Submission Number: UBR-DEIS-00294 -- Oral Comment at Public Meeting 

Received: 11/18/2020 12:00:00 PM
Commenter: Dwight Schneider
Organization: 
State: 

Agency: STB
Initiative: Uinta Basin Railway EIS
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
Yes, can you hear me now, Jennifer?

[pause]

Sure.· Yes, this is Dwight Schneider, and I wanted to make a clarification on the last comment. · · · · · · The commenter stated that it -- that LNG was unsafe to ship on the railroad and that you couldn't ship it on the railroads.· That is an incorrect statement and should be clarified in the records. · · · · · ·

The -- there are railcars for shipping LNG. I have worked in that business for five years and worked up in Canada on projects up there for shipping LNG, worked on projects in the U.S. for shipping LNG.· There are cars properly designed. · · · · · ·

LNG is classified as pure methane, and due to the nature of pure methane being able to vaporize quickly from the LNG state, it is rare for methane to have issues, like propane or other liquified natural gas products there, so that, you know, the chances of it exploding, if there is an incident, are pretty rare. · · · · · ·

The cars are very safe.· In Canada, they are using cars behind the engines, the dual-fuel engines, and so it is a common product that is being shipped.· And so I just want to clarify that part.· · · · · ·

Also, I would like to state that this project, I believe, is very good for the community.· The community is struggling very hard in the Uinta Basin these days to provide good jobs.· The waxy crude is at the limits, as one other commenter stated, in shipping to Salt Lake at max capacity, and that probably will not change with the railroad because they are using that crude in the refineries. · · · · · ·

The expansion of light crude in the U.S. has caused numerous refineries in the U.S. to run at reduced capacities because the design was for heavier crude, and this crude will help refineries be able to better handle the light crudes in the U.S. by blending it in and improve refinery operations. · · · · · ·

And by improving refinery operations, it will reduce emissions in refineries and stuff.· So there are -- there are some very positive benefits of this project.· And that is my comment.· Thank you.