(Lac-Mégantic) Transport Canada is unable to indicate whether the portion of a cracked rail near downtown Lac-Mégantic met safety standards. The rail was repaired last week, but a group of citizens remain concerned as the City prepares to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.
Since 2015, Robert Bellefleur has been monitoring the condition of the rails in his community where 10 years ago, a convoy carrying 72 wagons of crude oil derailed and took the lives of 47 people.
The spokesperson for the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety made an appointment with The Canadian Press at the end of May, near a track belonging to Canadian Pacific (CP), in about two kilometers from downtown Lac-Mégantic.
“I’m not an engineer, but you don’t need to be an engineer to understand that this rail is worn to the maximum, metal slats are frayed,” says Robert Bellefleur, pointing to the cracked rail.
The coalition of citizens he represents claims to have often identified tracks in poor condition near downtown Lac-Mégantic since the 2013 tragedy and fears that another derailment will occur and cause more victims.
The interview with The Canadian Press is interrupted when Robert Bellefleur receives a phone call from a CP policeman.
The conversation was courteous and the policeman informed the citizen that he had recently been seen near the railway, on CP property, in a place deemed unsafe.
Mr. Bellefleur took advantage of this conversation to warn the policeman that “a rail in the sector, which has to support monster trains of more than 200 wagons and tanks, is worn to the limit”.
The policeman asks the citizen to send him photos and promises to report the situation to those responsible for the inspections.
Five days later, CP crews were on site to replace the section of rail identified as problematic by Robert Bellefleur.
“It shouldn’t be up to the citizens to do this inspection work,” the spokesperson for the citizens’ group told The Canadian Press after the refurbishment of the rail, adding that “it highlights the need for monitoring role” of his group “in the face of Transport Canada’s inaction and relaxation of its public protection role”.
Transport Canada cannot say if the rail met the standards
In an email exchange, Transport Canada says it has “significantly strengthened its oversight program” and that the department has “implemented stricter measures and requirements to protect communities” since the 2013 tragedy.
The Canadian Press sent Transport Canada photos of the rail deemed problematic, specifying where it was located.
The news agency asked the ministry responsible for enforcing railway safety rules whether the rail, before its replacement, met safety standards.
A ministry spokesperson replied that “the section of rail shown in the photo is not sufficient to determine whether the rail meets the safety standards of the track” and that the safety requirements “depend, among other things, on train speed [classe de voie] and the annual gross tonnage transported on the track”.
This response does not reassure Robert Bellefleur who maintains that he is accustomed to “receiving such bureaucratic responses of the “wooden tongue” type from Transport Canada”.
The spokesperson for the citizens’ group added that although trains must not exceed 16 kilometers per hour in this area, they carry hazardous materials, such as propane, and that the rail is located at “the entrance of a major curve in the sector where the slope is at its maximum, and this, near a residential area and the Polyvalente Montignac”.
The Canadian Press also asked Transport Canada for rail inspection reports carried out in the Lac-Mégantic area in the past six months and the department replied that it “does not provide inspection reports to the public because they contain information from third parties”, in this case railway companies such as Canadian Pacific.
CP maintains that there is no safety issue
In an email exchange, CP’s Manager of Government Affairs and Communications explained that “the photo shows wear or flow of the rail on the side of the track that does not come into contact with the wheel” and that “it is not a defect or a safety issue”.
Stacey Patenaude added that “notwithstanding that the track identified was fully compliant, this section of rail has been replaced”.
The Canadian Press asked CP why the rail section was changed even though it was compliant, but the company did not respond.
According to Canadian Pacific, “the track in Nantes and the surrounding area is inspected visually and for internal defects regularly, beyond regulatory standards”, by its “engineering department to maintain compliance with the high safety standards of Canadian Pacific Kansas City”.
Faulty rails
Over the years, the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety in Lac-Mégantic has developed a mistrust of Transport Canada and railway companies, obviously because of safety-related shortcomings, identified in several investigations, and which have led to the tragedy of 2013.
But even after 2013, issues related to the safety of trains transporting hazardous materials and the condition of the rails in Lac-Mégantic were the subject of concern.
For example, on May 7, 2019, Transport Canada rail safety inspector Jean-René Gagnon issued a “notice with an order” to Central Maine and Quebec Railway (CMQR), the company that owned of the section of rail that passes through the town of Lac-Mégantic, before CP acquired it.
In this public document, the rail safety inspector writes that he “observed several urgent situations and concerns requiring immediate repairs”, including the wear of the rails, and “that the number of broken rails discovered” following inspections between Farnham and Lac-Mégantic in 2019 “is alarming”.
The document also states that the number of faulty rails reported by ultrasonic vehicle was 253 in 2018, 185 in 2017, 175 in 2016 and 115 in 2015.
On September 3, 2019, the citizens’ coalition had given formal notice to the former Minister of Transport Marc Garneau to stop the transport of hazardous materials between Farnham and Lac-Mégantic as long as this railway section was not repaired.
Three days later, Minister Garneau issued a ministerial order to oblige the CMQR to restore the railway between Farnham and Lac-Mégantic, after which the company had repaired the 253 defects on the corridor of some 200 kilometers .