1. Jan. 18: A CN freight train with 11 loaded coal cars collided with a stationary CN train on the main line between Hinton and Grande Cache, Alberta. One crew member was injured and taken to hospital by helicopter.

2. Jan. 18: A CN train carrying lumber and pulp products went off the tracks about 10km north of Prince George, British Columbia.

3. Jan. 20: 18 cars hauling plastic pellets and other merchandise derailed near Hay Lakes, Alberta.

4. Jan. 21: 13 coal cars derailed on the Tumbler Subdivision Line about 50km northeast of Prince George.

5. Jan. 21: 17 of 31 cars hauling grain derailed 32km west of Wainwright, Alberta and fell off a trestle bridge into a river valley far below. There was significant damage to the Battle River bridge.

Additional details of these latest in a string of CN derailments can be found at: 250 News, Edmonton Sun, Edmonton Journal, Canadian Press (1), CBC News (1), CTV, Camrose Canadian, CBC News (2), Canadian Press (2), and Canadian Press (3).

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be investigating some of these most recent derailments. It does not seem to matter how many investigations and reports by the Transportation Safety Board point out faults and errors by CN that have resulted in the skyrocketing increase in derailments, CN’s track record does not improve; rather it keeps getting worse.

CN derailments have been caused by: too long trains, rotting railway ties, loose rails, poor rail welds, switching problems in rail yards, human error, and many other cost-cutting measures by the rail giant.

Railroaded has commented on many previous occasions and asked what it will take for the Transportation Safety Board, Transport Canada or perhaps Parliament to get serious about charging and penalizing CN to force them to improve an abysmal safety record. Perhaps it will take some more serious accidents associated with these derailments to get the federal government’s attention.

For example, the fiery derailment of a CN train in June 2009 resulted in an Illinois county district court judge ordering CN to pay US$36 million to settle two negligence lawsuits. A 44-year-old woman died after a 114-car train including 74 tankers filled with 7.6 million litres of ethanol derailed and caused a massive explosion with flames engulfing her family’s vehicle stopped at a crossing. The woman’s husband and 19-year-old pregnant daughter escaped but were both injured, and the daughter’s baby was born prematurely after the accident and died.

The lawsuits claimed that Canada’s largest railway was negligent in the operation, maintenance and supervision of the train and track. CN had been informed about 20 minutes before the accident that a portion of their track had been washed out, but the train’s engineer who noticed water on the track, sped up the train. (See this Canadian Press article for additional details.)

You have to wonder why CP has been courting Hunter Harrison, retired CN CEO, to head up CP. Why would CP or anyone else want to hire someone who has been managing a company that has cut so many corners during the past, resulting in deteriorating rail infrastructure, a steadily-increasing number of derailments and other accidents, growing number of lawsuits filed and awarded against it, declining service to customers, and sagging morale among railway workers.

At a September 22, 2011 meeting of the West Long Beach Association, a University of California, Los Angeles scientist spoke about the proposed Burlington North Santa Fe (BNSF) rail yard expansion at the Port of Los Angeles. He  indicated that ultrafine diesel particulates, some laced with toxics, penetrate lung cells including their nucleii, and can disperse to other parts of the body, damage cell DNA and trigger inflammatory responses implicated in various disease processes (e.g., cancer, high blood pressure, atheroschlerosis). Over 1,800 people have signed a petition opposing the rail yard proposal. At least one local politician has also opposed the proposal, saying growth should not occur at the expense of quality of life and people’s health. See this Long Beach Report article for details.

The Missoula News reports on residents’ concerns about Montana Rail Link’s downtown Missoula Rail Yard. Residents have been woken up at night by squeals, screeches and crashes at the rail yard, and indicate that excessive vibration from the yard has shifted nearby houses off of their foundations. The Missoula City County Health Department says train emissions carry particulate matter capable of bypassing the body’s natural defenses and lodging in the lungs. Locomotive engines also produce carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and polycyclic hydrocarbons. The health department further states that diesel emissions coming from locomotives have cancer-causing effects, and people who live near a rail yard are most vulnerable.

Rail yards that have been used for many years seriously contaminate the soil and aquifers under the rail yards. Investigations of the BNSF Park Water Rail Yard in Spokane that has been in operation for nearly 100 years, confirm that contaminants exceed Washington State standards in 7 of 10 areas studied. Contaminants include petroleum hydrocarbons, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, naphthalene and methylene chloride. Clean up is finally being initiated in order to minimize the negative impacts on the Spokane Valley Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer which lies under the rail yard and provides drinking water to about 600,000 residents. See this news release for details.

