Lac-mégantic residents safe, Environment Ministry says
But activists accuse province of downplaying health hazards
MONTREAL— The Quebec government says the quality of the air and water are returning to normal levels and there is no sign yet of grave danger to human health after the deadly rail accident last month that saw crude oil seep into the ground, spill into the river and burn in the air.
The limited release of information from the provincial Environment Ministry came one day after environmental groups released the results of a study showing a spike in carcinogenic chemicals and a concentration of arsenic in surface water around Lac-Mégantic.
The environmental advocates accused Quebec’s environment ministry of trying to hide the levels of contamination so as not to incite panic in the town, where a train derailment and explosion on July 6 killed 47 people and wiped out a swath of the historic downtown.
The provincial government, in reaction, released a few details of its environmental surveillance, which has been ongoing since the accident. It said that despite the 7.2 million litres of light crude oil that were spilled in the derailment, the quality of the water, both in the lake and in the Chaudière River, are now “similar to their historic levels.” There has also been a downward trend observed in the amount of oil in the water and there is no cause for worry about either the drinking water or the long-term health of fish and other animals.
Air quality was said to have returned to normal levels within a week of the crash.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Pacific Railway and World Fuel Services have been added to a legal notice issued by the provincial government, which wants companies to pay for the environmental cleanup. CP was added, the government says, because it was the main contractor responsible for the oil shipment from North Dakota to New Brunswick. That railway then arranged to use a line belonging to Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, which has already been named in the legal notice.
World Fuel Services had bought the crude oil to be shipped to an Irving refinery in New Brunswick.