BY CURTIS TATE

McClatchy Washington BureauApril 7, 2014

Chunks of concrete are falling off Philadelphia’s 25th Street Viaduct, which stretches for several city blocks in South Philadelphia. Two or three loaded crude oil trains pass over the 86-year-old structure every day, bound for Philadelphia Energy Solutions, a sprawling refinery complex that’s now the largest single consumer of Bakken crude oil from North Dakota. CURTIS TATE — MCT

PHILADELPHIA — Just a few years ago, the region’s refineries were on life support, hurt by high prices of oil imported from foreign countries. Now, they’re humming again with the daily deliveries of domestic crude in mile-long trains.

As one of the country’s largest destinations for crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region, Philadelphia illustrates both the benefits, and risks, of a massive volume of oil moving by rail.

“It’s a good marriage,” said Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, an industry group. “Ultimately, it will be good for the consumer.”

But even as the oil and the trains that bring it may have saved refineries and jobs, they’re testing the limits of the city’s infrastructure and emergency response capabilities.

In January, seven loaded tank cars derailed on the 128-year-old Schuylkill Arsenal Railroad Bridge over the Schuylkill River. Though no crude was spilled, one car dangled precariously over the river and Interstate 76. Investigators blamed it on faulty track maintenance.

“We always hear that things will never happen,” testified former Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., a former firefighter and mayor of nearby Marcus Hook, Pa., at a hearing last month, “but things always happen.”

The city grew up around its rail network, so the only way to the refineries for trains is through town. Some rumble over a steel viaduct through the campuses of Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. Others snake through a tunnel under the iconic Philadelphia Museum of Art and the steps made famous by Rocky Balboa.

One of the main routes to the sprawling refinery complex in South Philadelphia crosses a crumbling viaduct for several blocks through a residential neighborhood. Railroad officials say the 86-year-old viaduct is structurally sound, but residents are concerned about the chunks of concrete that regularly fall into the street.

“It may be perfectly safe, but the impression it gives just by looking at it is something else,” said Roy Blanchard, a longtime South Philadelphia resident knowledgeable about the railroads.

Robert Sullivan, a spokesman for CSX, which owns the structure and operates trains over it, said the viaduct was designed to accommodate heavy commodities, such as iron ore and coal, and the railroad is planning to improve it. It already has hired a contractor to begin removing loose sections of concrete.

While other major endpoints for oil trains, including Albany, N.Y., and towns in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest, have attempted to slow or stop the shipments because of environmental and safety concerns, Philadelphia largely has welcomed the boom.

State and local officials hailed the opening in October of a rail yard that now unloads two 120-car trains carrying 80,000 barrels of oil every day to feed the largest refinery complex on the East Coast. A partnership between Sunoco and the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, created Philadelphia Energy Solutions, which employs 1,000 workers.

Without Bakken oil to replace expensive imports, the refinery would have closed.

Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, flanked by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Rep. Robert Brady, both Democrats, called the revived operation “a symbol of the connection that exists between Pennsylvania’s expanding energy industry and the potential we have to achieve energy independence in North America.”

But it’s also created new challenges for emergency response agencies.

A series of fiery derailments involving Bakken crude oil since last summer has raised questions about whether government and industry fully accounted for the risks before railroads began hauling it. The worst killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. Others in Alabama and North Dakota, while not fatal, drove home the need for new precautions.

“This crude is not the crude of old,” said Robert Full, chief deputy director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Full was testifying before a state House of Representatives oversight hearing last month in nearby Eddystone, Pa., the site of a rail-to-barge facility set to open this month. It will unload two trainloads of crude oil a day by the end of the year.

Bob Andrews, a Texas entrepreneur and fire protection engineer, testified that Pennsylvania should consider developing a specific crude-by-rail response plan to protect communities and the investment they have in keeping the oil moving.

“The Philadelphia area is a good place to start,” he said.

Clifford Gilliam, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Fire Department, said the oil shipments don’t change emergency response procedures, but the department is preparing for the possibility of an event larger in size and scope than what it’s planned for in the past.

He said the department has a good working relationship with the railroads and refineries and “has the training and capability to handle hazmat incidents and, if warranted, join forces with other agencies.”

The rail operations, and risks, cross into Delaware and New Jersey. Norfolk Southern delivers a train every other day to a Sunoco terminal across the Delaware River in Westville, N.J., with plans to double the shipments later this year.

Getting the cars into the Westville facility requires repeat backup moves that block two four-lane highways on a track only feet from several homes.

The drawbridge the trains cross was completed in 1896. An $18.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation helped pay for repairs to the aging span in 2011, before the oil trains began rolling across it.

