Outdated tankers carry explosive crude; feds seek refit

[hrmjustin]

Khurram Saeed



When you see an oil train roll by, you're probably looking at a DOT-111 tank car.

The DOT-111s are an industry workhorse. They've been around for decades and make up 68 percent of the 335,000 tank cars in active use.

Until recently, the non-pressurized cars weren't used to haul oil. That changed with the Bakken oil boom and when rail became the modern-day pipelines.

The federal government now wants the industry to retrofit or replace them over the next two years in the name of safety. Currently, 100,000 DOT-111s move crude oil and ethanol but only 20,000 meet the latest safety standards, making the older models susceptible to ripping open in a derailment or collision.

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/health/2014/08/16/outdated-tankers-carry-explosive-crude-feds-seek-refit/14176663/

[House of Roberts]

1. Outdated tankers should be forced to carry really high liability insurance.

Make the new cars economically necessary via insurance rates. The new cars needed would create jobs.

I'd still rather the oil travel on the surface in non-pressurized railcars than in hidden, pressurized pipelines.

[hrmjustin]

2. Good points.

Make it more expensive to keep operating these things.

[hrmjustin]

3. editorial: Get oil-train safety efforts on track

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/08/19/get-oil-train-safety-efforts-track/14253603/

[hrmjustin]

4. Report: Human error, lax rules led to Canadian oil train crash

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/08/8551019/report-human-error-lax-rules-led-canadian-oil-train-crash