North Dakota's new oil train safety checks seen missing risks
Source: Reuters
US | Tue Mar 31, 2015 1:07am EDT
North Dakota's new oil train safety checks seen missing risks
WASHINGTON | BY PATRICK RUCKER
(Reuters) - New regulations to cap vapor pressure of North Dakota crude fail to account for how it behaves in transit, according to industry experts, raising doubts about whether the state's much-anticipated rules will make oil train shipments safer.
High vapor pressure has been identified as a possible factor in the fireball explosions witnessed after oil train derailments in Illinois and West Virginia in recent weeks.
For over a year, federal officials have warned that crude from North Dakota's Bakken shale oilfields contains a cocktail of explosive gas - known in the industry as 'light ends.'
The new rules, which take effect on April 1, aim to contain dangers by spot-checking the vapor pressure of crude before loading and capping it at 13.7 pounds per square inch (psi) - about normal atmospheric conditions.
The plan relies on a widely-used test for measuring pressure at the wellhead, but safety experts say gas levels can climb inside the nearly-full tankers, so the checks are a poor indicator of explosion risks for rail shipments.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/31/us-usa-oil-safety-idUSKBN0MR0D820150331
