Runaway railcar fines appealed

Transport Canada hits company with $110,000 judgment

The federal Transportation Safety Board has issued no judgment yet in its investigation of a runaway railcar carrying asphalt that got away from handlers near the Coop Refinery Complex March 1.

“It’s still under active investigation,” board spokesman Eric Clarke said this week.

But the safety board’s stablemate, Transport Canada, has moved to fine the firm it deemed responsible for the incident.

It fined Cando Contracting, an arm of Brandon-based Cando Rail Services, almost $110,000 for the incidents — though Cando has filed an appeal of this administrative judgment. A hearing before the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada is set for Sept. 27-29 in Winnipeg, Transport Canada spokesman Sean Best said Friday.

Transport Canada — which is separate from the Transportation Safety Board — charged Cando Contracting Ltd. with leaving a car unattended “without a sufficient number of hand brakes applied and determined sufficient through an effectiveness test.”

It also claims Cando employees failed to transmit the word “Emergency” three times at the beginning of a reporting transmission to indicate something that might be a hazard to employees or others.

Both fines were in the amount of $54,666.12.

The runaway railcar story broke March 4, when the City of Regina and its fire department got calls from reporters asking if it was true a loaded railcar had rolled away from the Co-op Refinery Complex on the city’s northern edge one night earlier that week.

Until then, nobody had told the city the railcar had rolled four kilometres south and west across the city, crossing several major streets in the dark of night before stopping on its own. There was no damage, spillage or injuries.

The refinery temporarily suspended its contract with Cando, which operates on the CN rail lines at the refinery pending a review. Cando responded by changing its communication plan and improved supervision and worker training.