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Experts will discuss rail safety at Pefferlaw public meeting

Yorkregion.com|
May 14, 2015
By Heidi Riedner

CN Railway’s dangerous goods officer, David Slauson, and its regional manager of public affairs, Pierre Bergeron, will field questions at a public meeting regarding rail safety being held in Pefferlaw May 25, a CN spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Much like the sound of train whistles echoing through the night neighbourhood, the issue of railway safety has kept many Pefferlaw residents up at night.

That ramped up a notch and became a significant concern since the derailment and explosion of a runaway train carrying crude oil in Lac-Megantic, Que., that killed 47 people and decimated the town in July 2013.

CN runs about 18 trains per day on one of its main lines that dissects Pefferlaw, which is part of its 20,000-mile North American network that runs west from Halifax on the Atlantic Ocean to Vancouver and Prince Rupert on the Pacific Ocean and south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Those tracks run not only through Georgina, but also right through the heart of Pefferlaw’s downtown and main residential cores.

That has prompted some area residents to raise concerns over not only what the tank cars on those trains are carrying, but also what procedures are in place in the event of an accident, especially in light of the fact two eastbound trains carrying loads of partially refined crude oil derailed - one in February and once again in March - on the line in Northern Ontario.

“There were no injuries in either case, but there were fires and spills,” CN’s director of public and government affairs told The Advocate.

“The fires were extinguished, spilled oil was collected and ongoing treatment and remediation of affected areas continues and will continue until the sites are restored to pre-spill conditions.”

Roughly 10 per cent of the freight carried by CN is classified by Transport Canada as dangerous goods and CN makes available to first responders the list of dangerous goods that move through their jurisdictions, he added.

At the public session on May 25 being held at the Pefferlaw Lions Community Centre, which also includes representatives from the Georgina Fire Department, York Regional Police, town council and staff, CN experts will speak about emergency response plans and protocols.

The public meeting in Georgina comes on the heels of three councillors from three separate York municipalities to the south raising concerns about the safety of trains carrying dangerous goods through York Region communities three months after two rail cars derailed in Richmond Hill.

Markham Councillor Valerie Burke, Richmond Hill Councillor Godwin Chan and Vaughan Councillor Alan Shefman, who represent wards bordering Yonge Street, brought the issue forward during Emergency Preparedness Week, May 3 to 9.

While the councillors applauded efforts made by Transport Canada to improve the safety of rail cars and are pleased with new rail safety legislation, more needs to be done, Chan said.

Two rail cars containing sheet steel and sulphuric acid derailed from the tracks in Richmond Hill in February. Although there were no spills and no one was injured, the incident highlighted possible dangers, the councillors said.

The councillors agreed municipalities need to be in a position to reassure residents that the risks of a catastrophic accident are declining and that collaboration between rail regulators, rail companies and all interested parties, such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ national municipal rail safety working group, is necessary.

Despite the Lac-Megantic disaster fuelling fears of train safety being off the rails, statistics regarding indicators such as accidents, derailments and fatalities show that it has generally improved over the past decade, including at CN.

New tank car standards, however, are part of a slew of changes Transport Canada has implemented in the wake of the Lac-Megantic disaster.

But CN’s director of public affairs said the vast majority of tank cars are not owned by railways.
They are owned by the shippers or by companies that build the cars and lease them to shippers.

Having said that, he added CN is on record as strongly supporting more rigorous safety standards for tank cars.

Resident associations across the province have pushed for tougher safety measures, rerouting of dangerous goods and more transparency surrounding what hazardous materials are moving through their neighbourhoods in the wake of Lac-Megantic and other recent train derailments.

The balance between the public’s right to know about the types and amounts of dangerous goods travelling through their neighbourhoods and the release of information that could potentially represent a security risk will be up for discussion in Pefferlaw.

What procedures are in place to prevent and respond to an emergency situation, as well as everyone’s role in public safety, will also be on the table.

“It is an important discussion to have,” said Georgina’s Ward 5 Councillor Dave Harding.