Bakken Oil Rolling Through Fracking-Averse New York State -- Such Sweet Irony

Updates

March 2, 2014: it looks like four little counties in fly-over country have become a regular feature in The New York Times. Steven sent a follow-on to the article below. It is very interesting and very, very helpful. I envision a TSA-like CBR inspection team, and perhaps even a whole new division of Homeland Security: Bakken Security Agency, BSA. The New York Times is reporting:

New York State regulators conducted a series of inspections over the last week at the Port of Albany and on rail tracks in Albany and Buffalo to increase the safety of the surging oil-by-rail business, according to a statement by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Albany has emerged in the last two years as a key hub for shipping oil from North Dakota to refineries along the East Coast. And the rise in production from the Bakken shale region has prompted concerns about the hazards of moving potentially explosive oil by rail.

Federal and state officials have been under pressure to beef up their oversight of the industry and tighten regulations. The issue is particularly sensitive in Albany, where millions of gallons of oil arrive each day aboard two oil trains and are then transferred onto barges and tankers heading down the Hudson River.

Several facilities were inspected over the last week. At the Kenwood Rail Yard in Albany, inspectors examined 120 crude oil tank cars and found three defective wheels and three defective brake shoes. They also examined two miles of track and 31 switches and found 36 defects including loose rail joints and fasteners. Those were repaired immediately. Similar inspections took place at the Frontier Rail Yard in Buffalo and along four miles of track there. 

Let's see, 120 crude oil tank cars times 8 wheels = 960 wheels. 3 / 960 = 0.3%. But all it takes is one, I guess.  I suppose the definition of "defective" needs to be taken into account and how likely a defect would cause a derailment.

Original Post

Steve sent this most interesting article, filled with irony. The New York Times is reporting:

On a clear December morning two years ago, a 600-foot oceangoing oil tanker called the Stena Primorsk left the Port of Albany on its maiden voyage down the Hudson River laden with 279,000 barrels of crude oil. It quickly ran aground on a sandbar.

The incident attracted little attention at the time. The ship’s outer hull was breached, but a second hull prevented a spill. Still, the interrupted voyage just 12 miles south of the port signaled a remarkable turnaround for the state’s capital.

With little fanfare, this sleepy port has been quietly transformed into a major hub for oil shipments by trains from North Dakota and a key supplier to refiners on the East Coast.

Hidden in plain sight, Albany’s oil boom has taken local officials and residents by surprise. Many became aware of the dangers of oil trains after a recent series of derailments and explosions, including one that killed 47 people in Quebec last July, which have generated concerns about growing rail traffic into the city. Trains rumble through the heart of Albany every day and often idle along the busy Interstate 787 highway while waiting to get into the port’s rail yards.

“This has caught everyone off guard,” said Roger Downs, a conservation director at the Sierra Club in Albany.

About 75 percent of Bakken oil production travels by rail and as much as 400,000 barrels a day heads to the East Coast, said Trisha Curtis, an analyst at the Energy Policy Research Foundation. Albany gets 20 to 25 percent of the Bakken’s rail exports, according to various analyst estimates.

This is really a "fun"story to read; there are simply so many story lines.What caught my attention was the operator: Global Partners. Do a search on the blog to get background to this company. This is one post. I find it simply amazing how far -- literally and figuratively -- the Bakken has come in such little time.

Note this in the article:

Trains now come into Albany on average twice a day after completing a four-day journey from North Dakota, either through the Canadian Pacific network, via Montreal, or on the CSX rail lines that pass through Buffalo and Syracuse. These mile-long trains, each up to 120 tank cars long, can carry roughly 85,000 barrels of oil.

CBR trains now come into Albany on average twice a day according to the story. Let's put that into perspective: I understand that as many as thirty BNSF CBR trains roll through Minot daily. I can't link a source for that but that's what I've been told. I could be way wrong.