Hazardous Material Transportation Risks in the Puget Sound Region

PDFTech ReportDOT-TSC-RSPA-81-11DTRS-57-80-C00170Risk assessmentHazardous materialsAccident ratesFreight trafficFreight transportationLiquefied petroleum gasMethanolSodium hydroxideChlorineFault tree analysisAntiknock compoundsRailroad transportationWashingtonUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Special Programs AdministrationAndrews, W. B.Rhoads, R. E.Franklin, A. L.Cole, W. M.Rau, R.G.Battelle Memorial Institute. Pacific Northwest DivisionJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, (U.S.)United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Special Programs AdministrationAGR-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYNTL-MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION-MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATIONNTL-MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION-Marine SafetyNTL-MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION-Marine Energy and EnvironmentVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterIn order to contribute to workable hazardous materials accident prevention and response systems, public safety risks of transporting hazardous materials in the Central Puget Sound Region of Washington State are determined. Risk spectrums are obtained which express the magnitude and frequency of all possible losses due to releases of five classes of hazardous materials representing 74 percent of the 1.9 million tons moved in the region by truck and rail in 1979. Five commodities representative of these classes are selected and discussed: liquid petroleum gas, chlorine, methanol, anti-knock compound, and sodium hydroxide. Release sequences are identified, using a fault tree approach for specific transportation equipment, and are evaluated for each commodity and transportation mode to predict probabilities of releases given a transportation accident. Environmental factors considered include accident rates, weather conditions, and population along each major transportation route. Truck and rail contributions to risk are found to be nearly equal, with liquefied petroleum gas dominating truck risk, and chlorine dominating rail risk