1. Crude Oil Transportation
Hudson River Issues Update
Sean Dixon
Staff Attorney
May, 2015

2. ABOUT RIVERKEEPER
Mission
Protect the environmental,
recreational and commercial
integrity of the Hudson River
and its tributaries.
Safeguard the drinking water of
nine million New York City and
Hudson Valley residents.
Enforce the Clean Water Act.

3. CRUDE OIL: AN UNREFINED PROBLEM
Tar Sands/Heavy Crude
Photo: Ben Garvin
Shale Oil

4. STATE OF ENERGY
Changes
 Higher Domestic Production
 Transportation Bottlenecks
 Aging Infrastructure
Effects
 Train Derailments
 Barge Collisions
 Oil Spills, Explosions, Lives Lost

5. EIA

7. New York Times

8. CSX

9. New York Times

10. New York Times

11. New York State, 2014

12. New York State, 2014

13. 2-4x Daily
3M Gallons
Weekly
8.4M Gallons
Daily
4M Gallons

14. 10
Million
Gallons
Daily

15. 6.3 Billion
Gallons
Yearly

16. Lac-Megantic, Quebec, July 2013. Train Derailment and Explosion of
Bakken Crude Oil; 47 people killed, downtown buildings leveled.
Photo: Sûreté du Québec

17. Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaLynchburg, Virginia
Aliceville, Alabama Casselton, North Dakota

18. Galena, IL (March) Mt. Carbon, WV (February)
Timmins, Ontario (February) Gogama, Ontario (March)

19. CRUDE BY RAIL: CONCERNS
TransitLoading
 Labeling
 Classification
 Stabilization
 Tank Car Design
(common carrier)
 Small Spills
 Cumulative Issues
(production,
gathering)
Off-Loading

20. CRUDE BY RAIL: CONCERNS
Transit
 Speed Limits
 Routes (habitat,
cities, water)
 Derailments
 Notification
 Response Assets
 Response Access
 Infrastructure
Loading
 Labeling
 Classification
 Stabilization
 Tank Car Design
(common carrier)
 Small Spills
 Cumulative Issues
(production,
gathering)
Off-Loading

21. CRUDE BY RAIL: CONCERNS
Transit
 Speed Limits
 Routes (habitat,
cities, water)
 Derailments
 Notification
 Response Assets
 Response Access
 Infrastructure
Loading
 Labeling
 Classification
 Stabilization
 Tank Car Design
(common carrier)
 Small Spills
 Cumulative Issues
(production,
gathering)
Off-Loading
 Air Quality
 Oil Spills
 Throughput Fees
 Cumulative Issues
(refineries, ports)
 Security Risks
 Community
Access (idle trains)

23. CRUDE BY RAIL – FEDERAL ACTION
May 2015 PHMSA Regulations
 Tank Car Design & Phase-Outs
 Routing/Notification
 Speed Limits
Other Rulemakings & Orders
 Securement
 Response Planning
 Crew Size
 Thermal Insulation Emergency Order

24. TAKE ACTION!
What Riverkeeper is Doing:
 Petition for Review (PHMSA Regulations)
 Administrative Appeals (Notification)
 Federal Rule Petitions
 Nationwide Coalition-Building
What You Can Do:
 Call Your Elected Officials
 Call Your Local First Responders
 Develop Your Own Emergency Plan

25. Thanks!
SDixon@Riverkeeper.org
www.riverkeeper.org/crude

26. Update on Crude Oil Transport
in the Hudson Valley
Kate Hudson
Director, Cross Watershed Initiatives
May, 2015

27. Crude Oil on the move down the Hudson River
Valley
1. What are the risks?
2. Are we ready?
3. Proposed crude oil pipeline – a new risk
4. What we are advocating for
5. State budget and legislative actions
6. What you have done! And what can still be done!

