Transport Oil by Train or Pipeline - which is safer?

With years passing by on the Keystone XL pipeline approval, transportation of oil from North Dakota or Alberta has increased.  According to the Association of American Railroads, the U.S. rail traffic for week ending June 29, 2013, was 13,417 carloads of petroleum and petroleum products.  This was up 26.6% versus the same period of 2012.  On a year-to-date basis, the number of carloads of petroleum and petroleum products shipped was 355,933 (6 months), up 47.9% versus 2012.  This is a staggering increase in a single year.

https://www.aar.org/newsandevents/Freight-Rail-Traffic/Documents/2013-07-03-railtraffic.pdf

With the increase in barrels transported by rail, risks increase.  We have seen two accidents this year.  The first accident occurred in northwestern Minnesota on March 27, 2013.  A mile-long Canadian Pacific train from Alberta derailed, spilling 20,000 to 30,000 gallons (not barrels – or 475 to 715 barrels) of crude.  There were no injuries.

The second occurred early Saturday morning.  The Montreal Main & Atlantic Railway Inc., a unit of U.S. rail operator Rail World Inc., was transporting 72 oil-filled tanker cars from North Dakota.  Mysteriously, the tanker cars came loose and traveled 7 miles downhill before derailing in Lac-Megantic, Quebec.  There, about 5 of tanker cars exploded.  There are 13 confirmed deaths and up to 50 people still missing, according to the Associated Press.

This raises the question and debate again, should we build the Keystone XL pipeline or not?  The Keystone XL pipeline is designed to carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day.  A small tanker car holds 300 barrels and a large tanker car holds 600 barrels.  That represents 2,766 small tanker cars or 1,383 large tanker cars – every day, to move what the Keystone XL pipeline will move.  On a yearly basis, those numbers range from 1.010 million tanker cars to 0.505 million tanker cars.

According to the Department of Transportation, the number of miles of crude oil pipelines in the U.S. has declined from a peak of 177,224 miles in 1995 to 148, 622 miles in 2009 (latest statistics), or a 16% decrease.  During the same period, the number of intercity total ton-miles of crude oil and petroleum products increased from 601,100 million in 1995 to 629,900 in 2008, or 4.8% increase.

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_oil_pipeline_profile.html

The point here is, that while the number of miles of crude oil pipelines is down, even when including the Cushing connections, the number of tanker cars is up substantially and likely to go higher, if we don't approve the Keystone XL pipeline.  

In looking for data regarding the safety merits of both modes of transportation for crude oil and other petroleum products, I found a research report by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research published in June 2013.  The study goes into more depth, but it does show the incidents per billion ton-miles for each of the modes of transport.  I backtracked through the report to locate the sources of data, and I found it to be voluminous.  Clearly, there is an issue with disseminating this rich information to the public because of its complexity and volume.  This is unfortunate, as press reports, regardless of the media they report to, must be written on a tight timeline.  The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research report is only 10 pages in length and should be read by all reporters and anyone interested in these data. 

They concluded that pipelines are the safest modes of transportation.