[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 193 (Thursday, October 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58503-58504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20097]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Notice of Safety Advisory 2005-04

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Safety Advisory 2005-04.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2005-04 advising shippers, 
consignees, and railroads of the dangers of allowing cars of ``time-
sensitive'' chemicals to remain undelivered beyond their anticipated 
date of placement and to recommend enhanced procedures to avoid such 
occurrences. This action is being taken to improve the safety and 
reliability of hazardous materials shipments by railroad.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Phemister, Railroad Safety 
Specialist (Hazardous Materials), Hazardous Materials Division, Office 
of Safety Assurance and Compliance, Federal Railroad Administration, 
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001 (telephone: (202) 493-6050; e-mail: 
[email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    At 6:40 p.m. EDT on August 28, 2005, in Cincinnati, OH, fire 
department personnel responded to a report of smoke coming from a tank 
car in a railroad yard (Linwood Yard \1\) operated by the Indiana and 
Ohio Railway Company (IORY). As shipped, tank car PLCX 224841 contained 
23,543.97 gallons of styrene monomer, stabilized (170,966.7 pounds at 
the loading temperature of 60[deg] F.). Styrene monomer, stabilized, is 
a class 3 (flammable liquid) material. As a result of the release 
residents were evacuated within a 1 mile radius, later reduced to a \1/
2\ mile radius and, by the end of the fourth day, the exclusion zone 
was reduced further to the immediate area around the car. The 
Environmental Protection Agency's Pollution Report indicates that, 
initially, 800 people were evacuated. In addition, four schools closed, 
and the Ohio River was closed to traffic for a short time. The incident 
lasted approximately 5 days.
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    \1\ Linwood Yard on the Indiana & Ohio Railway is also known as 
Undercliff Yard.
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    FRA's preliminary investigation indicates that the cause of the 
incident was a polymerization of the styrene monomer in the tank car 
due to the deterioration of the inhibiting agent (para-tertiary 
butylcatechol) as a result of the extended time in transportation. The 
shipment consisted of 99.91% Styrene Monomer and .09% of other 
components (the largest identifiable component was the inhibiting 
agent) and was offered into transportation on December 30, 2004 by 
Westlake Styrene, Sulphur, LA, and consigned to Queen City Terminals, 
Cincinnati, OH, under bill of lading number 80435877. Movement records 
show that the car made a normal trip to the IORY, arriving at 
interchange between the Norfolk Southern Railway Company and the IORY 
(at Sharonville, OH) on January 21, 2005. IORY records show the car was 
moved from the interchange yard to

[[Page 58504]]

McCullough Yard where it stayed for approximately 5 or 6 weeks before 
it was moved to Linwood Yard on March 12, 2005. From the time the car 
was interchanged to IORY until smoke was observed on August 28, 2005, 
FRA has found no records indicating that the IORY attempted to contact 
Queen City Terminals to arrange for delivery of the car.

Time-Sensitive Commodities

    Each year, America's railroads safely transport more than 1.7 
million hazardous materials shipments to their destinations. Certain 
hazardous materials pose particular risks if not transported, and 
delivered, promptly. Among these are cryogenic materials, which must be 
transported, and maintained, at very low temperatures. Federal 
hazardous materials regulations (49 CFR 173.319(a)(3)) require that:

    The shipper shall notify the Federal Railroad Administration 
whenever a tank car containing any flammable cryogenic liquid is not 
received by the consignee within 30 days from the date of shipment. 
Notification to the Federal Railroad Administration may be made by 
e-mail to [email protected] or telephone call to (202) 493-
6229.\2\
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    \2\ A similar requirement, applicable to compressed gases in 
tank cars and multi-unit tank cars, appears at 49 CFR 173.314(g)(1).