Contamination of soil and groundwater under rail yards occurs on such a regular basis that companies specialize in clean up attempts as evidenced by this VicTrack news release from Victoria, Australia. The company recently indicated to the public that environmental works are being conducted at the Donald Rail Yard aimed at reducing and/or removing weathered diesel from the groundwater and controlling the offsite movement of the contaminants.

Is it any wonder that residents located near rail yards are concerned about their long-term health when reports and notices such as these are issued around the world on a regular basis? New rail yards and rail yard expansions should not be permitted near homes. Rail yards belong in industrial areas.

Due to the railways’ reluctance to address Quayside residents’ repeated requests to have their noise and vibration concerns addressed, the railways’ refusal to obey a mediated settlement, and the railways’ refusal to obey the Canadian Transportation Agency’s most recent ruling to support the Quayside Community’s concerns, the issue is going to the Federal Court of Appeal on September 20, 2011.

Whatever the outcome of this court case, it will undoubtedly affect the myriad of railway noise and vibration concerns by Canadians across the country. Railroaded congratulates and supports the Quayside Community Board 100% in this landmark challenge.

Railroaded

Most recently, on September 15, hundreds of people were evacuated from neighborhoods, schools and other buildings in downtown Amarillo, Texas, when a rail car filled with pentane exploded at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Yard. Flames soared 300 feet into the air, and several rail workers were injured. Residents who live a half mile north of the fire were told to stay indoors. The Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Federal Railroad Administration are all involved with investigations. See Amarillo Globe News article.

On August 31, an estimated 90,000 gallons of diesel fuel were spilled in the Hobson Rail Yard, Lincoln, Nebraska, by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. A Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department environmental quality supervisor said, “It’s one of the largest (spills) that we can remember.” So much fuel was spilled that some soil will need to be removed from the site. See Lincoln Journal Star article.

And, CBC News reports that Imperial Oil is finally cleaning up a mess they left in an abandoned gas station in Old Strathcona, Edmonton. Residents and businesses have been complaining for years about the unsightly and hazardous site right in the middle of a vibrant business area.

There is so much inconsistency in the number, duration and volume of train whistles throughout the County of Strathcona, both among different railway crossings and at given crossings. For example, at the CN Camrose Mainline/Township Road 515 crossing, one train will give one short moderate-volume whistle, while another train half an hour later will give 5 long loud whistles over a 25-second period. Nearby residents obviously prefer fewer, shorter, and lower-volume whistles.

CN has had numerous accidents recently in the Fort Saskatchewan area. On November 21, 2010, 14 cars derailed in CN’s Scotford Rail Yard near Fort Saskatchewan. On August 18, 2010, 43 CN cars derailed in the same rail yard. And, 8 CN cars derailed in April 2005 in the same yard, spilling hydrogen peroxide.

One would think that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would be clamping down on CN in an attempt to rectify the high number of accidents in the Fort Saskatchewan area.

Although one of the reasons rail companies give for this move on their part is to address some of the recent pipeline spills in North America, the history of and recent skyrocketing increase in derailment accidents means railways are certainly not safer than pipelines when it comes to transporting oil products or other toxic products. Who can forget petroleum spills such as the major CN spill at Wabamun Lake near Edmonton, the CN Ultratrain spill and explosion in Quebec that killed 2 people, and many other CN derailments that have spilled other toxic chemicals onto land and into rivers killing thousands of fish.

See this letter to the Edmonton Journal editor for details.

The law has evolved in almost every aspect of our lives during the past 100 years, except when it comes to our national railways which continue to retain powers and authorities granted to them over a century ago. Although many of these powers and authorities may have made sense over a century ago, they certainly do not today, as municipalities, provincial governments, community groups and individual citizens in Canada battle CN and CP on a daily basis over a whole variety of matters including railway noise, vibration, pollution, proximity of construction of new railway facilities, and compensation for damages.

Railroaded

Upon completion of the firefighting early in the evening of May 17, the owner of the private wildlife conservation area asked the 4 CN employees on site that CN contact, as soon as possible, the owner to discuss compensation for the fire damages to trees and shrubs which provide habitat for many wildlife species. It has now been almost 3 months since this request was made, and CN has not yet contacted the land owner.

This is not surprising since it took the owners of the Bretona ConservAction Area 2.5 years to receive compensation for damages to the same conservation area caused by a CN fire in April 1991. It is amazing that a corporation the size of CN treats land owners with such disdain, but there are so many similar examples of CN’s poor community relations across North America.

