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Summary
Pages 1-7

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From page 1...
... Railroad tank cars and river and coastal tank barges were being used to haul oil and fuel ethanol in increasingly larger volumes, over longer distances, and often through communities that had little, if any, previous experience with hazardous materials traffic. Some serious tank car derailments occurred, and there was skepticism about whether more high-capacity pipelines could be built to provide a safer means of transport, in part because of highly publicized opposition to the construction of new pipelines on grounds that their safe operation could not be assured.
From page 2...
... Because the domestic energy revolution is still playing out, the potential remains for additional, unanticipated impacts on the energy transportation system that present new safety challenges. In sponsoring this study, the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee sought a review and comparison of how the pipeline, rail, and barge industries have fared to date in safely transporting the new domestic energy liquids and gas traffic.
From page 3...
... In cases when existing pipelines have undergone flow reversals or been repurposed from carrying other commodities to transport the new domestic oil and gas traffic, an inventory of these pipelines may be warranted to allow for closer monitoring of potential problems that may arise from changes in their stress and operating profiles. Marine Transportation System Offers a Model for a Robust Safety Assurance System Tank barges have a long history of transporting crude oil and other energy liquids with improved safety performance as a result of extensive readiness planning and response training informed by lessons learned more than 30 years ago.
From page 4...
... Railroads Have an Opportunity to Create a More Robust Safety Assurance System Railroads had little experience carrying crude oil and ethanol in large quantities until after 2005 when they started transporting these flammable liquids in blocks of tank cars and eventually in unit trains of 100 or more tank cars. Unlike in the pipeline and marine transportation sectors in which the carrier has primary responsibility for all major factors affecting safety, railroads share this responsibility with shippers who own or lease, load, and secure the tank cars.
From page 5...
... Emergency Response Preparedness Has Improved but with Geographic Inconsistency Because crude oil and ethanol unit trains are a relatively new phenomenon, many of the communities traversed had no previous experience preparing for and responding to emergencies involving this traffic. Emergency preparedness has improved as knowledge of crude oil and ethanol behavior in tank car derailments has grown and as emergency responder resources, information, and procedures have been enhanced as result of the research, training, and educational efforts of industry and government safety agencies.
From page 6...
... 3. Evaluate the utility of existing incident- and traffic-reporting data for the purpose of identifying and assessing public safety and environmental risks associated with transporting energy liquids and gases, determine whether new and improved incident- and trafficreporting systems are needed, and ensure that these data and risk metrics are being shared with state emergency preparedness agencies and with industry for safety assurance purposes.
From page 7...
... Based on its review of responses to the safety challenges arising from the domestic energy revolution, the committee is optimistic about the ability of industry and government to achieve such an outcome, especially through increased collaboration. Working together, industry, regulators, and the emergency response community will be in a better position to reduce the occurrence and the severity of incidents involving transportation of energy liquids and natural gas.


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