By
Ron Schalow
The newly proposed DOT oil train safety rules mean NOTHING if North Dakota Bakken producers are still ALLOWED to transport explosive “natural gas liquids” (NGLs), and deadly combustible H2S, in the SAME tanker car as the crude oil.
North Dakota Leaders need to take immediate responsibility for the Bakken oil train explosions, and mandate producers remove ALL explosive natural gas liquids (NGL’s) from Bakken crude BEFORE shipping.
The Dot-111 tanker car is not suited for hauling watered down skim milk. It should go. But it is not the main reason for the violent and deadly explosions that have occurred in the last 12 months. The newer 1232 model cracked open during the Lynchburg derailment going 24 mph.
And, there can never be enough inspections and upgrades of the railroad tracks, and oversight of train movements, but we’ve been trying to keep trains on the tracks in this country for nearly 200 years, and there were still over 1,250 derailments in the U.S. in 2013. Everything helps, but trains will continue to derail.
The explosions; the 300 foot fireballs, walls of fire, incinerated buildings, vaporized humans, fouled water, and poisoned soil…are primarily due to one simple fact, and it has to stop…
Years ago; Bakken oil producers made a business decision to not strip all of the NGL’s from the crude before shipping; AKA “stabilization.” They deliberately chose not to remove all heptane, pentane, methane, propane, butane, ethane, isobutane, H2S, and, so on, from the crude oil, before filling the tanker cars. They make more money if they ship it all.
They picked a few extra bucks, over the lives of people. Greed. Why North Dakota has allowed it for so long…we can only speculate.
North Dakota Leaders, if there are any, need to take immediate responsibility for the Bakken oil train explosions, and the safety of U.S. citizens, by mandating Bakken producers to separate the explosive NGL’s from the crude, or burn them off, before the next Lac-Megantic. Not after.
New tanker cars will take years, and won’t solve the problem.
Rail cars have never stayed on the tracks.
Flare off the explosive elements, and do it now.
North Dakota needs to mandate it, even if the policy is contrary to Bakken oil producer wishes.
These are the people with the power to make this nonsense stop…
The North Dakota Industrial Commission
(Governor – Ag Commissioner – Attorney General
ndicinfo@nd.gov (701) 328-3722
Governor Jack Dalrymple
(701) 328-2200
Chief of Staff Ron Rauschenberger
rrausche@nd.gov (701) 328-2200
Governor’s Senior Policy Advisors
Kayla Effertz
kmeffertz@nd.gov (701) 328-2229
Jody Link
jlink@nd.gov (701) 328-2203
Tami Ternes
tlternes@nd.gov (701) 328-2207
Andrea Travnicek
atravnicek@nd.gov (701) 328-2206
Jerod Tufte
jetufte@nd.gov (701) 328-1048
Jeff Zent
jlzent@nd.gov 701-328-2424
Ag Commissoner Doug Goehring
ndda@nd.gov
(701) 328-2231
1-800-242-7535
Deputy Ag Commissioner Tom Bodine
tbodine@nd.gov (701) 328-2231
Assistant to the Commissioner Jody Reinke
jodyreinke@nd.gov (701) 328-4754
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem
wstenehjem@nd.gov ndag@nd.gov (701) 328-2210
The North Dakota Public Service Commission
ndpsc@nd.gov (701) 328-2400
Commissioner Julie Fedorchak jfedorchak@nd.gov
Commissioner Randy Christmann rchristmann@nd.gov
Commissioner Brian Kalk bkalk@nd.gov brian@briankalk.com
The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources
Oil & Gas Division oilandgasinfo@nd.gov (701) 328-8020
Director Lynn Helms lhelms@nd.gov
Assistant Director Oil and Gas Division
Bruce E. Hicks bhicks@nd.gov
Spokesperson Alison Ritter amritter@nd.gov
The North Dakota Pipeline Authority
(701) 220-6227
Director Justin Kringstad jjkringstad@ndpipelines.com
www.nd.gov
www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/63-2013/members/members-by-district
The North Dakota Petroleum Council
(Lobbyists for Bakken producers)
ndpc@ndoil.org (701) 223-6380
President Ron Ness ronness@ndoil.org
Vice President Kari Cutting kcutting@ndoil.org
Spokesperson Tessa Sandstrom tsandstrom@ndoil.org
Ron Schalow
Fargo, North Dakota
https://www.facebook.com/BombTrainBuckStopsWithNorthDakota
http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/content/letter-bond-cant-be-broken