1. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ASSISTANCE PLANS CLASS 3 FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS
(ERAP)
For
CLASS 3 FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS
Fire Chief Chris Powers (Ret.)
Brian Ladds – HazMat Coordinator – Calgary Fire
CAFC TDG Committee

2. Lac-Megantic Derailment

3. Lac Megantic
July 6th, 2013 a 73-car Montreal, Maine & Atlantic train carrying Bakken crude oil rolled away from where it had been parked and derailed in downtown Lac-Mégantic
The train may have been moving at up to 100 kilometres per hour.
At 01:15 hours in the morning, 63 of the 72 tank cars derailed and caught fire immediately.

4. TSB Website photo

5. TSB Website photo

7. Fire from sewer manhole

8. Mutual Aid

9. Mutual Aid drafting water from Lac Megantic – note U. S
Mutual Aid drafting water from Lac Megantic – note U.S. flag on first pumper

10. Waterfront park destruction

12. Historic building destroued

13. Neighborhood leveled.

15. Foam application from aerial

16. Foam tanker supplying Magog Fire dept aerial

17. Foam tanker supplying Magog Fire dept aerial

18. Foam tank for drafting – note eductor tube connection to pump panel.

19. TSB Website photo. - foam and cooling water

20. Canadian Pacific Railway Foam trailer

22. Oil in sewer manhole

23. Tank Car punctured by rail

24. Overturned Tank Cars

26. Lac Megantic Before – view from south
Lac Megantic Before – view from south. Railway station and yard on right middle

27. Extent of fire from rail yard down to lake at bottom right.

28. Police and Firefighters search for human remains

29. Mutual Aid
Mutual Aid Fire Depts. from Franklin County in the State of Maine included - Strong, East Dixfield, Chesterville, Farmington, Phillips, Rangeley, New Vineyard and Eustis. Most of these departments are over 150 km from Lac Megantic.
Dozens of Quebec Fire Services responded over a number of days for fire control and to search for victims.

30. Volume of Crude (estimates by Quebec Ministry of Environment)
7,600,000 liters of crude oil on train
5,978,000 liters spilled or burned
100,000 liters spilled into Chaudiere River
41,600,000 liters of oily water removed in and around Lac Megantic up to Oct. 21st.

31. Firefighting Foam Foam used or made available:
36,370-Litres (8,000 gal.) from Valero Company, (Ultramar Refinery – Levis, Que.)
2 Valero employees came to make recommendation on how use the foam and the supply foam inductor and nozzle
27,300-Litres (6000 gal.) from Irving,
4,500-Litres (1000 gal.) from CPR.

32. Factors and Issues from Lac-Megantic
Largest and most destructive dangerous goods incident in Canada – 47 lives lost and hundreds of millions of dollars in property and environmental damage
Crude oil was not expected be explosive and create such intense fire – Bakken crude is different and very dangerous
Public and government demand action to improve safety and response to these incidents.

33. Dangers of Bakken Crude
Some crude oils, (particularly the Bakken crude) are a very light volatile type of crude that acts more like refined products such as gasoline when involved in fire and has a low viscosity.
It also contains a variety of other chemicals such as benzene and hydrogen sulfide, creating additional dangers to first responders.

34. TSB - Some Shipments Mislabelled
The TSB has stated:
“In analysing product samples from the 9 intact tank cars from the Lac-Mégantic accident, the TSB identified the product as having the characteristics of a Dangerous Good of Class 3, PG II product. However, the product was offered for transport, packaged, and transported as a Class 3, PG III product, which represented it as a lower hazard, less volatile flammable liquid.”
Transportation Safety Board News Release, September 11, 2014

35. Bakken Crude Derailments and Fires
July 6th, Lac Megantic
November 2013 in Pickens County Alabama
December 30th 2013 near Casselton, N.D
January 7th, 2014 near Plaster Rock N.B.

