NTSB Rejects Tank Carriers’ Request in Wetlines Case
The National Transportation Safety Board has rejected a request to reconsider its findings in a 1997 fatal accident used to justify stricter wetlines rules.
The National Tank Truck Carriers had asked the NTSB to withdraw its original report on the Yonkers, N.Y., accident in which a car struck a gasoline tanker truck, causing a fire that killed the car’s driver.
In a March letter to the NTSB, the tank carriers called the report “flawed” and said continuing to use the accident “as the ‘poster child’ incident” for removing product from wetlines does a disservice to tank carriers and regulators.
John Conley, president of the tank carriers group, called the NTSB rejection “totally disappointing and totally expected.”
The NTSB “apparently didn’t give any serious thought to the issues that we raised,” Conley said.
After the accident, the NTSB recommended stronger regulations to address flammable liquids lingering in tank truck wetlines, which the NTSB said ignited the fire.
The tank carriers disagree, saying the impact a car going 45 miles an hour damaged the gasoline truck’s tank.
A new federal rule expected to be finalized in May would require retrofitting to protect wetlines from impact or new systems to remove product from the lines.
The trucking industry has said the rule would be costly and burdensome and that retrofitting could prove more dangerous than the existing wetlines standards.