28. Between 2011 and 2012, NYS DEC permitted transfer of 2.8 billion gallons of
crude in the Port of Albany and declared further expansion of Global Albany
terminal would have “no significant environmental impact.”
1. After receiving 19,000 comments on its “Negative Declaration, on
May 21, 2015, DEC issued a Notice of Intent to Rescind that
Determination to Global.
2. DEC’s notice is based on project changes, new information and
changes in circumstances not previously considered which have
the potential “to have significant adverse impacts on the
environment [that] must be fully analyzed.”
Past and Present NYS Actions re Crude Oil Permitting
in the Port of Albany

29. What Happens Next?
1. Global has 10 days to respond to the Notice with its
objections.
2. SEQRA law requires that, after hearing from Global,
DEC’s determination is the same, it must prepare, file
and publish a positive declaration and require the
preparation of a environmental impact statement for
proposed Global Albany terminal expansion.
3. We must continue to advocate for a full environmental
impact review that evaluates the direct, indirect and
cumulative impacts of the entire project.
4. If and when DEC issues a positive declaration we must
demand and participate in the public scoping process
that will determine the contents and scope of the DEIS
that Global is required to prepare.

30. •The first tanker laden with Bakken Crude – carrying as much oil as the Exxon
Valdez - runs aground 6 miles south of Albany in Dec. 2012.
•Derailments in West Nyack, Cheektowaga, Town of Ulster, Selkirk and Albany (Kenwood), all five
since December 2013.
•Dozens of rail and tank car safety violations identified in joint state-federal “inspection
blitzes” in 2014 -2015 in Albany and Buffalo.
Warning Signs on the NYS Virtual Pipeline
Gash in the hull of the Stena Primorsk after grounding.

31. Crumbling Infrastructure
“Many train bridges across the
region are deteriorating, including
two in Cornwall where the concrete
foundation has eroded, vertical
cracks have emerged, rebar has
become exposed, and bolts have
become loose or have fallen off
altogether.”
Senator Charles Schumer

32. Bridge Inspection
• 2013 Comptroller Audit
• 2651 bridges with no last
inspection date
• 3000 bridges w/ no
inventory or up-to-date
reviewed management
plans

33. “We aren’t tasked to inspect bridges … only to audit the
railroads’ bridge inspection plans.”
Federal Railroad Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg
“CSX, which owns the bridges, is left mostly to police itself.
… CSX filed a one-sentence letter to the state and feds
stating that all their bridges have been inspected and
determined to be safe.”
Jim Hoffer, Emmy-Winning ABC 7 Reporter
Watch: http://7online.com/447890/

34. Communities At Risk
Ulster County
Saugerties, Highland
Kingston, Port Ewen
Esopus, Marlborough
Dutchess County
Rhinebeck, Hyde Park
Poughkeepsie, Fishkill
Tivoli, Beacon
Crude oil trains hug the western shoreline for many miles, including near drinking water intakes for the City
of Poughkeepsie and the Town of Lloyd.

35. Drinking Water at Risk
100,000+ people rely on Hudson River drinking water
• Poughkeepsie – 75,000
(city, town and other neighboring towns)
• Hyde Park – 12,288
(including Harbourd Hills and Staatsburg water
districts)
• Rhinebeck – 5,300
• Highland – 5,000
• Port Ewen – 4,500
Major industries also at risk – IBM, power plants, etc.

36. Are we ready?
Hudson River Spill Response
 Success of spill response is
affected by conditions of the
water and type of oil spilled:
Bakken crude floats, tar sands
crude sinks.
 The Hudson River is turbid and
subject to strong tides, currents
and winter ice, making recovery
very difficult if not impossible.
James Riverkeeper

37. Response is NOT Oil Recovery
• A spill of Bakken crude oil
in water. A successful spill
response in the Hudson
might recover 20-25% of
the oil.
• A spill of tar sands crude
oil in water. A successful
spill response might
recover just 5% of the oil.

