With more crude oil expected to move through Washington state, Democratic lawmakers want to toughen rules around oil transportation and raise more money for spill prevention and response efforts.
Companion bills in the House and Senate aim to reduce the risk of oil spills with provisions that target oil carried by vessels, pipelines and trains. Supporters say the legislation is needed to address the growing risks of oil shipped through state waters.
In November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, which will increase from five to 34 the monthly number of oil tankers and barges plying the shared waters of Washington state and Canada.
The pipeline will carry oil from Alberta to the Vancouver area where it will be loaded on to barges and tankers for Asian and U.S. markets. Indigenous leaders and environmentalists object to the project over environmental, health and other risks.
"We're really trying to stay on top of the changing landscape of oil transportation," said Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Seattle, sponsor of House Bill 1611, which is scheduled to be heard Monday in the environment committee. The companion Senate Bill 5462 is sponsored by Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle.
Both measures would require the Department of Ecology to write rules that may require tug escorts and other safety measures for certain vessels such as barges and articulated tug barges through the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound.
Tug escorts are currently required for oil tank ships that transit parts of northern Puget Sound. But vessels such as barges and articulated tug and barges — ships where the tug and barge are combined — aren't subject to those requirements.
The use of tug escorts for oil-carrying vessels such as articulated tug and barges was identified as the top priority during a recent Salish Sea spills risk workshop hosted by Ecology.
Cliff Webster with The American Waterways Operators testified against SB 5462 at a hearing Thursday. The state has one of the best oil spill prevention and response programs in the country and there has not been a major cargo spill in waters for years, he said.
But "it only takes one incident to deal a major blow to Puget Sound," said Rebecca Ponzio with the Washington Environmental Council. She said it's a critical year to act, because of the Trans Mountain project and the federal government has lifted a 40-year ban on crude exports, opening the way for oil to be exported through the state's refineries.
Under the bills, oil refineries proposing to handle crude oil for export update their spill response and prevention plans. Railroads would have to show they have the ability to pay for cleanup and damage caused in the event of a major oil spill — something vessels and pipelines are required to do.
Johan Hellman with BNSF Railway told lawmakers the provision was redundant, unnecessary and conflicts with federal government rules governing railroads. He said the state law passed in 2015 required railroads to submit financial reports to state regulators to demonstrate fiscal solvency. Supporters say it's needed to ensure that railroads can pay the costs of a major spill.
The state currently levies two taxes for a total of 5 cents on every barrel of oil received by train or vessels to pay for spill response and prevention measures. The bills would extend that tax to pipelines. It would also eliminate a cap on the 4-cent tax that currently takes effect when the account balance hits a certain amount.
Jessica Spiegel, a spokeswoman with the Western States Petroleum Association, said state figures show that only 3 per cent of spills are related to the petroleum industry, such as pipelines, trains or fuel barges.
"We believe it's time to identify the sources of actual spills and place a share of the funding burden on those who are causing the problems," she said.
Separately, another bill sponsored by Farrell and requested by Ecology, seeks to raise the oil spill administration tax from by 2.5 cents a barrel, from 4 cents to 6.5 cents. Ecology says it is facing a $4 million shortfall in the next biennium because it only received a one-time transfer of money for work related to the oil transportation law passed in 2015.
"We've been successful in the state because we've taken a proactive approach," Farrell said. "We can't rest on our laurels."
Phuong Le, The Associated Press
Comments
I grew up living behind a CPR Mainline Station with a strip of bush to a CN Rail branch line from Thunder Bay Ontario to Nakina which is now Decommisioned. When CPR, Canadian Pacific Railway, disbanded the small highly dedicated Section Crews who used Motor Cars which are low to the track with a highly visible sight of the rail and visuals of loose spikes, tie clips, etc. These men fixed problems immediately, if it was a loose spike it was removed and a square wooden peg was inserted and the spike was hammered back in. The frequency of derailments went from zilch to a Wild West Scenario. The new age crews with much longer sections of track now ride in 5 Ton Crew Cab High Rail Trucks. I cannot say whether they use TV cameras to film the track and Audio to detect sound anomalies of broken rail or loose misaligned track joint couplers. Do these Inspection vehicles have audio entertainment equipment? Are they allowed to use I-tune thing a jimmies while they should be observant and listening for rail condition?
I met a former CN Rail maintenance employee from Hornepayne Ontario a Railway Turn-a-Round, who was quite bitter that he was laid off when CN was privatized. Some people never have enough money.
Bill Gates is the largest shareholder of Canadian National Railway Company (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI), with a massive 13% stake in Canada?s flagship railroad operator. The Microsoft Corp. co-founder and world?s richest person first declared his ownership position in Canadian National Railway back in 2000.Sep 2, 2014
Why Billionaire Bill Gates Owns Canadian National Railway Company ...
www.fool.ca/2014/.../why-billionaire-bill-gates-owns-canadian-national-……
Canadian National Railway - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Railway
Jump to Creation of the company, 1918–1923 - CN is a public company with 24,000 employees. It had a market capitalization of 32 billion CAD in 2011. CN was government-owned, having been a Canadian Crown corporation from its founding to its privatization in 1995. Bill Gates was, in 2011, the largest single shareholder of CN stock.
Bill Gates owns a $3.2-billion train set, making him the largest shareholder in Canadian National Railway Co. The Microsoft Corp. founder now controls more than 46 million CN shares, or 10.04 per cent of the Montreal-based railway. CN disclosed his holding in its management information circular for its annual meeting Wednesday in Toronto.