Railroaded has provided a lot of information on the rail yard recently constructed by Cando Contracting Ltd. on CN right-of-way in Strathcona County, Alberta to store 225 petroleum tank cars owned by Imperial Oil. Although the operators suggest these tank cars are empty,  they are stored with significant amounts of petroleum in the tanks. Nearby residents are concerned about leaks of these petroleum products, coupled with the normal leaking and dripping of oil, grease and solvents from tank cars.

Construction of the rail yard in 2010 significantly altered the natural surface drainage in the area, causing major flooding of neighbouring properties during Spring run-off and during frequent rainstorms in the Spring and Summer, 2011. Water from the rail yard flows into a farm dugout and two wildlife conservation areas, which has the potential for contamination from any spills, leaks or natural dripping of petroleum products and solvents in the rail yard. This is particularly alarming considering the lack of any spill containment measures by the operators.

Although altering natural surface drainage is a violation of provincial legislation, Alberta Environment has to date refused to deal with the matter.

A Montana court has ruled against Imperial Oil trucking tar sands processing modules along western Montana highways. The decision was based on improperly-conducted environmental assessments by Imperial Oil’s consultants. The court action was initiated by Missoula County and three conservation groups, and focused on the megaload hauling negatively affecting the environment and creating an industrial corridor along scenic highways important to the tourism industry and regional recreation.

The Montana Governor is also upset with Imperial Oil, suggesting that there would not be such strong opposition to Imperial seeking permission to haul megaloads of tar sands processing modules through Montana if the modules had been built in the U.S. rather than in Korea. Imperial Oil had the modules manufactured in Korea, shipped by water up to Lewiston, Idaho, and now plans to truck them all the way through Idaho and Montana up to Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Some residents in Calmar, Alberta continue to be upset with Imperial Oil for not offering replacement costs in compensation for demolishing their homes in order to properly seal gas wells abandoned many years ago. Several of these improperly-abandoned wells had started leaking gas through the soil in residents’ back yards.

Imperial Oil’s parent company, ExxonMobil Corp., is being sued by Indonesian villagers who have accused the oil giant’s security forces of committing murder, torture and other atrocities.

Imperial Oil’s Mackenzie Gas Project, which involves a 1,200-kilometre-long pipeline, recently hit a snag when Shell Canada pulled out of the project. (The project has been controversial over its anticipated environmental impacts on the sensitive tundra, boreal forest and Mackenzie River valley; as well as impacts on the traditional lifestyle of Aboriginal people along the proposed pipeline route.) Imperial has until December 2013 to decide whether or not it will proceed with the project.

In the United States, communities have been raising concerns about CN breaking promises to mitigate additional noise and reduce railway crossing blockages. In some cases, resident groups and other bodies have successfully sued CN in this regard.

At the same time as CN is buying and rehabilitating smaller rail lines, it continues to neglect its older lines that have been falling under major disrepair. Rail ties are rotting, rail welds are not being properly maintained, spikes holding rails on the ties are popping out, and gravel railway beds are unstable because they aren’t being properly maintained. Many CN employees are well aware of this growing “infrastructure debt” on the part of CN.

An ever-increasing number of CN derailments across North America is evidence of CN’s crumbling infrastructure. CN’s trains are derailing at its rail yards, at switches, and at curves in the rail line where weight on the outside rail causes increased stress. Freight cars are derailing and damaging millions of dollars of freight; and tanker cars are derailing and spilling hazardous chemicals and other materials endangering the environment. This growing number of derailments is affecting the service that CN is providing to its customers. It’s only a matter of time before customers refuse to risk moving their products with CN, and find alternative, safer and more reliable transportation modes.

As well as neglecting maintenance and repair of its older lines, CN lines are also becoming unsightly as rotten and discarded railway ties are strewn along the lines. These discarded rail ties are a fire hazard as they are extremely flammable. Below are several photographs of piles of railway ties that caught fire on May 17, 2011 by a passing CN train along the Camrose mainline near Edmonton. In this case, the CN-caused fire burned several acres of a wildlife conservation area.

CN appears to ignore both the danger posed by, and the unsightliness of, such piles of railway ties along many of its lines.

Nearby residents tried to stop construction of this rail yard, but were unsuccessful. This ill-conceived rail yard is built in the worst possible location, 30 metres from two wildlife conservation areas, less than 200 metres from two homes, and 700 metres from a 27-hole golf course. Nearby residents signed a petition demanding that operation of the rail yard cease and that a rail yard be built in another location in an industrial area where people and the natural environment will not be negatively impacted.

