Flammability of Bakken oil sparks U.S. warning
Crude involved in three derailments and explosions in six months could be moving through GTA more regularly if Enbridge proposal gets Transport Canada OK
JESSICA MCDIARMID U.S. regulators have confirmed a suspicion that’s been growing since the deadly train derailment in Lac-Mégantic: that crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken formation may be more flammable than traditional products. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a safety alert Thursday about the crude oil extracted from the formation that stretches across North Dakota into Montana and southern Saskatchewan, in the wake of three train derailments and subsequent explosions of Bakken crude in less than six months. “(PHMSA) is issuing this safety alert to notify the general public, emergency responders and shippers and carriers that recent derailments and resulting fires indicate that the type of crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil,” the safety advisory reads.
Crude oil from the Bakken region is transported through the GTA by rail — the ill-fated cargo that decimated Lac-Mégantic had earlier trundled through Toronto — but the frequency and quantity is secret.
A recent order from Transport Canada will require rail companies to inform a select few in municipal government what dangerous goods, such as crude oil, are moving through their communities, but that information won’t be shared publicly due to security concerns.
Pipeline company Enbridge Inc. also has plans to move Bakken crude through Line 9, a 38-year-old pipe that cuts across the GTA, if Canada’s federal regulators approve the proposal.
While the aging pipeline’s passage through highly populated corridors in the GTA has sparked fears of widespread damage in the event of a rupture, the company has said pipeline incidents are at far lower risk for fires or explosions than railroad accidents.
“Fire and ignition of the product are almost never factors in even a large incident,” said company spokesman Graham White
The first — and most deadly — of the explosions of Bakken crude transported by rail occurred in LacMégantic, Que., in July 2013, killing 47 people and laying waste to the downtown core. The fire from those blasts burned for four days, leaving investigators baffled that crude oil acted in such an “abnormal” way.
In November, a train carrying Bakken crude derailed in Alabama and blew up. And on Monday, in Casselton, N.D., thousands of people had to evacuate after another derailment and explosion left a fire spewing toxins just outside town.
The disaster in Lac-Mégantic sparked a blitz of North Dakota’s booming oilfields by U.S. regulators, who homed in on the way the oil is classified by shippers and its explosive properties. Some chemicals, more prevalent in Bakken crude, can make it more flammable, corrosive and toxic. Further tests are underway.
North Dakota’s oil production has increased from about 36 million barrels in 2005 to 237 million in 2012. An overloaded pipeline system has pushed shippers to rely on rail to transport the product to market. Canada’s two largest rail carriers advertise transport services for Bakken crude. Canadian rules require shippers to classify and describe hazardous materials, including Bakken crude, being sent by rail, said Canadian National Railway spokesman Mark Hallman. “CN is aware of the PHMSA safety alert issued (Thursday) and will continue to handle commodities such as Bakken crude in accordance with its established policies and procedures for all dangerous goods,” Hallman wrote in an email. Crude oil accounted for about 2 per cent of CN’s busi- ness in 2013.
Canadian Pacific Railway spokesperson Ed Greenberg said the company will “continue to work with regulators, the rail industry and other stakeholders on any additional measures to make our industry even safer.”