Posted on 08/20/2014 6:27:56 AM PDT by thackney
The weak safety culture of a now-defunct railway company and poor government oversight were among the many factors that led to an oil train explosion that killed 47 people in Quebec last year, Canadas Transportation Safety Board said in a new report released Tuesday.
TSB chair Wendy Tadros said 18 factors played a role, including a rail company that cut corners and a Canadian regulator that didnt do proper safety audits.
The safety board issued its report 13 months after a runaway train carrying 72 carloads of volatile oil from North Dakota derailed, hurtled down an incline and slammed into downtown Lac-Megantic, Quebec. Several train cars exploded and 40 buildings were leveled. The unattended train had been parked overnight on a rail line before it came loose.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railways went bankrupt after the disaster.
http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/rail/2013/r13d0054/r13d0054-r-es.asp
Nice moves for the tank car manufacturers. DOT-111 cars... BEGONE!
The Conservative government skirted any direct responsibility Tuesday for the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, with Transport Minister Lisa Raitt saying instead that she expects more from Transport Canada and wants her department to quickly respond to Tuesdays damning investigation report.
In the final report on the rail explosion that killed 47 people and obliterated a Quebec communitys downtown core, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada pointed directly to what it called a weak safety culture at Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. The TSB also cited the limited number and scope of safety management system audits conducted by Transport Canada.
The report identified 18 causes and contributing factors to the explosion, including Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railways failure to provide proper training or oversight to ensure its crew followed safety rules. It also assigned a significant portion of responsibility to Transport Canada because the federal department did not follow up to ensure that recurring safety deficiencies at the company were corrected. The independent safety board concluded that, consequently, unsafe practices persisted.
Raitt said shell wait for a response to the TSB from Transport Canada officials before committing the federal government to any specific actions, including whether to adopt key recommendations in the TSB report. However, Raitt noted the Conservative government has implemented previous TSB recommendations since the disaster on July 6, 2013, and indicated the government will likely do so again.
Todays report does indeed talk about higher expectations for Transport Canada. I share those expectations and I know the public shares those expectations as well, too, Raitt said.
We need to remember that in terms of (rail) safety, the government puts the rules in place. The companies are expected to follow the rules. The company did not follow the rules, she added.
The minister insisted the department is fully resourced and has the capacity to ensure a safe rail system in Canada, including for the transport of dangerous goods like crude oil.
Raitt also defended the current safety management system (SMS) under which rail companies largely manage their own safety risks rather than having them directly managed by Transport Canada an approach opposition parties say amounts to deregulation and poses risks to public safety.
It comes down to a fundamental fact: theres 46,000 kilometres of rail track in this country. And you cant possibly ever have enough inspectors at every way points on every train at every single moment to have that kind of continuous oversight, she said.
Raitt said Transport Canada will review the report thoroughly and added she has directed the department to quickly develop concrete actions to address TSB recommendations. The department will provide a formal response to the recommendations within 90 days, which will guide the Conservative governments course of action.
Weve always indicated that we will act on TSB recommendations and we always have done so, Raitt said. There is no difference. And how weve approached it in the past is how well approach it in the future.
The TSB has recommended that Transport Canada require Canadian railways to put in place additional physical defences to prevent runaway equipment, and wants the department to audit the safety management systems of railways in sufficient depth and frequency to confirm that the required processes are effective and that corrective actions are implemented to improve safety.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau called on the government to accept partial responsibility for the disaster and for allowing a company with a sketchy safety record to bend the rules.
One of the most fundamental responsibilities of a government any government is to ensure the security, the safety of its citizens, Trudeau told reporters in Edmonton, where the Liberals are holding their summer caucus retreat.
What we find out today is that the government did not live up to its responsibilities in ensuring that the rules and regulations were being properly followed. And I certainly hope that this government takes responsibility for its role in allowing the railroad company to operate the way it did.
The official Opposition NDP said the TSB report highlights a hands-off approach to public safety in Canada that is putting Canadians at risk.
Stricter rail safety regulations are needed to help protect communities across the country, the party says, yet the Conservative government has focused on deregulation.
NDP transport critic Hoang Mai said the government failed in its oversight responsibilities and simply didnt do its job. This government must assume its share of responsibility, he said.
Green Leader Elizabeth May said the report reinforces her partys call for a royal commission into railway safety in Canada.
I call for a public inquiry to satisfy Canadians that everything is being done to protect them, May said Tuesday in a written statement. A full public inquiry is needed to demonstrate the weak safety culture that exists in Canada today at the expense of Canadians.
http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/08/19/5-takeaways-from-quebec-rail-disaster-report/
1 THE ACCIDENT
The TSBs 181- page report opens with a detailed summary of what happened before, during and after the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train derailed last July in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. Among the specifics, the MM&A train traveled about 7.2 miles, reached a speed of 65 miles per hour and spilled 6 million liters (about 1.6 million gallons) of petroleum crude when 63 tank cars derailed. The fires and explosions resulted in 47 deaths and the destruction of 40 of the small towns buildings.