Another group of chemicals are time-sensitive because they are shipped 
with a stabilizing or inhibiting chemical that retards the chemical's 
natural tendency to polymerize. Polymerization is a chemical reaction 
in which a large number of relatively simple molecules combine to form 
complex chains of macromolecules, often times with the evolution of 
heat and, in closed containers like tank cars, pressure. Of interest 
here, this process is how styrene monomer becomes the useful 
polystyrene that is so easily colored, molded, and fabricated.\3\ Of 
course, polymerization is not intended to occur while the material is 
being transported, which is why it is shipped with an inhibiting agent.
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    \3\ Adapted from Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 14th 
edition, (copyright) 2001, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
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    The members of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the 
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association have adopted the 
recommendations contained in AAR's Circular OT-55-H, ``Recommended 
Railroad Operating Practices for Transportation of Hazardous 
Materials.'' \4\ This package of recommended procedures includes 
suggestions for time-sensitive materials. It places responsibility on 
the railroads for monitoring these shipments and escalating their 
response as necessary when any car with a time-sensitive product is 
delayed in transit. The circular includes a list of 20-day time-
sensitive products and a list of 30-day time-sensitive products. 
Products with a 20-day time-in-transit limit include Ethylene, 
refrigerated liquid; Hydrogen, refrigerated liquid; Chloroprene, 
stabilized; Methyl Methacrylate Monomer, uninhibited; and Hydrogen 
Chloride, refrigerated liquid. Products with a 30-day time-in-transit 
limit include Styrene monomer, stabilized and Recycled Styrene.
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    \4\ The AAR's Circular No. OT-55-H was issued August 25, 2005, 
and became effective September 1, 2005, replacing Circular No. OT-
55-G.
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Recommendations

    1. FRA strongly encourages all railroads to develop procedures that 
conform to AAR Circular OT-55-H and to assure that railroad employees 
responsible for the movement of time-sensitive chemicals are familiar 
with and clearly understand these procedures. Such actions will help 
ensure that these materials reach their destinations in a timely way. 
We note that, in accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations 
(HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180), rail carriers must make every effort to 
expedite hazardous materials shipments.\5\
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    \5\ 49 CFR 174.14.
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    2. FRA recommends that shippers and consignees monitor the progress 
of time-sensitive materials that they have shipped and ordered. While 
the railroads have the primary responsibility to monitor the movement 
of freight along their tracks, close attention by shippers and 
consignees will provide an additional level of safety. A shipper 
sending a time-sensitive load to a consignee should call the consignee 
(or use fax or e-mail) and let that party know a car is on the way and 
should arrive before the expiration of an appropriate number of days. 
As the due date approaches, either the shipper or the consignee, or 
both, should contact the railroad(s) involved for a report on how the 
car is moving. Some shippers and receivers have enough volume of 
railroad traffic to warrant the installation of automated car 
monitoring equipment or to hire car monitoring services. FRA is not 
prescribing how this extra involvement should take place, but the 
agency will evaluate this activity to determine the need for any future 
regulatory or other agency action.
    3. The HMR require each person who offers a hazardous material for 
transportation in commerce to class and describe that material 
correctly.\6\ While the AAR's OT-55-H includes a list of time-sensitive 
materials, and 49 CFR 173.314 and 173.319 regulate specific sub-sets, 
there are many other products shipped as ``stabilized'' or 
``inhibited.'' Each of these has a chemical added, an inert gas blanket 
applied, or a shipping condition (such as cooling) utilized to promote 
product stability, purity, and safety. FRA recommends that shippers and 
consignees work with the railroads to explore ways to reduce the risks 
in transporting the full range of time-sensitive materials. One good 
start would be to apply the recommendations in this notice and the 
concepts in the industry's circular to such materials. FRA will be 
monitoring hazardous materials movements to ensure that those who offer 
for transportation and transport such chemicals in commerce work 
together to minimize the safety risks associated with the movement of 
time-sensitive materials.
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    \6\ 49 CFR 173.22.
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    FRA's investigation into the styrene incident in Cincinnati is not 
yet complete, but the fact that a car of time-sensitive material, 
carrying an inhibitor, was apparently allowed to languish on the same 
railroad for seven months is not acceptable. Enhanced efforts by the 
chemical producers, users, and carriers to monitor their shipments 
appropriately will further reduce the already low likelihood of a 
similar occurrence happening again.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 29, 2005.
Daniel C. Smith,
Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-20097 Filed 10-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P