Dozens of tanker cars similar to the model used for the train that crashed in Lac-Megantic, Que., are parked on Monday, July 16, on the train's line near Farnham, Que.Les Perreaux/The Globe and Mail
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The crude oil that exploded in Lac-Mégantic earlier this year was classified in at least four different ways by suppliers who drew it from wells in North Dakota, the Transportation Safety Board revealed Wednesday, raising questions about U.S. and Canadian enforcement of longstanding transportation rules.
The Transportation Safety Board called for U.S. and Canadian regulators to review the adequacy of the rules on classification on Wednesday, saying the oil that was eventually put on the train was misidentified as a more stable class of flammable liquid than it should have been.
A closer look at the TSB's statement shows that the crude was classified and re-classified by a range of different players from the suppliers who pumped it out of the ground, to the shippers that trucked it to a loading facility and the company responsible for loading it onto a waiting train.
An investigator from the TSB traveled to North Dakota this summer to learn more about common practices for classifying crude in the region. The investigator visited suppliers in New Town, the loading centre used for the train that later crashed in Lac-Mégantic, setting off a series of devastating explosions that killed dozens and levelled several blocks of the downtown core.
The TSB examined 10 material safety data sheets (MSDS) from different suppliers in the area. While all of the sheets indicated that the crude was a dangerous flammable liquid, suppliers used a range of different classifications to indicate how explosive it was – even after the incident in Lac-Mégantic had occurred.
U.S. regulators say they have already started spot checks on trains coming out of the Bakken area, which covers parts of North Dakota and Saskatchewan, to see how the products are classified, but it is not clear if they are checking on suppliers who are extracting the oil in the first place.
Flammable liquids can be classified according to packing group 1, 2 or 3, with a 1 indicating that a material is highly volatile and a 3 indicating the material is significantly less volatile. The crude carried by the train that crashed in Lac-Mégantic should have been classified as packing group 2, the TSB said.
When the TSB investigator visited New Town, they found that at least four of the suppliers' MSDS documents classified the crude as packing group 1, meaning it was the most volatile of hazardous materials. Others labelled it as packing group 2 or 3, and at least two indicated that it was necessary to determine the flash point before indicating which packing group should be used.
Despite the differences in classifications used by suppliers, all of the companies responsible for trucking crude from the wells to a loading station in New Town got the packing group right, according to the TSB, and identified the crude as packing group 2. But when it was loaded onto the train that eventually crashed in Lac-Mégantic, it was classified as the less volatile packing group 3.
The TSB said Wednesday that it could not yet explain why the classification changed after the oil was loaded onto the train. But that question could be a crucial aspect of the ongoing investigation – and in determining which companies might face legal repercussions for classifying the crude improperly.
Asked if investigators are looking at whether there is a commercial motive in classifying products as group 2 or 3, TSB investigator Don Ross said, "We're asking those questions, is there any motivation, why would that possibly be not shown the way it was."
Kim Mackrael is a parliamentary reporter in Ottawa.