The issue: Rail, pipelines each pose serious safety threats

The tragic loss of at least 13 lives in the Canadian border town of Lac-Megantic to a fireball of burning crude oil is sure to ramp up debate about how petroleum products should be moved across North America.

ONE SURE talking point is that oil is moved more safely by pipeline than rail — a linchpin for proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline between Alberta’s tar sands fields and U.S. refineries near the Gulf of Mexico. But the July 6 accident — of a 72-car runaway fuel train that derailed and burst into flames, devastating the town’s center — should renew focus on just how safe those long black snakes of oil tankers are in a crash.

Depending on the government stats used, pipelines have been safer in terms of injuries and deaths and total spills than rail or truck when transporting oil and other fuel products. But pipeline spills resulted in average releases of more than 19,000 gallons per incident between 2005 and 2009. Tank cars averaged just under 1,700.

Beyond the statistics lies the reality that most rail lines run through towns and cities more often than pipelines do. And the crude oil often is carried in tanker cars of an older, troubling design that, in crashes, is prone to punctures or breaks in loading valves.

Since October 2011, the Association of American Railroads has required tanker manufacturers to make new cars with heavier steel, protective shields at each end and better covers over fittings. But the industry has rejected as too costly and cumbersome the National Transportation Safety Board’s calls to retrofit the same features in tens of thousands of older tankers, which may be hauling crude oil or ethanol for decades to come.

Although photos from Quebec show at least some of the tankers were of the type susceptible to rupture, it’s not clear whether they’d had the upgrades — or whether they would have burned so terribly if they did.

WHAT IS CLEAR is that crude oil isn’t going to stop riding the rails to refineries. Although pipelines still move the bulk of crude oil, trains are carrying 10 times more than they were just five years ago. The railroads association reports 233,800 carloads of crude — more than 152 barrels — were shipped last year.

Oil producers, railroads and refiners are all hurrying to add terminals and expand tanker fleets to catch all the crude oil running out of the Great Plains. Some analysts speculate that even if Keystone is never approved, rail eventually will be able to carry all the shale and tar sands crude the region can produce. If that’s the case, people living along the lines can only hope the tankers running through their towns meet the highest standards.

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