(Lac-Mégantic) Transport Canada is unable to indicate whether the portion of a cracked rail near downtown Lac-Mégantic meets safety standards. The track was repaired last week, but a group of citizens remain concerned as the city prepares to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.
Posted yesterday at 10:50am.
Stephane Blais The Canadian Press
Since 2015, Robert Bellefleur has been monitoring the condition of the rails in his community, where ten years ago a convoy carrying 72 wagons full of crude oil derailed, killing 47 people.
The spokesman for the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety scheduled an appointment with The Canadian Press near a Canadian Pacific (CP) track in late May, about two kilometers from downtown Lac-Mégantic.
“I’m not an engineer, but you don’t have to be an engineer to understand that this rail is worn to the max, the metal slats are frayed,” says Robert Bellefleur, pointing to the cracked rail.
The coalition of citizens he represents claims to have frequently noticed bad track conditions near downtown Lac-Mégantic since the 2013 tragedy and fears another derailment will cause more victims.
The Canadian Press interview is interrupted when Robert Bellefleur receives a call from a CP officer.
The conversation was polite and the policeman informed the citizen that he had recently been seen near the railway on the CP site in a place considered unsafe.
Mr Bellefleur used this conversation to warn the policeman that “a rail in the sector, which has to carry monster trains with more than 200 wagons and tanks, is worn to the limit”.
The police officer asks the citizen to send him photos and promises to report the matter to those responsible for control.
Five days later, CP squads were on site to replace the section of rail identified by Robert Bellefleur as problematic.
“It shouldn’t be up to citizens to do this inspection work,” the spokesman for the citizens’ group told The Canadian Press after the track’s rehabilitation, adding that “it underscores the need for a monitoring role” for his group. given Transport Canada’s inaction and relaxation of its public protection role.”
Transport Canada cannot say if the rail meets standards
In an email exchange, Transport Canada said it had “significantly strengthened its oversight program” and that since the 2013 tragedy, the department had “implemented stricter measures and requirements to protect communities.”
The Canadian press sent Transport Canada photos of the track, which they deemed problematic, with their location.
The news agency asked the ministry responsible for enforcing railway safety regulations whether the rail met safety standards before it was replaced.
A ministry spokesman replied that “the section of rail shown in the photo is insufficient to determine whether the rail meets the safety standards of the line” and that safety requirements “depend, among other things, on train speed”. [classe de voie] and the annual gross tonnage transported on the route’.
This response does not reassure Robert Bellefleur, who claims he is used to “receiving such bureaucratic ‘sticky tongue’ type replies from Transport Canada”.
The spokesman for the citizens’ group added that while trains are not allowed to go faster than 16 kilometers per hour in this area, they carry dangerous substances such as propane and that the track is “located at the entrance of a large curve in the sector where the trains drive”. The slope is maximum and this near a residential area and the Polyvalente Montignac.
The Canadian press also asked Transport Canada about reports of rail inspections carried out in the Lac Mégantic area in the past six months, and the department replied that it “does not make inspection reports available to the public as they contain information from third parties”. . Case railway companies like Canadian Pacific.
CP claims there is no security issue
In an email exchange, the CP manager for government affairs and communications stated that “the photo shows rail wear or flow on the side of the track not in contact with the wheel” and that “it is not a defect or a security issue.” .
Stacey Patenaude added, “Although the track identified was fully compliant, this section of rail has been replaced.”
The Canadian press asked CP why the track section was changed even though it was compliant, but the company did not respond.
According to Canadian Pacific, “the track in and around Nantes is regularly inspected visually and in excess of legal standards for internal defects” by the “technical department to ensure compliance with Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s high safety standards.”
Broken rails
Over the years, the coalition of citizens and organizations working to ensure rail safety in Lac-Mégantic have developed a distrust of Transport Canada and the rail companies, apparently due to safety-related deficiencies identified in multiple investigations that led to the tragedy 2013
But even after 2013, issues related to the safety of trains carrying dangerous goods and the condition of the tracks in the Lac-Mégantic were a cause for concern.
For example, on May 7, 2019, Transport Canada Rail Safety Inspector Jean-René Gagnon issued a “Notice of Order” to Central Maine and Quebec Railway (CMQR), the company that owns the stretch of rail that runs through the city of Lac-Mégantic before CP acquired it.
In this public document, the railway safety inspector writes that following inspections between Farnham and Lac-Mégantic, he observed “several urgent situations and concerns that required immediate repairs,” including rail wear, and “an increase in the number of broken rails detected “. 2019 “is alarming”.
The document also states that the number of defective rails reported by ultrasonic vehicles was 253 in 2018, 185 in 2017, 175 in 2016 and 115 in 2015.
On September 3, 2019, the Citizens’ Coalition had formally requested former Transport Minister Marc Garneau to halt the transport of dangerous goods between Farnham and Lac-Mégantic until that section of the railway was repaired.
Three days later, Minister Garneau issued a ministerial order requiring the CMQR to restore the Farnham-Lac-Mégantic railway line, after which the company had rectified the 253 deficiencies along the approximately 200-kilometer corridor.