At Eddystone, south of Philadelphia International Airport, workers are putting the finishing touches on new tracks that will transfer 160,000 barrels of oil daily from trains to barges by the end of the year. The companies involved in the operations say they’ve accounted for the risks.

CSX reached an agreement with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency last month to give first responders access to the railroad’s shipment tracking system. Norfolk Southern, which plans to supply the Eddystone facility, intends to offer safety training.

Jack Galloway, president of Canopy Prospecting, one of the companies developing the Eddystone facility, assured lawmakers last month that it would be “top of the line,” equipped with containment units under the trains and floating barriers around the barges.

“We don’t think there’s any possibility of this oil getting away,” he said.

Email: ctate@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @tatecurtis

Melissa Nann Burke and Jeff Montgomery, The News Journal

11:52 a.m. EDT March 10, 2014

Crude oil tank cars move along the Norfolk Southern rail line near I-95 on Feb. 11.
(Photo: ROBERT CRAIG)

Lawmakers have summoned first-responders and refinery and railroad reps to a community meeting Monday night in Delaware City to discuss emergency-response plans for the mile-long trains hauling volatile crude oil across Delaware each day.

Panelists hope to address locals’ concerns about the scale of risk to life and property following accidents involving exploding tank cars, including one in Quebec, Canada, in July that killed 47 and another in North Dakota that caused millions in damage in December.

Last month, 21 tank cars on a Norfolk Southern train – 19 carrying crude – derailed in western Pennsylvania, with four spilling oil.

“We’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen here,” said state Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, who helped organize the gathering.

“At civic meetings, they’re talking about safety: What is actually in those cars? What would happen if there’s a derailment? Who would be notified, and who would be working together to contain it? I hope there will be a level of comfort, knowing what that plan is.”

Emergency managers and first-responders say they’re prepared, while training continues. A Norfolk Southern-sponsored countywide drill in August will involve a tank car.

Some community leaders worry that response procedures have yet to be refined, and specialized gear is stored too far away. Officials also say that first-responders aren’t notified when hazardous shipments move through the county.

“This is not going to go away. We want the refineries to be competitive, and this is the cheapest crude,” said Rep. Ed Osienski, who represents a portion of Newark.

“What I’m really worried about is whether the state and county and local emergency responders and [environmental officials] are sure they have what they need to be prepared and trained, and I don’t want the taxpayers to have to pay for it.”

Poll: Crude Oil Tank Cars

Emergency orders

Concerns about rail safety have spread beyond the communities bordering the Norfolk Southern tracks that serve the PBF Energy-owned refinery near Delaware City.

Tank cars bearing crude-oil hazard placards are regularly moving on CSX tracks through Wilmington and Newark. CSX does not serve Delaware City, but delivers crude to Philadelphia Energy Solutions at the former Sunoco refinery in southwest Philadelphia.

In February, federal officials announced emergency testing for crude moving by rail, saying the system had become an “imminent hazard” to public health and the environment.

Crude from the Bakken Shale deposits in North Dakota is more volatile than other oils, containing more combustible gases.

Both CSX and Norfolk Southern say they’re working with regulators as part of a voluntary agreement reached last month to increase track inspections, slow crude trains in major cities and develop increased training for emergency responders.

“Overall, the rail industry is a safe industry. We’re very proud of that record, but we’re constantly endeavoring to raise that bar,” Norfolk Southern spokesman Dave Pidgeon said.

Congressional and state oversight and reform studies of the crude-by-rail industry are underway. State Rep. John Kowalko has scheduled a House Energy Committee hearing for March 26 in Dover on the topic.

But the decks are stacked badly against the public as the number of crude trains increases, said Fred Millar, a hazardous-materials specialist who has testified before Congress on rail-cargo hazards.

“It’s not just the tracks that are not necessarily ready, it’s the whole railroad infrastructure and regulatory program,” said Millar, a member of the Local Emergency Planning Commission in Washington, D.C.

Millar noted that guidance from the American Association of Railroads in August recommended that railroad operators prohibit the public release of information about hazardous cargo shipments when sharing it with local emergency planning committees for their needs.

“The only people being kept in the dark about the risk are members of the public,” Millar said. “These are giant, 90-ton tank cars. They’re like elephants tip-toeing through the tulips. They have placards on their sides saying exactly what’s in them. But the fire services are not going to be willing to give information to the public, because they’re desperate for information for their plans.”

Wilmington Councilwoman Maria Cabrera was shocked that haulers are not required to notify state or local emergency managers about hazardous cargo shipments.

