July The North Dakota derailment, the latest accident involving weak tank cars

The fiery derailment in North Dakota, which burned for several days early last month, was the latest train accident involving faulty tank cars that the National Transportation Safety Board has been trying to derail for dozens of years. years.

The NTSB said in a preliminary report released last week that the July 5 train crash near the small town of Bordulac, North Dakota, caused an estimated $3.6 million in damage to CPKC lines and equipment. But the agency did not offer many clues about what caused the derailment that occurred in the early hours of the morning that day.

CPKC railroad officials are barred from answering questions about the derailment while the NTSB investigates.

The NTSB pointed out that some of the 17 tank cars carrying hazardous materials that derailed were DOT-111 tank cars that have repeatedly demonstrated that they are prone to breaking apart in a train crash. The agency has recommended eliminating the use of these hazardous materials cars since at least the 1990s because of their history of problems, and Congress has mandated that they be replaced for transporting flammable liquids by 2029. But even then they could be used in continuation. for other hazardous materials.

Officials at the Federal Railroad Administration said it might be possible to push the deadline by a year, but probably not much more than that because tank car manufacturers don’t have the ability to do it sooner. There is also a significant cost to the chemical and leasing companies that own them to replace a tank car.

The NTSB said it will make a detailed assessment of the damage to the DOT-111 tank cars and the newer, more robust models of tank cars that were involved in this accident as part of its investigation over the next year or more. Recently, investigators highlighted how those tank cars compounded the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last year when they ruptured and spilled butyl acrylate, fueling a massive fire that prompted officials to unnecessarily open five tank cars of vinyl chloride to prevent a dreaded explosion.

In the North Dakota accident, it was fortunate that few people lived nearby. Only two homes were voluntarily evacuated for two days while crews extinguished the fires and dealt with spilled methanol and anhydrous ammonia. A dozen of the other cars that derailed were carrying plastic pellets.

No injuries were reported in the actual derailment.

The NTSB said an emergency brake was applied to the train before it derailed, but did not say whether the two-person crew did so or whether the brakes were applied automatically.

The 151-car train was traveling at about 45 mph (73 km/h) when it derailed – which was below the 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limit for it because it was carrying a number of hazardous materials cars.

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