2 FACTORS
The TSB cited 18 factors for the Lac-Mégantic accident, among them a weak safety culture at Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, the company operating the train, and inadequate regulatory oversight. Accidents never come down to a single individual, a single action or a single factor. You have to look at the whole context, Wendy Tadros, head of the TSB, said in a statement.
3 SAFETY REGULATIONS
The TSB issued two new safety recommendations, calling for the Canadian government to require additional physical defenses to prevent runaway locomotives and to increase the efficiency of audits that would prevent future accidents from occurring. These accident has already helped spur regulatory changes to rules for shipping crude oil by rail in both the U.S. and Canada.
4 MM&A SAFETY
The report said Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, the now-defunct short-line railway that operated the train, did not properly train and oversee its crews and lacked fully functioning safety-management processes. The TSB found MMA was a company with a weak safety culture that did not have a functioning safety management system to manage risks, the agency said. Furthermore, the board found problems with training, employee monitoring, and maintenance practices at MMA, it added.
5 REGULATORY OVERSIGHT
The TSB found that Transport Canada, the Canadian federal ministry responsible for rail transport, knew of the railways operational challenges but failed to provide adequate oversight. Lisa Raitt, Canadas Minister of Transport, responded to the findings shortly after their release, saying the government will review the report thoroughly. She noted that the department has acted decisively in implementing previous rail-transportation regulations.
Thanks for your posts.
The energy sector is probably the only real shining example of thriving “producer culture” left in America... the rest of the economy seems to be hair and nail salons, or lulu lemon yoga pants and Ugg boots.
I have been curious about what started the whole shebang. Here’s the answer.
“At around 2250, the train arrived at Nantes, was brought to a stop using the automatic brakes, and was parked for the night on a descending grade on the main track. The LE applied the independent brakes to the locomotive consist. He then began to apply the hand brakes on the locomotive consist and the buffer car (7 cars in total), and shut down the 4 trailing locomotives. Subsequently, the LE released the automatic brakes and conducted a hand brake effectiveness test without releasing the locomotive independent brakes. The LE then contacted the rail traffic controller (RTC) responsible for train movements between Farnham and Megantic Station (Megantic), who was located in MMAs yard office in Farnham, to indicate that the train was secured.
The LE then contacted the RTC in Bangor, Maine, who controlled movements of United States crews east of Megantic. During this conversation, the LE indicated that the lead locomotive had continued to experience mechanical difficulties throughout the trip and that excessive black and white smoke was now coming from its smoke stack. The LE expected that the condition would settle on its own. It was mutually agreed to leave the train as it was and that performance issues would be dealt with in the morning.
A taxi was called to transport the LE to a local hotel. When the taxi arrived to pick up the LE at about 2330, the taxi driver noted the smoke and mentioned that oil droplets from the locomotive were landing on the taxis windshield. The driver questioned whether the locomotive should be left in this condition. The LE indicated that he had informed MMA about the locomotives condition, and it had been agreed upon to leave it that way. The LE was then taken to the hotel in Lac-Mégantic and reported off-duty.
At 2340, a call was made to a 911 operator to report a fire on a train at Nantes. The Nantes Fire Department responded to the call and arrived on site, and the Sûreté du Quebec (SQ) called the Farnham RTC to inform the company of the fire. After MMA unsuccessfully attempted to contact an employee with LE and mechanical experience, an MMA track foreman was sent to meet with the fire department at Nantes. When the track foreman arrived on site, the firefighters indicated that the emergency fuel cut-off switch had been used to shut down the lead locomotive. This shutdown put out the fire by removing the fuel source. Firefighters also moved the electrical breakers inside the locomotive cab to the off position to eliminate a potential ignition source. These actions were in keeping with railway instructions.
Both the firefighters and the track foreman were in discussion with the Farnham RTC to report on the condition of the train. Subsequently, the fire department and the MMA track foreman left the scene.
With no locomotive running, the air in the trains brake system slowly began to be depleted, resulting in a reduction in the retarding force holding the train. At about 0100 (July 06), the train started to roll downhill toward Lac-Mégantic, 7.2 miles away. At about 0115, the train derailed near the centre of town, releasing about 6 million litres of petroleum crude oil, which resulted in a large fire and multiple explosions.”
http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/rail/2013/r13d0054/r13d0054.asp
>>When a tractor trailer is parked and is being unloaded with a forklift the wheels have to be chocked.<<
What state is this law in ? Calif? It didn’t used to be and I hauled in 48 states.
Hand brakes are air powered on heavy equipment and the auto- mechanical sets in when the air bleeds off below a certain number.
I should have said, where I worked at.. at least that’s what they told us before we loaded or unloaded the truck.
I can visualize certain situations where it would be a sensible precautionary step to chock the wheels depending on the weight of the items to be loaded or unloaded, the lay of the dock and surrounding land.
Canada Ping!
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