36. Federal Government Actions
July 23, 2013, Transport Canada announced an Emergency Directive pursuant to section 33 of the Railway Safety Act requiring all railway operators to:
Ensure the directional controls, commonly known as reversers, are removed from any unattended locomotives, preventing them from moving forward or backward on a main track or sidings;

37. Transport Canada Emergency Directive Pursuant to Section 33 of the Railway Safety Act
Ensure that their company’s special instructions on hand brakes are applied to any locomotive attached to one or more cars that is left unattended for more than one hour on a main track or sidings; and
Ensure that,…, the automatic brake is set in full service position and the independent brake is fully applied for any locomotive attached to one or more cars that are left unattended for one hour or less on a main track or sidings.

38. TDG Protective Direction 31
Protective Direction No. 31 requires any person who imports or offers crude oil for transport to immediately classify the crude oil if it has not been done since July 7, Once testing is complete, they must send the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) to the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre (CANUTEC)
Until the testing is completed, crude oil should be transported as a Packing Group I as set out in the Transportation Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations.

39. TDG Protective Direction 32
1) Any Canadian Class 1 railway company that transports dangerous goods must provide the designated Emergency Planning Official of each municipality through which dangerous goods are transported by rail, with yearly aggregate information on the nature and volume of dangerous goods the company transports by railway vehicle through the municipality, presented by quarter;

40. TDG Protective Direction 32
2) Any person who transports dangerous goods by railway vehicle, who is not a Canadian Class 1 railway company, must provide the designated Emergency Planning Official of each municipality through which dangerous goods are transported by railway vehicle with:
a) yearly aggregate information on the nature and volume of dangerous goods the person transports by railway vehicle through the municipality; and
b) any significant change to the information provided in (a) as soon as practicable after the change occurs

41. Transportation of Dangerous Goods General Policy Advisory Council
At the TDG General Policy Advisory Council (GPAC) on Nov. 21st. Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt identified the concerns of the federal government with respect to the urgent need to make improvements to help ensure safe transportation of dangerous goods.

42. GPAC Working Groups Established
Three (3) Working Groups were established at the meeting and designated as:
Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP) Working Group
Classification Working Group
Means of Containment Working Group

43. Background on ERAP’s
Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP) can be traced back to recommendations made by Justice Grange following the enquiry into the 1979 Mississauga train derailment.
The Grange Commission Report recommended that any shipper of dangerous goods be required to have a Transport Canada approved emergency response plan to control releases of dangerous goods in the event of an accident.

44. What is in an ERAP?
An ERAP describes what is to be done in the event of a transportation accident involving certain higher risk dangerous goods.
The ERAP is required by Part 7 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR) for dangerous goods that require special expertise and response equipment to respond to an incident.

45. Components of an ERAP
The plan is intended to assist local emergency responders by providing them with technical experts and specially trained and equipped emergency response personnel at the scene of an incident. 
The plan will also address emergency preparedness, including personnel training, response exercises and equipment maintenance
The ERAP plans must be integrated with other organizations to help mitigate the consequences of an accident. This is accomplished by working within an Incident Command System or ICS.

46. What Class 3 Flammable Liquids should require an ERAP ?
The Packing Group (PG) is assigned based on the degree of danger presented by the hazardous material:
PG I: Great Danger
PG II: Medium Danger
PG III: Minor Danger

47. TDGR  Packing Groups
(1)  Flammable liquids included in Class 3, Flammable Liquids, are included in one of the following packing groups:
(a)  Packing Group I, if they have an initial boiling point of 35°C or less at an absolute pressure of kPa and any flash point;
(b)  Packing Group II, if they have an initial boiling point greater than 35°C at an absolute pressure of kPa and a flash point less than 23°C; or
(c)  Packing Group III, if the criteria for inclusion in Packing Group I or II are not met.
Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations - Part 2 – Classification - Class 3 Flammable Liquids. Section 2.18 and 2.19.
Note – the slide is a summary. There are some exceptions and clarifications also provided in Section 2.19

48. FIREFIGHTING CHALLENGES FOR FLAMMABLE LIQUID FIRES (CLASS B FIRES)
Most municipal fire services are trained and equipped to fight structural fires involving primarily ordinary combustible materials (Class A Fires)
Large flammable liquid fires (Class B fires) resulting from transportation incidents are very difficult or impossible for municipal fire services to extinguish.
In many cases fire control is only achieved
after the majority of product has burned off.

