Provinces urge boost to rail safety
Ontario, Quebec demand Ottawa do much more to curb train derailments
Arail safety advocacy group is calling for “dramatic” action to prevent train derailments after a letter on the issue from two provincial transportation ministers to their federal counterpart.
Steven Del Duca and Robert Poeti — transportation ministers for Ontario and Quebec, respectively — sent a letter to Transport Minister Lisa Raitt on Friday over what they call the growing number of “very serious and unacceptable train derailments” in the provinces and across Canada.
The two provinces are calling on the federal government to do more to improve rail regulations.
Patricia Lai, co-founder of Safe Rail Communities, said Transport Canada has been moving too slowly in its efforts to curb the recent spate of oil-bearing train disasters.
“Unless something quite dramatic is done right now, for sure derailments are going to continue to happen,” she said.
She pointed to the need for better inspections of volatile kinds of oil like the Bakken crude from North Dakota that erupted when a train jumped the tracks in Lac-Mégantic, Que., in July 2013.
In a statement sent to the Star, Raitt touted the government’s safety record, including banning the flimsiest tank cars. “I am very concerned about the recent derailments in northern Ontario and I have asked the Standing Committee on Transport to bring CN officials in to review their operations,” the statement said. “I continue to have an open dialogue with my provincial counterparts on the important issue of rail safety.”
On Saturday, Del Duca visited the site of a fiery CN train derailment just outside of Gogama in northern Ontario. He says that while Transport Canada is responsible for the transportation of dangerous goods, all levels of government must work together to ensure that a similar incident does not happen again.
Oil shipments moved by Canadian railways went from 500 car loads in 2009 to 160,000 in 2013, according to the Railway Association of Canada.
The March 7 derailment caused numerous tank cars — built to the updated standards recently made mandatory — carrying crude oil to catch fire and spill into a local river system. It destroyed the track and a bridge and caused undetermined environmental damage.
On Wednesday, the Canadian government proposed tougher new standards for rail tank cars used to transport crude oil. The proposal would require the cars to have outer “jackets,” a layer of thermal protection, and thicker steel walls.
Del Duca and Poeti also want Raitt to set up a meeting to provide an update on the action Transport Canada is taking on the issue and the implementation of recommendations made in the Transportation Safety Board’s report on the 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster in Quebec.
“There have been a number of very serious train derailments, including the tragedy in Lac-Mégantic, and most recently in northern Ontario,” the letter states. “We understand that some new safety regulations have been implemented recently by the federal government. This being said, we urge the federal government to further strengthen safety practices on rail lines, particularly for the transportation of hazardous and flammable goods, especially crude oil and ethanol.”
The letter also highlights the fact that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has warned Transport Canada that the upgraded standards for new tank cars built for the transportation of flammable liquids are not sufficient, and that more needs to be done to prevent dangerous fires and explosions when accidents occur. With files from Eric Andrew-Gee