Railway versus Tank Cars as Transport for Dangerous Cargoes - Research Paper Example

Rail Shipments of Hazardous Cargo Transportation of hazardous material by rail can be traced back to early 1900s. During that period, the explosives industry rapidly grew necessitating the need for a transportation system for hazardous materials. Although railway line was used to transport hazardous material, it resulted in massive loss of lives and numerous accidents across the country. As a result, various acts have been passed to facilitate the safe transportation of hazardous material across United States of America[Chr091]. The Hazardous Material Transportation Act of 1975 is one of them. This act was adopted to provide protection to American citizens and the government and public property against the numerous accidents caused tank cars. The law provided various guidelines on packaging and operational rules in the transportation of hazardous material using the railway line (Downey, 2014). After the 1975 Act, various laws and bills have been adopted to control the transportation of hazardous materials in the country. Through these improvements, there has been reduced number of accidents and spillage of dangerous materials and gases into the atmosphere. The transportations of hazardous materials through railway line is gradually improving and hopefully in future there will be limited or no cases of accidents or destruction of property through the use of this form of transport. The United States Railway system is used for transporting various types of hazardous cargo across the country. The system is responsible for transporting toxic gas cargos across the state. Twenty percent of all of the gases transported in the country are done through the railway system. According to Spraggins, this percentage is equivalent to 1.7 million carloads of toxic gases transported by rail. The perfect example of gas transported by rail is chlorine. This gas is essential for both the public health and major private laboratories. In addition, chlorine is also necessary for purifying water. Due to its importance and its hazardous nature, twenty-two percent of chlorine is transported through railways (Spraggins). It translates to 35000 carloads of chlorine annually. In addition, the railway system is also used to transport crude oil across the country. Approximately millions of gallons of highly flammable oil are transported by rail to various destinations in the country. Reports and statistics by the American Association of roads in 2009 indicated that there were 9500 railcars that moved across the country in 2008 transporting crude oil[Mar061]. The high number crude of oil transported was as a result of its use in various factories for manufacturing process. Moreover, in every one million barrel of oil produced in the country 60 percent, which is 600000 barrels, is transported by rail (Federman, 2014). In addition, most motorists in the country use oil on a daily basis to enhance their swift movements across states. With the growing demand for oil Countrywide and its nature, most of its transportation is done through the railway system. Although the use of railway system is viewed as one of the safest ways to transport hazardous materials, it causes deadly accidents. These accidents lead to massive loss of lives and destruction of property in various areas. The country has experienced some of these accidents in the recent past that have necessitated the introduction of some stringent rules to reduce them. One of the perfect examples of accidents caused by trains transporting hazardous material is the Lac-Megantic disaster of 2013. This accident was caused by an oil cargo train that was carrying crude oil from North Dakota`s Bakken oil fields. The oil train derailed and exploded resulting in a huge fire. The fire burnt for 36 hours causing massive destruction in the area. According to Federman (2014), forty-seven people were burnt to death, and forty buildings destroyed. Additionally, the environment was not spared either as fertile soil turned into a layer of grey ash. As a result of this horrible incident, the federal regulators held numerous meetings in an attempt to prevent future occurrence of such happenings. The group proposed new and efficient safety measures to reduce the number of accidents caused by oil trains. Thus, they suggested updating and retrofitting various petrol tanks used in oil transportation across the country (Federman, 2014). Furthermore, tank drivers were instructed to regulate or reduce train speed in densely populated areas or near major town and centers. The authority was also given the special responsibility of performing spot inspection on various oil trains moving across the country. Transportation of hazardous material through the railway system has proved to be the safest way of reducing nasty accidents. Due to the increasing numbers of hazardous material transported by rail, it is evident that a majority of American have completely trusted these services. However, this system of transportation is not entirely safe for transporting hazardous materials across the country. A railway system is highly vulnerable to hijacking by country`s villains or terrorists. In this kind of attack, terrorist often hijack a train due to its valuable content for their mission. Deadly and toxic gases such as chlorine and other chemical are dangerous when used as weapons[Mar09]. These are the primary weapons for bioterrorism globally. Although this kind of attack is rare, it can be successful conducted and accomplished by groups of terrorists. With adequate knowledge