Residents of Lac-Megantic in Quebec are marking today the 4th anniversary of one of the worst rail disasters in Canadian history that took the lives of 47 people when a runaway train laden with highly flammable crude oil jumped tracks and exploded, turning the picturesque town into a burning inferno.
“Four years later, this close-knit community continues to show profound resiliency in the face of the scars and trauma of those horrible events,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. “Lac-Megantic is rebuilding itself once again into a beautiful, vibrant, and dynamic place to live, work, and visit.
“No community should ever experience what Lac-Megantic went through.”
Trudeau said he is committed to “ensuring that rail safety remains a top priority.”
But town residents say they want more than just words.
A group of Lac-Megantic citizens has renewed the call for the construction of a bypass that would steer trains away from the core of the community.
Robert Bellefleur, spokesman for a rail-safety group in the town, told reporters his group is outraged that Trudeau and other politicians seem to accept that a bypass might not be ready for years.
“What shocks the population, it’s to note that it’s politically acceptable…to wait until 2022 for a safer solution for Lac-Megantic,” he told a news conference.
The Quebec and federal governments have financed a feasibility study on the matter, and the province’s environmental review agency began public hearings on the issue in May.
But Bellefleur said dangerous goods continue to be transported through the town on a section of rail track that has been rebuilt with an even steeper curve than before.
“What we want, the citizens’ coalition, is that we build the bypass as quickly as possible,” he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
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