PHMSA Publishes New Hazmat Railcar Safety Advisory

Today, DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a “Safety Advisory Notice for Tank Cars Equipped with Aluminum Manway Protective Housing”. PHMSA is recommending that “all hazmat tank car owners and offerors to survey their fleets for any tank cars currently equipped with aluminum protective housing and consider replacing this equipment with carbon steel housings, which we understand to be current industry practice.”

This advisory is being issued due to a report published today by the National Transportation Safety Board about their ongoing investigation of the East Palestine, Ohio derailment last month. That report notes that:

“The five derailed railcars carrying vinyl chloride were DOT-105J300W tank cars. Based on damage assessment inspections of these tank cars, the NTSB is concerned that aluminum protective housing covers on some tank cars melted or were consumed when pressure relief devices (PRDs) vented burning gas while functioning as designed to relieve tank pressure. Preliminary examination suggests that melted aluminum may have dripped into some PRDs, possibly degrading their performance.”