of the content of trains and exact timing of the transportation, terrorists can successful get these hazardous materials. In the case of such an occurrence, the country is likely to suffer in the hands of terrorists. According to the book Surface Transportation Security (2006), transportation of hazardous material can result in the release of harmful and dangerous material into the environment during transportation. Hazardous material transported by rails such as chemical and oil are extremely harmful to the natural environment and human beings. Exposure to chlorine gas in the case of human beings leads to respiratory disease or instant death. The effects affect not only human beings, but also other animals and plants in the environment. Besides, oil spills are dangerous to both aquatic life and human beings. In case of oil spillage in major water bodies such as rivers or lakes, air circulation in these areas becomes difficult. Consequently, aquatic animals suffer from limited air and eventually die. In addition, the spill is responsible for pollution of fresh water used for human and animal consumption. Besides, the trains are also vulnerable to destruction by terror groups or other enemies of the country (Guerrero, 2004). Terrorists can attack oil or chemical trains with an aim of causing massive destruction or subjecting the country to huge losses incurred due to the destruction of property. Furthermore, they can do this to kill Americans on board and others around the vicinity. This type of damage can easily be achieved through the use of time bombs. Further, attackers can destroy bridges or railway lines used by this trains in an attempt to cause a derailment. The sole reason for targeting trains with the hazardous material is their highly flammable content. In case of accident or fire, their content quickly burns leading to massive destruction of both property and life. Transportation of hazardous material across the country is a risky exercise that can result in deadly accidents. As a result, the federal government and various concerned parties suggested a range of precautionary measures that are useful in preventing such nasty incidents. The measures range from appropriate packaging of these materials to special cargo trains that are less prone to accidents and derailment. Currently, shipping companies have adopted the use of corrugated boxes in packaging deadly and harmful chemicals for transportation. These special boxes derive their name from the materials used to manufacture them. Corrugated papers are appropriate and efficient in handling a wide range of dangerous materials for transportation. The boxes guarantee the safety of hazardous chemicals transported across the country. Furthermore, these boxes are strong, and water resistant hence do not easily break in case of an accident. They also prevent damage to goods or spillage of chemicals in the event that a train derails. Similarly, tank cars have been designed to reduce accidents and spillage of gases and oils during transportation. Currently, the majority of hazardous materials are being transported using cryogenic tanks. These are railroad car tanks that are made of stainless steel. The cars are fitted with two tanks, which is the outer and inner nickel tank. These tanks are frequently used to transport various harmful gases across the country. Most gases transported using these tanks are flammable hydrogen and poisons. Cryogenic tanks are used due to their unique design and ability to hold gases and chemical for thirty days without leaking. In case of an accident, these containers are useful in preventing leakage and spillage of gases and poisons into the environment. Equally important, major transportation companies use pressure and non-pressure tank cars to transport hazardous materials in United States. These two tanks are very useful; although they have a slight difference due to their various purposes. Pressure pipes have protected valves and enclosed pipes, whereas non-pressure pipes have unprotected valves. Due to the nature of pressure tank cars, they are mostly used to transport toxic and flammable gases over long distances. On the other hand, non-pressure tank cars are used to transport combustible liquids and flammable liquids. These two tanks are efficient in reducing leakages and spillage of hazardous material in case of an accident in densely populated areas. References Downey, W. (2014, April 2). Hazardous Material Transportation Act Reauthorization. Retrieved 3 April 2015, from http://www.trucking.org/ATA%20Docs/What%20We%20Do/Trucking%20Issues/Documents/hazmat/Downey%20Testimony%20HMTA%20Reauthorization%20040214.pdf Federman, A. (2014). Hazardous Cargo: Shipping Highly Flammable Bakken Crude Oil by Rail. Earth Island Journal. Retrieved 3 April 2015 from http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/warning_highly_flammable Guerrero, P. F. (2004). RAIL SECURITY Some Actions Taken to Enhance Passenger and Freight Rail Security, but Significant Challenges Remain. Retrieved 3 April 2015, from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04598t.pdf Chr091: , (Wolmar, 2009), Mar061: , (Mark, Seely,, & Barrett, 2006), Mar09: , (Roth, 2009), Spraggins, B. (n.d.). The Case for Rail Transportation of Hazardous Materials. Journal of Management and Marketing Reasearch. Retrieved 3 April 2015 from http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09224.pdf Surface Transportation Security. (2006). Transportation Research Board. Wolmar, C. (2009). Blood, Iron, & Gold: How the Railroads Transformed the World. Philadelphia, PA: Public Affairs. Read More