{"id":1071,"date":"2020-01-14T13:43:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T18:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.seagrant.w3.uvm.edu\/2020\/01\/14\/recent-developments-in-crude-oil-by-rail-shipments-along-lake-champlain\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T17:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:49:23","slug":"recent-developments-in-crude-oil-by-rail-shipments-along-lake-champlain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/seagrant\/2020\/01\/14\/recent-developments-in-crude-oil-by-rail-shipments-along-lake-champlain\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Developments in Crude Oil by Rail Shipments Along Lake Champlain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn 2014, New York Governor Cuomo directed state agencies to conduct a coordinated review of New York State\u2019s crude oil incident prevention and response capacity. The review was in response to a dramatic increase in crude oil transport by rail throughout the United States.\u00a0Significant volumes of domestic crude oil derived from shale oil formations are recovered primarily through hydraulic fracturing (\u201cfracking\u201d). In the U.S., major organic-rich oil-bearing shale formations include the Bakken and Niobrara shales in the eastern plains of the Rocky Mountains region and the Eagle Ford shale in Texas.<\/a>\u00a0Bakken \u201cshale oil\u201d from North Dakota, in particular, garnered numerous headlines from about 2004 to 2014 as a result of rapid growth in the development, production, and transport of this material. The New York State review reported that in just one year (2011-2012), the volume [total U.S. crude oil] transported by rail rose 423 percent from 6.5 million to 34.2 million barrels.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn New York State, two major rail lines transport crude oil across some 21 counties and converge in Albany. A February 28, 2014 New York Times<\/em> article reported that these two lines were estimated to carry 20 to 25 percent of all Bakken rail export in 2014. CSX operates a rail line that runs across central New York to Albany\u00a0and south along the western shore of the Hudson River toward New Jersey and Pennsylvania refineries. CP Rail transits the length of Lake Champlain\u2019s western shoreline, bringing crude oil from Montreal to Albany. Both CSX and CP rail have employed unit trains (e.g., 100 tank cars with 30,000 gallons\/car) along these routes. A Plattsburgh Press-Republican<\/em> article reported that emergency services staff in Essex County, New York\u00a0estimated that about 25 unit oil trains per week traveled through Essex County\u00a0along the Lake Champlain shoreline in early 2015.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough records of the volume of crude oil transported by rail at the state level are difficult to obtain, anecdotal information suggests that rail traffic along the New York shoreline of Lake Champlain has markedly declined since 2015. A decline in crude oil transport along Lake Champlain despite continued increases in U.S. crude oil production seems puzzling (Figure 1). What would explain this trend? Information from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) offers several clues.<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Graph<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to AAR, \u201cgrowth in pipeline capacity, a narrowing in the [price] spread between domestic and imported oil, and other factors has led to a sharp decline in rail shipments of crude oil. After peaking in 2014, originated carloads of crude oil on U.S. Class I railroads fell to 128,967 in 2017, 74 percent lower than in 2014.\u201d\u00a0Regional trends in crude oil shipments from the Midwest\u00a0to the East Coast are equally dramatic and noteworthy, since this is the scenario by which Bakken crude oil is delivered through New York (including the Champlain corridor) to east coast refineries (Figure 2).<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Graph<\/p>\n

\n\tSimilarly, shipments of Canadian crude oil to the U.S. east coast region rose steadily from 2012 peaking at just over three million barrels in late 2014.\u00a0Shipments declined to nearly zero in 2016\u00a0but have since increased to about two million barrels in late 2019.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tSo what has been the fate of the \u201cmissing\u201d oil? A logical guess is that pipeline shipments from the Midwest to Gulf Coast regions have largely replaced rail-based shipments of North Dakota-Bakken Formation crude oil transiting central and eastern New York State (Figure 3). It is likely that much of the oil volume is now carried by the Dakota access pipeline, which was designed to move Bakken sourced crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois, and in turn to Nederland Terminal in Texas via the Energy Transfer Crude Oil pipeline.\u00a0Dakota Access became commercially operational on June 1, 2017, and carries in excess of 470,000 barrels per day of crude oil.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\"Graph<\/p>\n

\n\tRegardless of recent patterns of crude oil movement adjacent to Lake Champlain, managers and safety officials are very much cognizant of the environmental impact of a potential derailment and tank car spill in the Champlain basin. While crude oil spills in freshwater environments are rare, serious impairments to aquatic organisms and habitats would inevitably occur with resulting mortality, fish deformities, and lower growth rates in animals. To that end, Region 1 EPA staff organized a Lake Champlain Joint Response Exercise event,\u00a0September 10 and 11, 2019 in Port Henry, New York. The event was hosted by CP Rail, Essex County Office of Emergency Services (OES), and other personnel\/volunteers with hazardous materials responsibilities. Additional partners included: US Coast Guard (Sector Northern New England and Station Burlington), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, Clinton County OES, Washington County OES, and others. The objectives of the event were to:<\/p>\n