38. Local Emergency Response
New Challenges – No Funding – Major Disasters
“The large-scale shipments of crude oil by rail simply didn't exist 10
years ago, and our safety regulations need to catch up with this
new reality. Most communities across the nation are not prepared
to handle oil train derailments such as the one in Lac Megantic.”
- National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman
 Railroad companies have a responsibility to respond to accidents.
Federal law says they must have a basic emergency response plan,
but that plan is up to the railroad.
 If a ship or barge hauls oil, the company needs a detailed spill
response that meets federal standards, but there are no standards
for the railroad's emergency plans.

39. Rail Towns Preparing for “What if”
When a rail incident happens, local responders are first to arrive
 How many local fire departments and how many are situated along
railroad tracks? Who would respond? What is CSX spill response plan for
a rail car incident involving Bakken crude?
 Do the first responders have the manpower, the equipment and training
to monitor and respond to toxic spills and accidents involving Bakken or
Tar Sands crude? Is there an updated spill response plan and how is it
coordinated across local first responder agencies?
 How large is the area to be evacuated? Where should people go? Should
some residents close to the derailment be told to stay in their homes
because it's too dangerous to leave?
 How soon will CSX respond to an incident and when will a hazmat team
arrive ? Are local firefighters encouraged but not required to take training
for crude oil spill response?

40. Proposed
Pilgrim
Pipeline:
An Added Risk

41. Spill Risks of Pipelines
• Pipeline spills are inevitable (Pick your Poison for Crude -
Pipeline, Rail, Truck or Boat Forbes, April 2014).
• Pipeline spills release much larger amounts of oil than
spills from any other mode of transport. From 2004 to
2012, pipelines spilled three times the oil that oil trains did
over the same period (PHMSA).
• The 10 year average (2004-2013) is 631 pipeline incidents
per year with 97,263 barrels (over 4 million gallons) per
year spilled resulting in $494 million per year in property
damage (PHMSA).

42. Construction Impacts
Construction across key waterbodies including important
tributaries to the Hudson River (Esopus, Rondout,
Sawkill and Plattekill Creeks and the Wallkill River)
• Disturbance of federal and potentially state wetlands
• Stormwater impacts due to vegetation removal
• Potential impairment of sensitive aquifers on which
residents depend for drinking water
• Crossing of Delaware and Catskill aqueducts that
supply drinking water to more than 9 million New
Yorkers
• Disturbance of critical wildlife habitat
• Negative impacts to property values

43. Pilgrim Pipeline Siting and
Permitting Process
• No federal agency with overarching authority to oversee
siting process for oil pipelines. No role for the public
until state and federal permit applications are filed by the
applicant.
• Access to Thruway ROW requires NY Thruway and
DOT approval. Permitting restrictions and difficult
approval process.
Other Permits Required
• DEC wetlands, 401 Certification
• Army Corps 404 – dredging, stream crossing, wetland
disturbance
• CZMA Coastal Consistency – (Army Corps, DOS)
• Need for full EIS under NEPA/SEQRA in all permitting
proceedings and ESA consultation for Federal permits.

44. Riverkeeper Recommendations for State Action on
Spill Response and Preparedness
 Raise Spill Fund Cap to present value of $25 million in 1977
when the spill fund was created ($97 million).
 Spill Fund should be authorized to recover money for spill
remediation up to federal maximum liability levels.
 All persons responsible for transport must maintain evidence
of financial capability to pay for worst-case scenario spill.
 New preparedness funding should be in separate account so it
does not drain the response and remediation fund.
 Responsibility for the State Spill fund should not be moved
from the fiduciary control of the State Comptroller to DEC.

45. 2015 Executive Budget:
Proposals and actions taken
 Raise spill fund cap from $25 million (set when the fund
was created in the 1970s) to $40 million.
 Make monies from the state spill response fund available
to local first responders with no cap.
 Move responsibility for maintaining the State Spill
Response Fund from the Comptroller’s Office to DEC.
Actions Taken: Legislature adopts a 2015 budget that
increases the Spill Fund Cap to $40 million, creates a
separate fund with annual allocations to support local
spill preparedness, and increases fees on some crude
rail transport that is handled in NYS.

