PHMSA issues safety alert on Bakken crude flammability

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a safety alert to notify the general public, emergency responders, shippers and carriers that recent tank-car derailments and resulting fires indicate the type of crude oil being transported by rail from the Bakken Shale region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude.

Based on preliminary inspections conducted after recent derailments in North Dakota, Alabama and Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, involving Bakken crude, the administration opted to reinforce a requirement to properly test, characterize, classify and, where appropriate, sufficiently degasify hazardous materials prior to and during transportation, PHMSA officials said in the alert.

The alert is a follow-up to a joint safety advisory issued by PHMSA and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in November 2013 that calls for properly classifying and describing hazardous materials being transported.

The alert is considered preliminary guidance from "Operation Classification," an ongoing compliance initiative PHMSA and the FRA initiated last year involving unannounced inspections and testing of crude oil samples to verify that materials have been properly classified and described. PHMSA will continue to collect samples and measure the characteristics of Bakken crude, as well as oil from other locations, through Operation Classification.

"The results of [our] expanded testing will further inform shippers and carriers about how to ensure that the materials are known and are properly described, classified and characterized when being shipped," PHMSA officials said. "Understanding any unique hazards of the materials will enable offerors, carriers, first responders, as well as PHMSA and the FRA, to identify any appropriate mitigating measures that need to be taken to ensure the continued safe transportation of these materials."