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 DC Rail
Corridor: Appeals Court Rules Hazardous
Materials Shipment Ban Not Enforceable
Industry Focus:
1. Bush Administration Change on Mandatory
Security Requirements
2.
Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Hits 20 Year Milestone
3.
Lessons Learned Information Sharing for Homeland Security
4.
Homeland Security Bill Approved By Texas Legislature
CSB News & Current Investigations:
1. Update on BP Refinery Incident
2. CSB Holds Hearing on Combustible
Dusts in Washington, DC
3. Carole Merritt
Testifies Before Senate Homeland Security Committee
Incident
News:
1. Summary
of Incidents, March
15, 2005 – June
15, 2005
Events
Update:
1. Chemical Security Summit in Baltimore June 26 to 28
2. API Workshop on Industry Security Vulnerability in Las Vegas, August 4-5
3. AIChE/CSChE LNG Conference and Workshop in Vancouver, September 11-14
Other:
1. AcuTech Opens Houston Office
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DC Rail Corridor: Appeals
Court Rules Hazardous Materials Shipment
Ban Not Enforceable
Concern over transportation security has grown since 9/11
and the subsequent train bombing in Madrid.
The train derailment and release of chlorine in January in South Carolina, which killed eight people, has
added to the concern of local governments over shipments of hazardous
materials by rail and truck through their jurisdictions, and their fear that
a terrorist attack on a shipment could lead to larger losses of life. In February, the District of Columbia passed a ban on shipments of
hazardous materials through the city limits.
The ban would have required shipments of hazardous materials, such as
chlorine and liquid propane, to be rerouted around the city instead of
traveling through the city and close to the Capital and National Mall
area.
CSX Transportation Incorporated, the
carrier that operates the trains carrying the cargo, initially sought an
injunction of the ban, which was denied by District Court Judge Emmet
Sullivan in his April 18 ruling.
However, a federal appeals court panel ruled that the District of Columbia can’t enforce its ban.
DC officials are joined by numerous other city
jurisdictions who feel that current federal regulations regarding hazardous
shipments are inadequate to protect the public from terrorists using these
shipments as weapons. Greenpeace and
the Sierra Club have already joined the bandwagon to force their own issues in
this matter.
CSX and much of the transportation
industry argues that allowing local laws will undermine the federal
government control of interstate commerce and lead to a chaotic mix of
restrictions that could seriously effect the efficiency and effectiveness of
the transportation system. Edward R.
Hamberger, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, said in
response to the initial ban:
“The D.C. law will improve neither security nor safety.
The ruling creates a clear conflict between the court decision and the legal
opinions of the U.S. Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and
Transportation and an order from the Surface Transportation Board. U.S. DOT
said that when local governments ban hazardous materials from their
communities "it raises everyone's risk and clogs the transportation
system." The Departments of
Justice and Homeland Security said that D.C. law would "result in a
dramatic increase in the total miles over which such materials travel and the
total time the materials are in transit," and "increase their
exposure to possible terrorist action." If this decision is allowed to stand, it
could disrupt the shipments of many hazardous materials. This would make it difficult if not
impossible to ship these products by rail to points where they are needed to
purify water supplies, manufacture pharmaceuticals or for manufacturing
processes. The railroad industry
takes very seriously its responsibility to provide safe and secure
transportation of hazardous materials.
More than 99.99 percent of all hazardous material shipped by rail
arrives at destination safely. Rail is
the safest way to ship these materials.
It is 16 times safer to ship hazardous materials by rail than the
alternative, which is highway.
Railroads have in place a comprehensive, risk-based security plan that
was developed with the aid of outside security and terrorism experts
following September 11. It includes
more than 100 specific actions taken by railroads, depending on the level of
risk. That plan has been widely
praised by government officials as a model for other industries to follow.”
In its ruling, the appeals panel judges agreed that
regulating hazardous rail shipments is a question for federal government, not
city governments. It also said the DC
law unreasonably burdens interstate commerce.
CSX is going forward with a lawsuit to overturn the DC law.
In response, the DC Council is considering additional
legislation to hold carriers responsible for toxic chemical spills, and also
to expand the role of the city’s Emergency Management Agency and establish a
DC Homeland Security Commission.
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Industry Focus
Bush Administration Change on Mandatory Security
Requirements
Articles by the Washington Post, CNN and USA Today
are reporting the Bush Administration has changed stance and is endorsing
mandatory requirements for increased security at the nation’s chemical
plants. Robert Stephan, recently named
the Homeland Security Department's undersecretary for intelligence and infrastructure,
is expected to testify June 17 at a Senate hearing that strictly voluntary
efforts will not be sufficient to adequately secure the chemical sector from
possible terrorist attacks. To read
the Washington post
story, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR2005061401534.html?referrer=emailarticle
Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Hits 20
Year Milestone
The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) hit its
twenty year anniversary on March
25, 2005. The commitment
and dedication of the member companies were recognized by CCPS in a recent
announcement as key to the continued success of the organization. The work of CCPS and its member companies
have been a key source of guidelines to help all companies improve
manufacturing process safety. To learn
more about CCPS go to: http://www.aiche.org/ccps/
Lessons Learned Information Sharing for Homeland
Security
Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS.gov) is
the national network of Lessons Learned and Best Practices for emergency
response providers and homeland security officials. A
Lessons Learned Information Sharing
Newsletter is one of the benefits of registering at the site. Go to https://www.llis.gov
to register and have access to the web site.
