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North Dakota is now the nation’s second
largest oil yielding state, producing about
one million barrels daily, which is exceeded
only by Texas. Any new restrictions placed
on rail transport of crude could jeopardize
producers’ ability to move their product,
because they are so dependent on rail.
The state’s top oil regulator has said that
he expects as much as 90 percent of North
Dakota’s oil would be carried by train in
2014, up from the current 60 percent. The
crude is typically shipped to refineries on
the East Coast, the Gulf Coast and the West
Coast. AP reports that the amount of oil
moving by rail in the U.S. has spiked since
2009, from just more than 10,000 tanker
cars to a projected 400,000 cars in 2013.
The
Wall Street Journal
recently took an
in-depth look at the issue. The newspaper
reports that crude production has taken off so
quickly in North Dakota that pipelines have
yet to be built to serve much of the Bakken.
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Two government agencies were already
investigating the transportation of Bakken
crude before the latest explosion, according
to the
Journal
. The Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) and PHMSA had
launched a joint investigation they call the
“Bakken Blitz” to learn what impurities
might be in the crude and whether it is being
handled properly. “The government wants
to make sure hazardous liquids are labeled
accurately and transported in appropriately
sturdy tank cars,” the article stated.
The
Journal
reports the FRA notified the
American Petroleum Institute (API) that one
spot inspection found “some crude oil that
became combustible at a temperature so low
it should have been placed in the most secure
rail cars with additional safety features, but
the crude was mislabeled and loaded into
cars made for less-flammable liquids.”
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The
Journal
further reported that some
experts say it is possible that “unusually
large amounts of naturally occurring and
highly flammable petroleum products such
as propane and ethane” are mingled with
the Bakken crude. “Last March, Tesoro
Logistics LP reported the Bakken crude it
was transporting by rail was increasingly
volatile,” the article states.
It is also possible that materials pumped
into the wells during hydraulic fracturing,
such as hydrochloric acid, are corroding
the tank cars from the inside, making them
weaker, according to the
Journal
.
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F. Gennaro recently honored the New
York Oil Heating Association (NYOHA)
for their work in supporting and enacting
the City’s pioneering Bioheat mandate.
In a proclamation issued Dec. 18,
2013, Gennaro lauded NYOHA and CEO
John Maniscalco for their efforts. The
proclamation notes that NYOHA, New
York City’s heating oil trade association,
partnered with the City and New York
State on “transformative initiatives”
that have vastly improved air quality in
New York by embracing cleaner burning
fuels. Through their efforts, Gennaro
proclaimed, heating oil has remained
a clean and efficient heating option for
millions of New Yorkers, and the heating
oil industry has remained robust, with a
strong future.
The proclamation recognizes NYOHA
for partnering with the Bloomberg Admin-
istration and the New York City Council to
pass Local Law 43 of 2010, which requires
that heating oil in all New York City build-
ings be blended with 2 percent renewable
biodiesel and that No. 4 oil become dra-
matically lower in sulfur content.
It further notes that in the wake of Super-
storm Sandy, NYOHA worked closely with
City and State officials to ensure that heating
oil supply would not be interrupted, even
though many New York area terminals and
retailers experienced flooding, power outages
and other disruptions. “Be it known that
James F. Gennaro, Council member of the
24
th
District, gratefully honors the New York
Oil Heating Association and its longtime CEO
John Maniscalco for their outstanding service
and contributions,” Gennaro proclaimed.
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The article contained an unconfirmed
report that Enbridge Energy Partners LP
threatened inMay 2013 to shut down aNorth
Dakota rail facility operated by the company
because there was too much hydrogen sul-
fide, a potentially deadly and corrosive gas,
in the crude being loaded there.
The article cited claims from unnamed
sources that some railroad officials and
federal investigators are concerned that the
use of mile-long strings of rail cars to carry
crude oil is contributing to the severity of
accidents.
“Data from the U.S. Department of
Transportation show that in 2012, 1,775
unit trains laden with crude oil were dis-
patched, up from just 207 two years earlier,”
the article states. “About 70 percent of crude
transported in the U.S. by railroad is now
carried on oil-exclusive unit trains, rather
than on trains with mixed loads, according
to federal statistics. Last month, National
Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman
Deborah Hersman warned that ‘a more sig-
nificant hazard results when the entire train
is assembled with only crude oil.’”