46. NYS Legislative Action in 2015 –
is it enough?
• The spill fund cap is still too low.
• Fees are still not being charged on oil
that is “just passing through.”
• Legislation has been introduced to
require financial assurance from crude
oil handlers.
• Legislation is being considered that
would require information-sharing on
crude oil transport within NYS.

47. NYS Assembly Bill No. A7625
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the navigation law, in
relation to financial responsibility for the liability of a
major facility or vessel
PURPOSE OF BILL: To require the owner or operator of
a major facility or a vessel to establish and maintain with
the department evidence of financial responsibility
sufficient to meet the
amount of liability.
Bill search at http://assembly.state.ny.us

48. Riverkeeper Recommendations for Update of
Federal spill response plans
 Update worst-case scenario spill to include heavy crude
oil that sinks, affecting drinking water supplies and
deepwater habitats.
 Regional Plan and Individual Vessel Plans must address
unique risks of Bakken and tar sands/sinking oil shipping.
 Develop spill response plan based on most recent science
concerning the distribution and sensitivity of natural
resources.
 Set benchmarks for oil spill recovery, not just spill
response. Plan should set a minimum recovery standard –
just “showing up” isn’t good enough for the Hudson .

49. Riverkeeper Recommendations for
Update of Federal spill response plans
 Must require deployment of response equipment
upriver, not just in NY Harbor.
 Pre-deploy booms near sensitive ecological
resources.
 Prohibit use of dispersants in Hudson Estuary.
 Require more realistic spill drills.

50. What you have done!
New York State issues notice to rescind Global’s
heavy crude heating no impact determination
What you can do
Press DEC to:
1. Rescind “negative declaration” previously issued by DEC and require
full environmental review for proposed Global Albany terminal
expansion.
2. Require the preparation of a full environmental impact review that
evaluates the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of the entire
project, rather than separate reviews of parts of the action.
3. Revoke permits already granted to Global to expand its crude oil
terminal operations without full environmental review mandated by
SEQRA.

51. What you have done!
Local Government Resolutions
 Albany
 Putnam County
 Cold Spring
 Rockland
 Orange
 Orange County Assoc.
 Philipstown
 Ulster
 Newburgh
 Hyde Park
 Cornwall

52. What You Can Continue to Do:
Take Action On Crude Oil Transport
Call for New York State Action
 Request full environmental review of proposed Global
Partners oil terminal in Albany, specifying risks of heavy
crude to the Hudson River and Ulster County’s shoreline.
 Urge DEC to re-open existing permits that allowed for
Port of Albany crude oil throughput to increase from zero
to 2.8 billion in two years.
 Request “inspection blitz” on Hudson Valley rail lines.
 Request information from NYS DOT and/or
Comptroller about railroad bridges in Hudson Valley
Counties, given Comptroller’s 2013 Report findings of
problems with inspection program.

53. Actions We Can Take on Pilgrim Pipeline
 Write to the NYS Thruway Authority and NY
Department of Transportation and urge them to deny
Pilgrim the ability to use the Thruway right of way for their
pipeline.
 Write to the NYS Department of Environmental
Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers and
urge them to require a full environmental review of
Pilgrim’s proposal.
 Work in your community to introduce and pass County
and local resolutions opposing Pilgrim Pipeline.
 Urge your state and federal elected representatives to
join you in pressing regulators not to authorize the
Pipeline.

54. Help Spread the Word!
 Take action at riverkeeper.org/crude to:
 Write to your state and federal elected representatives
asking them to join you in pressuring regulators to
take immediate action.
 Write letters to the editor expressing your concerns
about the risks and lack of adequate government
response.
 Use social media to spread the word about the crude
oil transport threat to your community, the Hudson
River and the Hudson Valley using the hashtags
#NotOnMyWatch or #NoCrudeOnHudson.

55. Thank You!
www.riverkeeper.org/crude atlantic2.sierraclub.org