Leading chemical corporations like Occidental Chemical Corp (OxyChem), The Dow Chemical Co., US Magnesium LLC and Bayer MaterialScience on Wednesday announced plans to replace their entire U.S. and Canadian chlorine tank car fleets by the end of 2017 with new rail tank cars containing more safety and security features.
The corporations have also formed a Chlorine Rail Tank Car Development Coordination Panel. The panel seeks to accelerate the chlorine industry’s development of better tank car designs that can be used across the chemical industry in cooperation with the U.S. Dept of Transportation and Transport Canada.
Those on the panel believe that the responsibility for improving chlorine transportation safety and security is shared between shippers, railroads and the government. The panel also feels that the improvements must go past rail tank car design to also include other factors like train operations, human factors, routing and track conditions.
Chlorine, which is usually transported by rail for safety, is known for being a disinfectant for drinking water, but it also involved in the manufacturing of 93 percent of all pharmaceuticals, several life-saving medical devices, almost all crop protection chemicals, as well as the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
The project is part of a bigger set of initiatives to push enhanced rail safety and security that also includes efforts to address operational safety, material sourcing and routing, implementation of advanced tracking technologies and emergency preparedness.