“At the moment, as a resident, I feel vulnerable,” she said. “Why shouldn’t we be informed about what’s being transported and when it’s being transported?”

‘Mega-station’

Some fire professionals say crude-by-rail risks are high enough to warrant an industrial fire-fighting “mega-station” to serve the Mid-Atlantic, under a model similar to the cooperative spill-response complex maintained by Delaware River refineries.

Robert C. Andrews, chief executive officer of Bob Andrews Group, said his company would be headquartered in a central location, such as Delaware County, Pa., with the possibility of satellite sites to improve response times.

“We’re still evaluating locations,” Andrews said last week, noting Delaware City had been suggested. “The state of Delaware called us [last week] and tried to entice us to do that. We’re still in the search. I think we’ll widen out to more locations.”

Experts emphasize the importance of stockpiling equipment and regular inspection, testing and maintenance of supplies as crucial to readiness.

“If you look at some of the events that have happened recently, like the event that just happened in North Dakota, the fires there burned for several days,” Andrews said. “The basic model is, you need to have enough people and special training and equipment to deal with some of these things, and nobody should have to pay for it themselves.”

Scott Spencer, a rail-industry consultant, is urging lawmakers to require trains to carry emergency equipment such as oil booms, protective gear and fire-fighting foam concentrate on board.

“Response time is so critical to prevent the oil from moving off into adjacent waterways or to bring fire under control. This would effectively serve to protect communities along the entire route,” said Spencer, who lives in Wilmington.

Locally, officials might stage gear and resources at points along crude-oil routes for easier access, New Castle County Emergency Management Director Dave Carpenter said.

Supplies of foam concentrate are now kept at fire companies, the refinery and at Dover Air Force Base. An inventory is underway of what type of foam is stored where, and how much, Carpenter said. “We’re also developing guidelines for responders and a resource for them to use for training,” he said.

David H. Irwin Jr., chair of the New Castle County Local Emergency Response Committee, said the state has the capability to rush order additional foam from a supplier, if needed.

“The processes are in place,” he said. “Everyone is working together to ensure that we’re as prepared as we can be, and hopeful we will never have to put it to use.”

More shipments

Crude hauls to Delaware City average three trips in and three trips out each day, said Rep. Osienski, who’s been briefed by rail officials.

That frequency could jump to four trips a day by year’s end, according to company projections. PBF last week told investors that Delaware City can take in 145,000 barrels of crude by train a day. That’s expected to increase to 210,000 barrels a day – about 350 carloads – by the end of 2014.

PBF Executive President Thomas D. O’Malley has announced that all of Delaware City’s lighter crudes will arrive in cars equipped with the most-modern safety features by April 1 – with the same standards reached for all heavy crude deliveries by July.

“We’re doing everything we can by providing the safest rail cars available to deliver this crude, but if you don’t keep the trains on the tracks, it’s a really tough game,” he told an investor conference earlier this year.

The refinery recently agreed to fund safety upgrades at three highway crossings, including the installation of crossing gates at Del. 7 and 9, said Robert Perrine, railroad program manager for DelDOT.

“There’s been close calls recently at Route 9,” he said. “Cars are trying to zoom through before they get stuck waiting for the train to go through at 2 miles an hour.”

Just north of Wilmington, Rose Porter has noticed an uptick in the number of tank cars moving over the CSX tracks behind her home on Rockwood Road.

“It’s usually loud,” she said. “I really do hope they double check the safety, because if one of those cars comes off the track and falls, you’re looking at it going right into my family room. The houses are so close [to the tracks] here, it could be anyone or all of us.”

CSX would not confirm what’s inside the tank cars traversing its 23 miles of track in Delaware. Across its network, CSX handles about 14 trains with oil per week, according to the company. Executives expect the crude load to increase by 50 percent in 2014.

Michael Murray, a rail fan who’s followed the industry for 25 years, said CSX moves the crude east via Albany, N.Y., then south through New Jersey to Philadelphia-area refineries. Rather than running empty cars back the same way, CSX routes them through Delaware to Baltimore and back west, forming a loop, Murray said.

“The CSX line is a quarter of a mile from where I live in Elkton, and they’re running at least one empty [unit train] a day,” he said.

CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said the railroad has not provided crude-oil-specific training to Delaware first-responders but is willing to do so.

“CSX has a long history of working with emergency responders across its system and makes information about the materials handled available to those agencies on request,” Sullivan said.

Contact Melissa Nann Burke at (302) 324-2329, mburke@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @nannburke, or Jeff Montgomery at (302) 678-4277, jmontgomery@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @JMontgomery_TNJ.