Homeland
Security Bill Approved By Texas Legislature
The Texas Legislature approved SB9, a comprehensive
bill setting up a state Homeland Security Council, on May 28. The legislation was introduced by Senator
Todd Staples (R-Palestine). The
Homeland Security Council will be made up of Texas
state agencies, and permanent Special Advisory Committees consisting of a
First Responder Advisory Council and a Private Sector Advisory Council. The bill also sets up a Governor’s
Interoperable Radio Communications Program.
The bill strengthens law enforcement by expanding the definition of
critical infrastructure to include chemical facilities, ports, railroad
switching yards, trucking terminals, and other freight transportation
facilities.
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CSB News
Update on BP Refinery Incident
Texas City, Texas, April 28, 2005 – John
Bresland, Board Member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation
Board, and CSB investigator-in-charge Don
Holmstrom, who is leading the field investigation of the BP Refinery incident
that occurred March 23,
2005, presented an update on preliminary findings to the public
in Texas City on April 28. The Board’s
investigation is continuing to focus on all the principal safety issues
raised by the case including the design of the unflared blowdown system, the
causes of the overpressure in the raffinate splitter, and the proximity of
the trailers to an operating process unit.
The trailers suffered extreme and catastrophic damage. Initial
investigation has shown that the debris pattern at the site is complex and is
not indicative of a single vapor cloud explosion. It is believed that there
were a number of distinct explosions in rapid succession, possibly as many as
five. A variety of contributing
factors to the explosion of the trailers is being examined including
prevailing winds, topography, and whether the trailers had skirting or
not. The investigation continues to
focus on the raffinate splitter column which was the original source of the
flammable liquid and vapor that was released to the atmosphere.
[Read
the official interim investigation report issued by BP may
12, 2005 at http://www.acusafe.com]
CSB Holds Hearing on Combustible Dusts in Washington, DC
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
conducted a day-long hearing on the subject of combustible dust in Washington, DC on June 22. The hearing grew out of CSB investigations of three dust
explosions – West Pharmaceutical in Kinston, NC (January
29, 2003),
CTA Acoustics in Corbin, KY(February 20, 2003), and Hayes Lemmerz in Huntington, IN (October
29, 2003). Fourteen people were killed in these three
explosions, and CSB announced preliminary results showing 197 dust explosions
have occurred in the United States since 1980, resulting in 109
fatalities.
Representatives of industry, state governments, and dust
explosion experts spoke on progress made and challenges remaining. Representatives from the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) announced that NFPA 654, “Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions
from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate
Solids” has been revised and will be issued in 2005. The revised standard will contain
provisions for process hazards analysis and management of change.
Carole Merritt Testifies Before Senate
Homeland Security Committee
Washington, DC, April 27, 2005 – In
testimony today before the Senate homeland security committee, the chairman
and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board (CSB), Carolyn
Merritt, said that serious gaps in preparations for major chemical releases –
either accidental or from an attack – have left Americans vulnerable, and
called for more to be done by chemical companies, emergency responders,
communities, and the federal government in order to save lives and
property. The hearing was scheduled
to be webcast and subsequently archived on the following link: http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=230.
Full
text of these press releases can be found at: http://www.acusafe.com/Newsletter/Stories/0605NewsCSB.htm,
or from the CSB website at http://www.csb.gov. Additional information on the BP Texas City
incident is included with this month’s incident file as well.
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Incident News
Summary
of Incidents, February 15, 2005 – March 15, 2005
We collect stories about
major spills and releases from around the globe. This month's installment (http://www.acusafe.com/Newsletter/Stories/0605News-MonthlyIncidents.htm)
summarizes incidents brought to our attention between March 15, 2005 and June 15, 2005. Most of the incidents covered
have caused significant injury, deaths, or major property damage.
Note that the 2005 edition of the Rose & Laurel Refinery Incidents and
Downtime 2005 report is now available.
This report analyses over 600 refinery incidents occurring between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2004. The
report analyses these incidents for: geographic and temporal distribution;
units involved and their state; causes; chemicals involved; consequences,
including, fires and explosions, releases, and casualties. The latter part of
the report is concerned with refinery downtime from incidents in units such
as FCCU, crude unit, etc. €120.oo, including postage. The incident database, on CD-ROM, is also
available. €250.oo, including postage.
Please go to www.saunalahti.fi/ility/
for more information.
