In July, the transportation department proposed that older cars be retrofitted within two years. The two industries - which were at odds until recently over how best to prevent oil train collisions and fires - also want three years after that to retrofit newer tank cars manufactured since 2011, known as "1232 cars," he said. Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, told reporters in a conference call Tuesday that the institute and the Association of American Railroads are jointly asking the Department of Transportation for six to 12 months for rail tank car manufacturers to gear up to retrofit tens of thousands of cars and another three years to retrofit older cars. The cars have ruptured and spilled oil during collisions, leading to intense fires. regulators to allow them as long as seven years to retrofit existing tank cars that transport highly volatile crude oil, a top oil industry official said Tuesday. WASHINGTON (AP) - The oil and railroad industries are urging U.S. Environmentalists we talked to are skeptical.The oil and railroad industries are urging US regulators to allow them as long as 7 years to retrofit existing tank cars that transport crude oil, an industry official says. WesPac's Art Diefenbach told KPIX 5 that's not going to happen in Pittsburg. That's the dirtiest and cheapest oil on the market. "Instead of being another town that a disaster has happened in, we are going to be known as a town that stood up and didn't allow this to happen to begin with," Burkitt said.Īnother big issue with the WesPac project and other crude by rail proposals in the Bay Area is the potential for Canadian tar sands oil to also come in. "We have this wonderful new marina district down here, old town, and for them to bring in an industrial project such as that so close to our homes, no!" Graham said. So it's not really possible for that sort of thing to happen."īut tell that to the residents of Casselton, North Dakota or Lac-Megantic, Quebec. "The environmental report already covers crude oils that include the quality of the Bakken crude oil. We asked how that warning would affect the draft EIR. We pointed out that the Department of Transportation issued a safety alert January 2nd specifically about Bakken crude (.pdf), calling it more flammable than conventional crude. "The facility is designed to be silent, odorless, and safe," he said. KPIX 5 asked WesPac Energy's Art Diefenbach about that. "Benzene is a very powerful cancer causing agent associated with all sorts of health impacts particularly things like leukemia in children," she said. "Transporting these 50 and 100 tanker car trains of crude oil that is volatile and flammable and explosive, it's really dangerous business," said Diane Bailey, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council.īailey said the chemicals known to be used in fracking such as benzene are also very toxic. Federal investigators said the chemicals the oil contains from the hydraulic fracturing process make it more flammable than traditional heavy crude. These trains carrying crude from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields are potentially explosive time bombs. KPIX 5 has learned about even greater risks. A draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) admits to "significant and unavoidable" risks of air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, spills and accidents.