Rail Safety Community Meeting

WHEN: 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday

WHERE: Delaware City Fire Hall, 815 Fifth St. in Delaware City

WHO: Lawmakers, first-responders, officials from the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, the state Emergency Response Commission, DelDOT, DNREC, Norfolk Southern Corp. and PBF Refinery.

State House Energy Committee hearing on rail safety

WHEN: 4 to 6 p.m. March 26

WHERE: Legislative Hall, Dover

View the original article.

By Kathleen Carey, Delaware County Daily Times

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

EDDYSTONE — Former congressman Curt Weldon on Wednesday warned that Pennsylvania should be as prepared as possible for a disaster as Bakken crude oil begins to be transported into the state in larger volumes.

He said it’s not a question of if there will be a disaster, but when.

Industry experts, on the other hand, pointed to the statistical evidence that moving materials by rail is relatively safe, although they did acknowledge some high-profile incidents and offered changes that have been made in response to those events.

These testimonies were part of the “Emergency Preparedness and Response Capabilities Related to the Transportation of Crude Oil across the Commonwealth” hearing in front of the Pennsylvania Veteran Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee at the Eddystone Fire Co.

Part of the reason for the hearing was the construction of a Bakken crude oil unloading facility less than a mile away. Through a joint partnership between Enbridge Inc. and Canopy Prospecting Inc., the Eddystone Rail Project will transport 80,000 barrels per day initially, and potentially up to 160,000 barrels, of light sweet crude from North Dakota to be unloaded at an Exelon Generation facility, then pumped out to barges on the Delaware River prior to delivery.

Bakken crude was being transported in Lac-Megantic, Canada, in July when the train derailed and exploded, causing 47 deaths. In January, a CSX train carrying crude derailed as a result of improper track maintenance, according to state officials, although no one was injured and no leakages were reported.

“This crude is not the crude of old,” Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Chief Deputy Director Robert Full said. “This crude has a lower flash and ignition point.”

Weldon was mayor of Marcus Hook during the 1975 Corinthos disaster in which 29 people died after the Corinthos and Edgar M. Queeny ships collided and burned for three days.

“The product that exploded and burned out of control was light crude,” he said. “The same product that is going to be shipped in all those rail cars. Prior to the Corinthos disaster, no one believed that an incident of this magnitude could ever occur in the United States inland waters, let alone in a community with a population of less than 5,000 people.”

He urged the committee to exercise its oversight capabilities to make certain detailed emergency response plans are in place, especially considering cutbacks that have been made over time.

“Every refinery had its own fire department,” Weldon said. “That’s not the case today. I urge you to ask the refineries and the companies what their staffing levels were 20 years ago and what are they today as they increase their operations.”

Weldon said the state should request a grant to create a comprehensive emergency response template that could set a national emergency response standard.

He pointed to the San Antonio-based Bob Andrews Group, which wants to build a specialized, regional fire station in Delaware County to respond to emergency industrial incidents.

“Make no mistake,” Weldon said, “an incident involving rail transport of oil will occur in the commonwealth and lives, including first-responder lives, and property will be put at risk. These incidents have occurred in the past and they will occur in the future.”

David Julian, vice president of safety and environmental for Norfolk Southern, one of the companies planning to transport the Bakken crude into Eddystone, spoke to the historical safety of these operations.

“Between 2000 and 2013, the U.S. rail industry originated 825,000 carloads of crude oil,” he said. “(And) 99.993 percent of those carloads arrived at their destination without a release caused by an accident.”

Julian said last year alone his company handled 500,000 loaded hazmat shipments, 99.999 percent of which arrived without a release due to an accident.

He and Howard R. “Skip” Elliott, vice president of public safety, health and environment for CSX Transportation, spoke of the voluntary practices put into place last month as part of an agreement reached by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the major American freight railroads.

They included speed restrictions, train inspection requirements and train handling provisions.

In addition, the Association of American Railroads is creating a $5 million fund to train local emergency responders in how to deal with crude.

Another recent standard includes the U.S. Department of Transportation emergency order issue for shippers to test product from the Bakken region and to have it identified when it is being transported by rail.

In the meantime, Weldon urged for caution.

“Throughout the years, we were always told that such incidents could never occur, that industry had all of the answers and not to worry,” he said. “I applaud industry, but I encourage you to exert your oversight responsibility as you have in the past.”

By Kathleen Carey, Delaware County Daily Times

Kathleen Carey is the lead business writer for the Daily Times. Reach the author at kcarey@delcotimes.com .

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