"The only person who beneficially owns, or exercises control or direction over, directly or indirectly, shares carrying 10 per cent or more of the voting rights attached to any class of shares of the company is Mr. William H. Gates III," according to the circular.
Through holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc., billionaire Warren Buffett acquired full control of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. of Fort Worth, Tex., in early 2010. Berkshire already owned 22.6 per cent of BNSF before it took complete ownership.
Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffett "are pretty good buddies. Mr. Buffett must have given a tip to buy railroads at one of their bridge games," Mr. Spracklin said with a laugh.
Mr. Spracklin, who met recently with CN management, said he's impressed with consistent profit being reported at Canada's largest railway, despite harsh winter weather. Ref: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/bill-gates-largest-shareh…
Ref: "Synbit" culprit in CN's second Gogama conflagration - Railway Age
www.railwayage.com/index.php/safety/fireballs-strike-again-in-northern-…
At first sight, the March 7, 2015 Reuters bulletin looked like an accidental re-filing of a three-weeks-old news flash: “A Canadian National Railway train carrying crude oil has derailed near the Northern Ontario community of Gogama, with crews reporting a fire, but no injuries.”
Unfortunately, the repetition was not an error by a fatigued overnight wire service editor. There was, indeed, a second strike of crude oil train fireballs in the same vicinity—again closing CN’s transcontinental main line and demonstrating, once more, that the regulatory changes under consideration simply do not address the underlying root cause of oil train fires and explosions: the presence in crude oil of flammable liquids that create explosive gases, those liquids either purposely added, as with “dilbit” or “synbit,” or inherent in the oil, as with Bakken crude.
This most recent derailment, involving 10 cars and the by-now-familiar fireballs, occurred two miles southwest of Gogama, an 18-mile crow’s flight from CN’s earlier, seven-car Valentine’s Day derailment and explosion. The lading then was dilbit, a blend of goopy Alberta bitumen and highly volatile diluents (thinners) such as naphtha added to make it flow. This time the cars were loaded with a different bitumen-based product from northern Alberta, synbit, which is bitumen diluted with synthetic crude oil…
Lack of Track Maintenance is one issue, while some Railways lobbied Transport Canada to discontinue the use of the Caboose on the rear of the train, then some later lobbied Transport Canada to operate trains with only one Engineer and NO Brakeman, the fellas who apply Mechanical Hand Brakes, MM&A, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway was permitted to operate this way. The engineer was catching up o sleep at a Hotel. Application of enough mechanical brakes are especially important when a train is left unattended on a hill. Aka: Lac Megantic Quebec. They took a Hit for the Team, the greedy investment team. Then the Courts Scapegoat and misalign the blame on the more prosperous Canadian Pacific Railway demanding a $300 million plus award.
I get somewhat annoyed at Prime Minister Trudeau when he slags railways, preferring 63 year old pipelines that were built when they were still using Steam Engines. The issue is Foxes guarding Henhouses. Railways and Pipeline Owners in Canada have been given permission to Self Regulate.
The Trans Mountain pipeline operated by Kinder Morgan has De-Commissioned 2 sections because of deterioration, which means that they exercised a Duty of Care for Public Safety and the Environment. Diluted bitumen runs downhill and will burn just like the derailed rail tanker cars. The NEB, National Energy Board, has failed the citizens of Alberta and British Columbia by not Issuing a De-Commission Order on all the 63 year old pipe. Energy East is a similar sage built in 1957 celebrating it’s 60th anniversary this year. Newer Line 2 sections are Out of Service because new repair pipe would not weld properly to the old pipe.
Our Federal government has a responsibility in regards to Energy Security also. If Energy East is pushing highly explosive bitumen and damages the live natural gas lines feeding the 24,544,417 million people living east of the Manitoba Border we are especially in trouble if it is the wintertime for heating , cooking, commercial and Industrial uses such as Gas Plant Electricity Co-Generation.
During the Quebec Ice Storm where homes are highly dependant on electricity for heating. My mother was adopted by a family who had wood stove for 4.5 months until all the hydro towers were replaced that had toppled. One area in the Province of New Brunswick live as i type is well into 2 weeks without electricity from an Ice Storm. And while were on the issues winter can bring the swamp sections of the Energy East Conn/Version Proposal could only be built when the swamps were frozen, which means spills and repairs are next to impossible to carry out in warm months.
If TCP is bent on delivering diluted bitumen to the Atlantic Tidewater, let them build a completely new double walled pipeline in an isolated North East Corridor. Perhaps a new pipeline could be built to the Polar Bear Tourism Capital Port of Churchill Manitoba on James Bay. They have just had their subsidies cut for their Seasonal Grain Elevator to Ship delivery by railway operations. Dang, now being the Devils Advocate brings memories of the proposed MacKenzie Valley Pipeline.
Eastern Canada has been doing quite well for decades without a Northern Oil Pipeline, the pipelines to the Sarnia Ontario Refineries are supplied by Oil pipelines through the United States. The TCP Energy East Conn/Version Proposal smacks of such Corporate callou$ne$$ it makes me ill. I was in shock as I had posted earlier in other articles that when working Hydrostatic Testing in the early 70’s the pipeline was bursting under water pressure when it was only 15 years (1957) old.