In light of recent railway derailments – including the Gainford derailment near Edmonton on Oct. 19 and the July 6 derailment at Lac-Megantic, Que. that killed more than 40 people – district MLAs have renewed calls for safety procedures to be examined and updated.
With the major Calgary-Edmonton rail line running through Carstairs, Didsbury, Olds, Innisfail and Penhold, up-to-date safety information is a must for emergency responders and the public at large, said Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Wildrose MLA Bruce Rowe.
In particular, Rowe said he would like to see local volunteer fire departments provided beforehand with detailed manifests of what exactly trains moving through the area are carrying.
“We have no idea what is on those trains,” said Rowe. “There is no manifest to tell what kinds of chemical are on them. If there was a disaster, we've got volunteer firefighters who are going to be responding and they have no idea what is on that train or what dangers they are putting themselves in, or what danger the public is in.
“In today's world it shouldn't be a difficult thing to do (provide the manifests). With all of the electronic systems and the information systems available to us, I don't see that it would be an onerous thing to do. It would probably be a good place to start.”
Asked if he is confident that the Calgary-Edmonton line is safe, Rowe said: “If you had asked me that a few months ago I probably would have said yes, but now it brings some doubt, when it comes through virtually my whole west side of the riding, every town.”
In response to the Gainford derailment, Joe Anglin, the MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House- Sundre said the accident is a “reminder of the need to push forward with safer means of transporting oil products to market.”
“Further measures that are effective and transparent for making rail transportation of petroleum products safer also need to be vigorously pursued to ensure something like this does not happen again,” said Anglin.
As well as calling for train manifests to be provided to emergency personnel, Rowe said he would also like to see train speeds examined.
“Some of them (trains) go through at a pretty good clip,” said Rowe. “I am thinking that maybe we should look at the speed that they go through because if there is an accident speed only magnifies it.
“If we are going to start shipping more and more (petroleum products), speed limits are something we need to look at. People's safety has to be first.”
Although Rowe says he believes pipelines are the safest way to transport oil products, political delays in getting new pipelines approved means rail traffic (carrying oil products) is likely to increase, he said.
“I think it is going to be some time before we can get new pipelines in place, given all the political heat over that,” he said. “I don't think working out deals with B.C. and the U.S. is going to happen any time soon. If we start shipping more by rail that will put more pressure on existing lines and we have to get a handle on it.
“Gainford is an example of what can happen. If we start using the rail system to move that product more and more, I think you can pretty much count on it (accidents) happening again and again.”
Asked who he believes should be spearheading the examination of rail safety in Alberta and elsewhere, he said, “all levels of government.”
Following the Lac-Megantic derailment, MLA Rowe and MLA Anglin both made calls for rail traffic safety procedures in Alberta to be examined.
There are several investigations, including by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada now underway into the Gainford derailment, which saw 13 train cars derail and catch fire.
