montreal to the Port of Albany

CP delivers oil trains to Global Energy for trans

shipment via tankers and barges.

Global Oil currently handles about 1- 1½ trains

of oil per day (100 car consist)

Global is permitted to transfer1.8 billion

gallons of oil per year

PORT OF ALBANY

CRUDE OIL TANKER PRIMORSK

Crude oil is transferred from holding tanks to oil

tankers and barges headed down the Hudson.

OIL TO BARGE-PORT OF ALBANY

VIRTUAL PIPELINE

The majority of crude oil passes through New York

along CSX’s main line.

Typically 2-3 trains each day pass along CSX tracks

from Buffalo through Selkirk and down along the West

shore of the Hudson River to New Jersey and then on

to Philadelphia.

Six Million Gallons per day- 21 Billion Gallons per year

Virtual Pipeline

CSX also ships oil to the Port of Albany which is

handled by Buckeye Chemical for trans shipment to

water vessels. (Irving Oil Customer)

WHY ALL THE CONCERN? IT’S JUST CRUDE OIL!

BLACK GOLD!

A Danger on the Rails

By Jon Bowermaster | Apr. 21, 2015 | 5:05

This short documentary warns about the

dangers posed by trains that transport

explosive oil across North America.

River Keeper

BAKKEN CRUDE OIL

What’s so different about Bakken oil?

Crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale is

a type of “light sweet crude” that is easy to

refine into commercial products.

As you’ve seen in the previous slides, it is also

very easy to ignite.

It may have a Low Initial Boiling Point and Low

flash point

Crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale

formation contains several times the

combustible gases as oil from elsewhere

On January 2, 2014 the Pipeline and

Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

issued a safety alert.

The type of crude oil being transported from

the Bakken region may be more flammable

than traditional heavy crude oil.

BAKKEN OIL IN A TANK CAR

REID VAPOR PRESSURE

Entrapped natural gas liquids such as pentane,

butane, ethane and propane may cause this

particular type of crude oil to be more volatile.

Recent state regulation in North Dakota

requires crude oil to be processed prior to

loading-limits to the vapor pressure permitted.

TAKING THE GAS OUT OF CRUDE OIL

Degassing Bakken crude for rail is costly.

Small processing towers known as stabilizers

that shave off NGLs from crude need to be

built. Pipelines to carry the NGLs to a viable

market are also required.

Right now, little of that infrastructure exists in

the Bakken, which produces about 950,000

barrels of crude per day with some 67 percent

of that moving by rail.

THE UNKNOWN

Just last week, Department of Energy (DOE)

Secretary Ernest Moniz said it will probably

take two years to complete research into what

makes some crude oil more volatile than other

varieties.

Moniz said information provided to Sandia

National Laboratory suggest that the data that

was reviewed did not imply that any one

property of the oil would determine what

would happen in terms of combustibility in an

accident.

DOT 111 TANK CAR

This all purpose tank car is an authorized

package for transporting Class 3 Flammable

Materials in Packing Group I II and III. It is

authorized by the USDOT, PHMSA.

If the shippers use this tank car they are

incompliance with federal regulations

The dilemma: Both federal and state

regulators and the Association of American

Railroads believe that the tank car is not an

appropriate package for Bakken crude oil.

SAFETY CONCERNS-DOT111 TANK CAR

ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS

“Voluntary” operating procedures for

shipments containing crude oil including:

Lower speeds for crude oil trains

Increased number of track inspections

installation of additional safety technologies —

wayside wheel bearing detectors that alert

railroads to problems with rail cars — along

crude routes;

Enhanced braking either EOT device or

distributed power trains=Quicker Braking

CPC 1232 STANDARD

The DOT 111 tank car was “redesigned” in the

final quarter of 2011 to include several safety

improvements: “CPC 1232” Standard

Improved Head shields

Roll over protection for the top fittings

Normalized steel

Thicker head and tank metal

Pressure relief valves (recloseable type)

FRA EMERGENCY ORDERS/ADVISORIES

8/17/13-Emergency order focusing on securement of

unattended trains.

11/20/13-Safety Advisory focusing on proper

classification and package group for flammable

material.

5/07/14 Emergency order to railroads carrying

1,000,000 or more gallons of Bakken Crude oil to

notify State Emergency Response Commission (SERC)

information regarding frequencies, routes, and

quantities transported.

FRA ADVISORIES

5/07/14- Safety Advisory- To offerers and

transporters should avoid using older “legacy”

DOT 111 tank cars.

4/17/15-Safety Advisory-To Railroad

companies regarding inspector qualifications

and wheel impact load detector thresholds for

trains carrying large amounts of flammable

material.