49. Resources for Class B Fires
The resources (sufficient quantities of the correct foam concentrate, foam pumps or eductors, foam aerating nozzles etc.) and the specialized training are not found in most municipal fire departments.
In the Lac-Mégantic accident, emergency responders assessed the situation and estimated that approximately 33 000 litres of foam concentrate would be required to allow a continuous uninterrupted production of foam to be applied to the fire.
Second point from TSB report on Jan 23rd. 2013

50. Ethanol
In 2013, Canada produced 1.8 billion litres of ethanol of which most was transported by truck.
Over 1 billion litres of ethanol is imported to Canada each year primarily by rail.
Unit trains transport U.S. ethanol from the U.S. Midwest to U.S. east coast in large quantities (bridge traffic)
Another Class 3 Flammable Liquid that is transported in large volumes by rail is ethanol. Ethanol (UN 1170) is a polar solvent (water – miscible) produced primarily from corn and wheat for use as a renewable fuel. Ethanol (UN 1170) is commonly added to Gasoline (UN 1203) in proportions of 10%. In some instances ethanol is added to gasoline at higher percentages and in those cases gasoline is classified as (UN 3475). That classification indicates to first responders that fires involving that product require the use of an alcohol resistant foam to extinguish the fire.

51. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that ERAPs be required for all Packing Group I and Packing Group II Class 3 Flammable Liquids in accordance with TDG Regulations Part 7. Furthermore, it is recommended that Transport Canada conduct further study on the properties of different Class 3 Flammable Liquids to determine if ERAPs should be required for these products.

52. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the volume of product shipped in a single (loaded) tank car as the standard for requiring an ERAP for Class 3 flammable liquids being transported by rail.

53. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that a co-operative approach be used for the Flammable Liquids ERAP that would permit new ERAP’s to be developed with response capacity coming from or managed by a single entity as the most cost effective and efficient way to comply with the regulations.

54. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that data be collected on the following:
Volumes, classifications and transportation corridors for dangerous goods as per Protective Direction 32
Identify communities at risk along dangerous goods transportation corridors
Identify existing flammable liquids firefighting resources by geographic area
Identify gaps that exist and additional resources required.

55. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that an ERAP WORKING GROUP on FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS continue to work on all aspects that are required to implement a national flammable liquids emergency response capacity and that Transport Canada provide funding to support the work of those non-profit associations on this ERAP WORKING GROUP.

56. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that Transport Canada, Transportation of Dangerous Goods Directorate, be provided with sufficient resources to ensure the ERAP program can efficiently and effectively review, approve, inspect and monitor all ERAP programs

57. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
The services provided by CANUTEC are absolutely critical to maintaining an effective Canada-wide dangerous goods response system. The ERAP WORKING GROUP strongly urges the Federal Government to invest in a more robust CANUTEC service.

58. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that improved awareness by first responders of the existence of an ERAP for a shipment of dangerous good be considered as an important component of the information sharing and be included in dangerous goods training programs.

59. ERAP WG RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that ERAP regulations be revised to clarify who has the authority to activate an ERAP and that first responders be authorized to request CANUTEC to activate an ERAP if it is not done by the carrier in a timely manner.

60. ERAP WG Report
The complete ERAP WG Report is available on the Transport Canada website at:

61. What CAFC is doing
CAFC has representation and is actively involved with Transport Canada, Transportation of Dangerous Goods Advisory Council
Is leading the Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP) Working Group
Report / recommendations submitted to Minister of Transport at the end of January 2014.
Is working directly with other stakeholders to find workable solutions and best practices to mitigate incidents.

62. Thank You! Questions ?