Following the horrific oil-related railway accident in the town of Lac Megantic Quebec, the railway industry is coming under greatly increased scrutiny across.
Oil shipment by rail is back in the news, but this time in western Canada.
Churchill Manitoba is a major shipping port for western grain, but now the company that operates the only rail line to Churchill announced plans to start transporting oil to be loaded onto overseas tankers.
The concern is that the railway passes through hundreds of kilometres of remote boreal wildernessand tundra and in many cases is built over zones of permafrost.
Manitoba’s NDP Transportation Minister Steve Ashton said in light of the deadly train derailment in Lac Megantic, Quebec earlier this year, Manitoba can’t support the shipment of crude oil through its fragile northern environment.
Speaking to a reporter from The Canadian Press, he said, “”If there were concerns before, there are 10 times the concerns now. We have to make sure there is not a precipitous move — by Omnitrax or anyone else — (toward) shipment in this area.”
Omnitrax says its plan to transport millions of litres of light sweet crude is safe and will provide jobs in the north.
Manitoba has provided some funds to upgrade the line and supports diversifying cargo to the port, but the transportation minister says the province can’t support any oil shipment plans through this delicate area without further upgrades and complete transparency regarding what is being shipped.
Although the railway runs through Manitoba, it comes under federal jurisdiction and the province can actually do little to stop oil shipments.F igures from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada show there have been 63 accidents on the Hudson Bay rail line between 2003 and 2012, 53 of which were derailments.
Grand Chief Irvin Sinclair, with the Keewatin Tribal Council, said people still hunt and trap on the land. One derailment or spill is all it would take to destroy the livelihood of generations, Sinclair said.
“There goes the wildlife,” he said. “There goes a way of life for everybody if something drastic happens … It would be devastating to the environment.”
Omnitrax had planned a trial shipment for next month, but that has been put on hold while Omnitrax holds consultations with various groups concerned about the proposal.
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