FRA ADVISORY

4/17/15-Safety Advisory issued to railroads

regarding information required to be provided

after an accident involving large amounts of

flammable liquid.

4/17/2015-Emergency order requiring 40 MPH

speed limit through “High Threat Urban Areas”

applicable to trains carrying large amounts of

flammable material. “HHFT”

FEDERAL ACTIONS

In July 2014, the USDOT announced a

proposed rulemaking in regards to the

transportation of large quantities of

flammable material by rail.

It proposes the phase out of the use of older

DOT 111 tank cars for the shipment of packing

group I flammable liquids, including most

Bakken crude oil, unless the tank cars are

retrofitted to comply with new tank car design

standards.

The rulemaking proposes enhanced tank car

standards (DOT 117 Tank car), a classification

and testing program for mined gases and

liquids and new operational requirements for

high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT) that

include braking controls and speed

restrictions.

We are still waiting for the final rule. It is

expected sometime this month.

FEDERAL ACTIONS

There has been numerous safety advisories

and recommendations issued but the opinion

of most is that federal regulatory action is far

overdue.

Interstate Commerce-Federal Pre-emption.

NEW YORK HAS BEEN PROACTIVE

Governor’s Executive Order 125

The NYS Departments of Environmental

Conservation, Transportation, Health, Division of

Homeland Security and Emergency Services,

and the New York State Energy Research and

Development Authority, conducted an extensive

assessment of the State’s prevention and

response rules and inspection programs

involving the transportation of petroleum

products by rail and water

NYS ONGOING EFFORTS FOR RESPONSE

Preparing First Responders

Updating and enhancing response plans

Urging action by the federal government

Urging the oil and rail industries to increase the

safety of product transportation

Increasing the oil spill cap fund from $25 million to

$40 million

Increased staff for the Department of

Environmental Conservation and Fire Protection

and Control for oil spill planning, training and

response

ONGOING EFFORTS NEW RAIL INSPECTORS

Rail Safety Inspectors- Through participation

agreements with the FRA, New York and 29

other states have rail inspection programs.

Most State Railroad Laws are pre-empted by

federal law and regulation.

FRA Pays for Class Room Training and

Certification costs for the state inspectors

State and federal inspectors utilize the same

inspection protocols and guidelines

ONGOING EFFORTS FOR PREVENTION ADDED

FIVE NEW RAIL INSPECTORS AT NYSDOT

Three Track Inspectors

Three Motive Power and Equipment Inspectors

Two Hazardous Material Inspectors

One Operational Practices Inspector

One supervisor certified Motive Power

Equipment Inspector

One supervisor certified Track Inspector.

NYS Now has one of the largest state rail

inspection staffs. (Funded by the Railroads)

FOCUSED INSPECTION BLITZ’S

Since this targeted inspection campaign began

In February 2014, NYSDOT and the FRA have

inspected 9,359 rail cars (including 7,351

crude oil tank cars) and 3,021 miles of track,

uncovered 1,132 defects, and issued 20

hazardous materials violations.

INCREASED VIGILANCE TANK CAR INSPECTIONS

We typically inspect

crude oil tank cars in

the rail yards in

Buffalo and in Albany.

Trains typically stop at

these locations for

required inspections

and crew changes.

INCREASED VIGILANCE HAZMAT INSPECTIONS

Inspectors typically inspect valves, closures,

fittings and make sure that the hazardous

material documentation is in order.

Inspectors

also check

hazardous

material

packaging, placards, and markings.

INCREASED VIGILANCE OPERATIONAL PRACTICE

Operational Practices

inspectors:

Checks for proper securement

of unattended trains.

Observes rail crews including

riding in locomotive cabs

(Speed, following signals etc.)

Observing railroad employees

in rail yards to ensure rules and

regulations are followed.

Hours of service and Crew

certification.

INCREASED VIGILANCE TRACK INSPECTORS

Track inspectors perform visual inspections of the

railroad track, structures and roadbed either on

foot or in a hi-rail vehicle. We check the railroad

to make sure they are doing proper inspections.

Check Inspection Records

Automated Geometry Car

Look for loose, missing

bolts, fasteners wide gage

and geometry defects.

Inspect tie condition

including all fasteners and

tie plates.

FINAL RULE OUT LAST FRIDAY MAY 1, 2015

Enhanced Braking- Electronically Controlled

Pneumatic (ECP) Braking

New Tank Car Standards-

Reduced Operating Speeds-

More accurate classification standards

Rail routing Risk assessment

Rail Routing Notification-Railroads must

provide contact to SERC

FINAL RULE

PROGRESS

QUESTIONS?

??