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 The long-awaited study, released on Friday, focused on the
environmental impact of TransCanada's $5.4 billion pipeline, but
also spent several pages analyzing the potential human impact of
various ways to transport oil, using historical injury and fatality
statistics for railways and oil pipelines.
Although it excluded the runaway oil train derailment that killed 47
people in Lac Megantic, Quebec, last summer, the tragedy that first
shone a critical light on the rapidly expanding trend in shipping
crude by rail, the findings highlight the risks or railway transport
versus pipes.
Shipping another 830,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude "would
result in an estimated 49 additional injuries and six additional
fatalities for the No Action rail scenarios compared to one
additional injury and no fatalities" per year if Keystone XL is
built, according to the report.
Keystone XL would carry 830,000 bpd from Alberta's oil sands U.S.
refiners, but has been awaiting a presidential permit for more than
five years. The "No Action" options refer to the likely alternative
outcomes if Obama rejects the permit or the project is not built for
some other reason.
The report also showed that carrying crude by rail, instead of by
pipeline, was likely to result in a higher number of oil spills and
a larger amount of leakage over time.
If Keystone XL is built as planned, according to the study, it would
likely spill an average of just over 500 barrels per year, with a
leak occurring once every two years. Under the most optimistic
scenario involving rail, however, nearly 300 spills would occur per
year, with over 1,200 barrels released in total, according to
estimates provided in the report.
LITTLE DIFFERENCE
The State Department study made no specific recommendation, but in
broad terms suggested that Keystone was unlikely to have much impact
on climate change, as oil trains would be used instead to carry
growing Canadian production to market.
That finding cheered proponents, who said it left Obama with few
reasons not to approve the pipeline, and frustrated
environmentalists who argue that rejecting it would help stymie
energy-intensive oil sands production and processing.
The State Department's estimate on the potential human toll of
relying more heavily on oil-trains may not only add to calls for
Obama to grant the Keystone permit, but may also play into the
lobbying battle between the rail and pipeline industries, both of
which argue they are safe and environmentally sound.
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Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State in charge of
environmental affairs, told reporters on a conference call on Friday
that the study examined the environmental and safety impacts of
shipping oil by rail rather than pipeline, but declined to elaborate
on the findings.
"I would refer you to the document because it depends on a number of
things," she said. "What the document does is lay out all of the
different variables. It doesn't really step forward and say which
way to go. It's presented as information for the decision-maker in
the next step."
A State Department official reached on Sunday also declined comment.
Obama is not expected to make a final decision before the summer.
The fatality and injury estimates were based on data from both the
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous
Material Safety Administration, the report said.
However, since crude oil transport was relatively rare until
recently, the analysis was expanded in both cases to include data
covering all types of material carried by Class I railways, as well
as all pipeline incidents that involve liquid petroleum products,
which includes refined fuels.
It showed that 16,946 injuries and 2,228 fatalities were reported
for all materials transported by Class I railroads between 2002 and
2012, with a large share involving trespassers on rail lines. It
also said the data showed that incidents fell sharply in 2004 and
had continued to decline.
The report found that 46 injuries and 19 fatalities were reported
for all hazardous liquids transported by pipeline.
(Reporting by Jonathan Leff and Roberta Rampton in Washington;
editing by Joseph Radford)
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