Keystone XL promoter a convert to CBR

Now even the promoter of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is boosting the benefits of crude-by-rail (CBR) over pipelines.

Partnership sets Bakken transload terminal

Northern Plains Rail Services (NPRS) said Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014 it has formed a partnership with NorthStar Midstream “to provide switching operations at their new transloading terminal located in Fairview, N.D.”

Greenbrier calls for no delays on PHMSA rulemaking, legacy tank car retrofits

Greenbrier on Oct. 10, 2014 reiterated its support for the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) proposed Option 2 design for new tank cars in flammable service built after Oct. 1, 2015, which will be designated the DOT-116.

Improving safety on North America’s “122-inch pipeline”

Are corrosion protection strategies for rail “all hat and no cattle?” (all talk, no substance?). James McDonald, Terry Aben P.E., and Douglas Mittlesteadt of Hempel USA examine this subject for Railway Age.

RSI-CTC to PHMSA: “One size fits all” won’t work

In comments sent to the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Dept. 30, 2014, the Railway Supply Institute Committee on Tank Cars (RSI-CTC) warned of “significant disruption to safety and to major sectors of the North American economy if mismatched rulemakings were to be implemented separately by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transport Canada.” These disruptions include “the loss of a significant portion of the rail tank car fleet during the modification period, and unintended consequences such as a potential increase in truck shipments of flammable liquids on highways.”

Railcar builder stocks tumble following PHMSA NPRM comment period

Shares of The Greenbrier Companies and Trinity Industries fell 10.2% and 7.7%, respectively, in afternoon trading on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, one day after the deadline for final comments on the U.S. DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on tank cars carrying flammable liquids. Wall Street analysts attributed the stock plunge (which also affected American Railcar Industries, down 5.8%) to investor wariness over an “oil tank car rule fight.”
Commentary

Federal hazmat regulator AWOL from North Dakota oilfields

Whatever the unrevealed reasons for Cynthia Quarterman’s (pictured) Oct. 3, 2014 departure as head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a change at the top may reverse the federal regulator’s much-criticized lethargy in fixing the core cause of exploding oil trains.

CBR liability: A trial lawyer’s perspective

At an increasingly rapid rate, the surge in crude by rail during the past few years has spawned significant litigation risk for a broadening group of “target defendants.” That’s why it’s important for all entities involved in CBR to be proactive about mitigating such risk.

North Dakota seizes initiative in CBR degasification

The vital other shoe in crude by rail reform will drop not in Ottawa or Washington, but in Bismark, N.Dak., where, in the void created by federal inaction, officials are preparing to use state jurisdiction over natural resources to order the degasification of petroleum at the wellhead.

OmniTRAX Canada suspends CBR moves

OmniTRAX Canada said Monday, Aug. 18, 2014 it would “suspend its plans to ship crude oil for the foreseeable future,” even as it “anticipates a record shipping season in 2014.”

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