Methods of Crude Oil Transport: Relative Risks and Benefits

• Date: 01 September 2014

9-2014 NEWS & ANALYSIS 44 ELR 10731

D I A L O G U E

Methods of Crude Oil Transport:

Relative Risks and Benef‌its

Summary

As America’s oil and natural gas boom spreads across

the country, producers are nding it dicult to get oil

from the wells to market. Pipeline capacity is limited,

and shipping crude by rail has raised concerns in the

media. What are the relative risks and merits of dier-

ent methods of shipping crude oil long distance? Rail,

ship, and pipeline each have pros and cons, risks and

benets. On May 7, 2014, the Environmental Law

Institute convened a panel of experts to explore the

regulatory realm of each option. Without demoniz-

ing any form of transport, the session raised awareness

about the complex trade os between these options,

when they are options. Below, we present a transcript

of the event, which has been edited for style, clarity,

and space considerations.

Kris Barney, Manager, Professional Education Program,

Environmental Law Institute

John J. Jablonski, Partner, Goldberg Segalla (moderator)

George “Casey” Hopki ns, Partner, Vinson & Elkins

LLP

Michaela E. Noble, Chief, Environmental Law Division,

Oce of Maritime and International Law, United States

Coast Guard/e Judge Advocate General, U.S. Depart-

ment of Homeland Security

Connie S. Roseberry, General Attorney, Union Pacic

Railroad Company

Anthony Swift, Sta  Attorney, International Program,

Natural Resources Defense Council

I. Introduction

Kris Barney: Welcome everyone. My name is Kris Barney.

I’m with the Environmental Law Institute. Today’s seminar

is called Methods of Crude Oil Transport: Relative Risks

and Benets. We’re very excited to be presenting this par-

ticular topic, which is very timely. And I thank you all for

being here. I’d like to introduce our moderator, who will

in turn introduce our wonderful panel. John J. Jablonski is

a partner at Goldberg Segalla LLP that has oces in New

York, London, and Chicago. John began his environmen-

tal law career in law school, where he was the co-founder

and editor of his law school’s environmental law review.

In the early 1990s, he worked at a large rm compiling

large databases for use in litigation related to the federal

and state Superfund Cost Recovery Act. John continues to

work on a wide array of environmental matters as chair of

the rm’s environmental practice group, recently focusing

on oil spill response litigation.

John is a seasoned trial lawyer with 20 years of experi-

ence in litigation. He has tried numerous cases to verdict

in state and federal court. In addition, John has represented

Class I, short-line, and small regional railroads in litigation

for over 15 years. And I’d just like to say personally it’s

been great to work with John. He’s been very engaged in

putting this panel together and the focus of it, and is really

committed to sharing information about the safety of all

these dierent methods of oil transport. With that, thank

you all for being here. is is a fantastic group of people.

John, please.

John Jablonski: ank you. e semi nar topic of dif-

ferent method s of crude oil transport is obviously a very

important topic to al l of us, but more importantly, it’s

becoming an important topic to the public at large. From

my standpoint, being involved in the various industries

that are represented here, there’s been work going on

behind the scenes, so to speak, outside the public eye for

years and years w ith respec t to environmental safety of

crude oil transport.

We have a very esteemed panel today. ey’re all at the

highest level in their industries. We’re going to hear from

representatives f rom the rail t ransport industr y, the pipe-

line transportation industry, and the maritime shipping

industry, and then we’re going to have someone who’s

going to talk about the environmental impacts of crude

oil transpor tation.

First, Connie Roseberry is an attorney at Union Pacic

Railroad. She joined Union Pacic in 2005 in their Chi-

cago oce, where she was responsible for all aspects of rail-

road litigation including the Federal Employee’s Liability

Act (FELA) (which are employee lawsuits), trespasser fatal-

ities, a nd grade-crossing incidents. She also worked with

government aairs at METRA, the commuter rail division

of the Regional Transportation Authority of the Chicago

metropolitan area, on other local government issues. Since

2010, she is responsible for safety and operating regulatory

issues, primarily dealing with the Federal Railroad Admin-

istration and other governmental agencies with safety over-

Copyright © 2014 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.