Do you know what’s being shipped by rail in the city? No? Don’t feel bad, neither does the fire chief.
Richmond’s fire chief John McGowan says information Richmond Fire-Rescue received from the Minister of Transport regarding the transportation of dangerous goods through the city is insufficient.
The information provides “local authorities with base information for emergency planning purposes but does not provide enough detail to formulate a comprehensive emergency plan,” wrote McGowan, in a report to the city’s safety committee on Tuesday.
The information was supposed to give municipalities a clearer indication of the risks involved in transporting dangerous goods by rail. The federal directive came in the wake of the Lac-Megantic derailment in July, 2013 that caused a massive explosion, killing 47 people. Since then rail car safety took unprecedented criticism across Canada.
Under the minister’s Protective Direction 32, both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific rail companies reported to the City of Richmond on the type and quantity of materials being transported in Richmond, but only on a quarterly basis.
McGowan is now asking the city to write a letter to the federal Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt, so that rail companies are required to report “the nature, exact volume and frequency of dangerous goods transported through municipalities.”
According to McGowan, based on the information provided, he wouldn’t know if a train “has 130,000 litres of a hazardous material product or half a litre.”
According to McGowan’s report, Richmond’s rail car movement is limited to low speeds, which decreases the risk of a derailment and rail companies are supposed to have a trained, emergency response team available for deployment.
Nevertheless Richmond Fire and Rescue is the default responder on all hazardous materials incidents in the city, noted McGowan.
But until McGowan has all the facts laid out before him a fully comprehensive emergency plan cannot be completed.
@WestcoastWood
gwood@richmond-news.com