Sources for incidents include: U.S.
Department of Labor OSHA (http://www.osha.gov/),
the Chemical Safety Board (http://www.csb.gov/) and Hazards Intelligence – an international
journal of hazardous incidents- available for subscription at http://www.saunalahti.fi/ility/. We welcome input to this effort by
submitting summaries of other notable events to editor@acusafe.com.
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Events Update
Chemical
Security Summit in Baltimore June 26 to 28
The third annual Chemical Security Summit will take place in Baltimore from
June 26 to 28. The event is co-hosted by SOCMA and The American
Chemistry Council. Key conference
topics include transportation security, business continuity, value chain
issues, and the DHS Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Assets
Protection methodology (RAMCAP).
Additionally, a workshop to further learn and discuss the RAMCAP
project has been added from 2:30 to 5:00PM on Tuesday June 28.
API Workshop
on Industry Security Vulnerability in Las
Vegas, August 4-5
The
next offering of the API Workshop to understand and apply the Security
Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) methodology will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 4-5.
Please go to: www.api.org or www.acutech-consulting.com for
more information.
AIChE/CSChE LNG Conference and
Workshop in Vancouver,
September 11-14
LNG: The Environmental and Safety
Agenda, A Technology Workshop for Transporters, Suppliers and Policy Makers will be co-sponsored by AIChE and CSChE in Vancouver on September 11 to 14. Join suppliers of Liquid Natural Gas
(LNG) technologies, carriers of LNG, and operators of LNG facilities as well
as regulators, and concerned leaders from the public sector to explore the
business, supply, safety, environmental and regulatory acceptance issues
associated with projections of a rapid growth in the North American LNG
market. For more information please go
to:
http://www.aiche.org/conferences/LNG/index.htm
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Other
AcuTech
Opens Houston Office
May 24, 2005, Houston, Texas. AcuTech, a global leader in process
safety and security risk management consulting, training, and software
services, is pleased to announce the opening of our newest office in Houston, Texas.
Conveniently located in the Westchase area near Houston’s Energy
Corridor, with easy access from Bush and Hobby airports, downtown Houston, Galleria area, and Houston Ship Channel,
our address is:
AcuTech Consulting Group
Chemetica, Inc.
2500 CityWest Blvd, Suite 300
Houston, Texas 77042 USA
Tel: +1-713-267-2293
Fax: +1-832-553-7560
djones@acutech-consulting.com
www.acutech-consulting.com
www.acusafe.com
AcuTech has appointed David A. Jones as Manager, Houston Operations and
a member of its Senior Management Team.
Mr. Jones has thirty years of technical and management experience
involving health, safety and environmental quality management and consulting;
engineering and construction services; advanced technology products; and
chemical manufacturing operations.
An OSHA Certified Safety and Health Official (CSHO) for both General
Industry and Construction, Mr. Jones has a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in
Chemical Engineering from the University of South Florida and is currently
working towards his a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) in Occupational Health
& Safety Management at Tulane University.
Since 1987, Mr. Jones has directed projects and activities for health,
safety, environmental quality (HSEQ) management, process safety and security
risk management, and reliability in the following industries: energy; marine
and offshore/onshore oil & gas production and processing; petrochemicals;
specialty chemicals; industrial gases; pharmaceuticals; food & beverage;
transportation; retail.
In addition to directing the Houston operations, Mr. Jones serves as a Sr.
Principal Consultant for AcuTech Consulting Group and a Senior Instructor for
the AcuTech Training Institute. He
specializes in the design, development, implementation and auditing of
management systems for continually improving performance in process safety
and security risk management, occupational health and safety, environmental,
and quality.
Prior to joining AcuTech, Mr. Jones worked for seven years with FMC Technologies Inc., recently named the
nation’s “Most Admired Oil and Gas Equipment/Services” company, ranking first
in its industry in FORTUNE magazine’s annual list of “America’s Most Admired Companies.” As Director of Health, Safety &
Environment for the FMC
SOFEC Floating Systems division (a supplier of turret mooring systems for
FPSO/FSO installations and CALM
buoys), he directed corporate and project HSE activities for both process/product safety
assurance and operational safety assurance for the engineering design,
construction and installation of floating production systems.
Mr. Jones previously held senior management and technical positions
with ABS, DNV, Primatech, Simulation Sciences, Chemshare,
Ethyl Corporation, and The Clorox Company.
Under the leadership of Mr. Jones and with support from its
headquarters in San Francisco and other offices in Princeton
and Washington, DC, AcuTech will establish a full-service
operations team in Houston. Our goal is to expand our
existing customer base for consulting, training, and software services to
better serve the growing demands and needs for engineering, construction, and
operations in the energy, petrochemical, transportation, healthcare and other
process industries based in the Gulf Coast and operating worldwide.
AcuTech is looking for great people to fill great positions. For more
information, please check out our Current
Openings at http://www.acutech-consulting.com/employ/index.html.
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