Economy

Business

Move comes in wake of recent fiery derailments

By Bob Tita
robert.tita@wsj.com

April 6, 2015 6:52 p.m. ET

The National Transportation Safety Board is calling for an aggressive schedule to replace or upgrade railroad tank cars that haul crude oil and other flammable liquids in the wake of recent fiery derailments. ... Railcar owners and shippers of oil, ethanol and other flammable materials have asked the federal government to give them at least several years to bring tens of thousands of tank cars into compliance with new regulations.

“The thermal performance and pressure relief capacity of bare steel tank cars that conform to current federal and industry requirements is insufficient to prevent tank failures” from fires said a letter from the NTSB to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, one of the agencies involved in drafting a new tank car safety standard.

“We can’t wait a decade for safer railcars,” said Board Chairman Christopher A. Hart on Monday. The safety board said communities are being placed at risk by the continued use of older tank cars, known as DOT-111s, along with newer models that lack fire-resistant insulation. Canadian transportation authorities last month proposed that older tank cars hauling crude oils be replaced or upgraded in two years but offered car owners as long as 10 years to upgrade newer tank cars hauling oil and other flammables.

The NTSB is recommending a five-year phase-in for fixing existing tank cars with 20% of cars to be completed each year.