PETITION TO THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO ISSUE AN EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING THE SHIPMENT OF BAKKEN CRUDE OIL IN UNSAFE TANK CARS

Earthjustice, on behalf of Sierra Club and ForestEthics, petitions the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to ban legacy DOT-111 tank cars for transporting highly flammable crude oil. The petition argues that these cars pose an "unacceptable public risk" due to high failure rates in derailments, citing disasters in Lac Mégantic, Aliceville, and Casselton. While the DOT has initiated rulemaking and issued operational emergency orders, the petitioners contend these actions are insufficient and too slow to address the imminent hazard. They highlight that Canada has already implemented bans and surcharges on these cars, which may inadvertently push the most dangerous tank cars into the U.S. fleet. The document advocates for an immediate emergency order to bridge the gap until a formal rulemaking process establishes more robust safety standards, such as the CPC-1232 specifications or newer designs.

• Legacy DOT-111 tank cars have a high failure rate in accidents, with some data indicating that over 50% of these cars puncture and spill contents during derailments.
• The shipment of Bakken crude oil by rail has increased dramatically, with car loads growing from 9,500 in 2008 to over 400,000 in 2013, representing an increase of over 4,000%.
• Bakken crude oil is more volatile and flammable than traditional heavy crude, with characteristics closer to gasoline, leading the DOT to require it be classified as Packing Group I or II.
• The July 6, 2013, derailment in Lac Mégantic, Quebec, resulted in 47 deaths and the destruction of the downtown area after more than 60 DOT-111 tank cars breached and spilled approximately 1.6 million gallons of crude.
• Other significant crude-by-rail accidents include a November 8, 2013, derailment in Aliceville, Alabama, where 630,000 gallons spilled, and a December 30, 2013, collision in Casselton, North Dakota, that released over 400,000 gallons.
• The U.S. State Department projected that rail shipments of crude and petroleum would cause between 6 and 28 deaths and 49 to 189 injuries annually.
• Transport Canada has taken more aggressive action than the U.S. DOT by prohibiting the oldest DOT-111 tank cars without continuous bottom shell reinforcement and imposing surcharges on DOT-111 crude shipments.
• Canada's restrictive measures create a risk that the most dangerous legacy tank cars will be shifted into the U.S. fleet, exacerbating safety risks in the United States.
• The CPC-1232 design standards for tank cars, which include normalized steel and thicker jackets, are estimated by BNSF to be 76% more crashworthy than unjacketed DOT-111 cars.
• The petitioners argue that the formal DOT rulemaking process is too slow to address the imminent hazard, as it may take a year or more to produce applicable standards.

APA

Earthjustice (2014). PETITION TO THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO ISSUE AN EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING THE SHIPMENT OF BAKKEN CRUDE OIL IN UNSAFE TANK CARS. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/petitionforemergencyorderrebakkencruderailcars.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. PETITION TO THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO ISSUE AN EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING THE SHIPMENT OF BAKKEN CRUDE OIL IN UNSAFE TANK CARS. 2014. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/petitionforemergencyorderrebakkencruderailcars.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=PETITION TO THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO ISSUE AN EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING THE SHIPMENT OF BAKKEN CRUDE OIL IN UNSAFE TANK CARS |date=15 July 2014 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/petitionforemergencyorderrebakkencruderailcars.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2014petition, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{PETITION TO THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO ISSUE AN EMERGENCY ORDER PROHIBITING THE SHIPMENT OF BAKKEN CRUDE OIL IN UNSAFE TANK CARS}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2014}, month = jul, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/petitionforemergencyorderrebakkencruderailcars.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }