Rail carries far more dangerous compounds than crude
Derailment will prompt closer look at how materials are shipped , insider says
MONTREAL — An explosive Quebec railway crash has put the focus on the growing transportation of crude oil, but the association that represents Canada’s chemical industry expects the disaster will prompt a broader review of how even more hazardous materials are shipped.
“I do believe that we’re going to see some serious re- examination of some of the rules and regulations around movement of hazardous goods and that’s probably a good thing,” said David Podruzny, vice- president of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.
“We should continuously be improving the way in which we move goods.”
Railways transport up to 80 per cent of chemicals produced in Canada, including some very hazardous materials that pass near small towns and communities daily.
Canadian railway companies shipped 86,000 carloads of petroleum products in the second quarter, up 18 per cent from last year and 62 per cent from 2011. But, at the same time, railways transported 154,000 carloads of chemicals during the most recent period, including refined energy products like diesel and jet fuel.
Twenty people have been confirmed dead and about 30 are missing following the derailment, explosions and fire that devastated parts of Lac- Mégantic on Saturday.
Podruzny said the tragedy could prompt some communities to no longer welcome such products, even though they are essential to treat drinking water or sewage, or are used in the production of pulp and paper products that are the lifeblood of these towns.
“Whether this incident alone is going to result in us having to build tracks around all the towns in Canada, I don’t think so,” he said in an interview.
But it will make people conscious of the risks of hazardous materials, much like the Bhopal gas leak — which killed thousands of people in India — did following the 1984 incident, he added.
“Risk management is what it’s all about. We can’t eliminate risk, but we should do all we can to manage it,” he said.
Analyst Cameron Doerksen of National Bank Financial said some of the chemicals transported are even more dangerous than crude, which has come under increased scrutiny.
Any movement to limit the shipments of crude by rail would also hit the transportation of chemicals.
“We cannot see this being an improvement in safety given that the alternative is to move some of these hazardous materials by truck,” he wrote in a report.