Rail yards are noisy, they’re unsightly, they smell, and they impact health, the environment, property values and overall quality of life of nearby residents. They belong in industrial areas. This rail yard was built and is now being operated without any neighbouring landowner notification, no opportunities to object, no environmental or socio-economic assessments, and no measures to contain petroleum spills or leaks. Many federal laws, CN policies and Imperial Oil policies have been breached during the construction and operation of this rail yard. From a safety perspective, this rail yard is also an accident waiting to happen, constructed near a major bend in the CN mainline where straight line vision of two switches between the mainline and the rail yard is very poor.

Local residents then started an online petition to get this rail yard shut down. The petition, now complete with 855 signatures, has been sent to Gord Peters (Cando Contracting President), Claude Mongeau (CN President and CEO), Bruce March (Imperial Oil President and CEO), Rob Merrifield (federal Minister of State – Transport), Peter Kent (federal Environment Minister), and Leon Benoit (MP Wainwright-Vegreville). A copy of the petition can be viewed here.

CN and other railway companies start many wildfires across Canada. Landowners, municipal governments and provincial governments across the country have a difficult time dealing with CN wildfires in terms of extinguishing the fires, seeking firefighting costs, and seeking compensation for fire damages.

The May 17 fire occurred only 100 metres from the industrial rail yard built last year by Cando Contracting Ltd., Imperial Oil and CN to store up to 225 petroleum tank cars. Had the fire started in or moved into this rail yard, it would have been disastrous, because the petroleum tank cars and leaked oil, grease and solvents in the rail yard are very flammable.

Local residents continue their fight to get this rail yard shut down before a serious mishap occurs.

The rail yard was not only built right next to 2 wildlife conservation areas, but also right next to 2 residences and less than the 300m distance permitted between rail yards and homes. The rail yard is a joint project by Cando Contracting Ltd., Canadian National Railway (CN) and Imperial Oil. Cando Contracting Ltd. built the rail yard on land leased from CN to store 225 of Imperial Oil’s petroleum tank cars.

We wrote to the federal Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities Minister; Minister of State for Transport; Environment Minister; our local MP, Leon Benoit; and even the Prime Minister. We wrote to the Alberta Environment Minister. We wrote to CN, Imperial Oil and Cando Contracting Ltd., all at the most senior levels. We wrote to and spoke with many federal, provincial and municipal staff. No one assumed any responsibility whatsoever for any part of the rail yard construction or operation, even though we pointed out many breaches of legislation, policies, guidelines and railway operating rules. The only 2 individuals who tried to help us were our past and current Strathcona County Councillors. However, County staff did nothing to help us, but instead issued several construction, noise, road operation and other permits to the contractor, even though we pleaded for them not to.

Now that Spring has arrived and the snow is melting, a major problem has arisen. Before construction of this rail yard commenced, meltwater and rain run-off flowed in 2 directions through what was a natural lowland – water flowed north from the northern one-half of the area into Mill Creek and then into the North Saskatchewan River, while water in the southern one-half of the area flowed south through a farm dugout and farm yard, then through the Bretona ConservAction Area, into Bretona Pond, and eventually into Mill Creek.

During construction of the rail yard, water flows to the north were blocked by filling in the lowland, thereby eliminating any natural flow to the north and directly into Mill Creek. As a result, meltwater has now backed up and formed into very large ponds on adjacent farmland and has nowhere to flow, other than to the south when water levels get so high it flows in a direction opposite to its natural flow. See photos taken April 25, 2011.

This water will have picked up whatever oil, grease and solvents that have dripped from the stored petroleum tank cars, and will flow into the adjacent farm dugout, through the 2 wildlife conservation areas including into Bretona Pond which is a major waterbird staging, breeding and rearing wetland. As the years pass, and more and more oil, grease and solvents (plus whatever petroleum products may leak from the stored tank cars) builds up in the rail yard, this may well pose a serious hazard to the environment including wildlife and livestock. We had warned all concerned about this before construction commenced June 2010.

The farmer who owns the adjacent land may not be able to farm many acres for some time, if at all this year, due to altered drainage. Any oil or solvent products that will have made their way into the natural water system may well cause problems, if not this year, then in years to come.

As a result, we have contacted the federal, provincial and municipal governments to request that they immediately look into this matter, since the local drainage pattern has been seriously altered, and there may well be attendant pollution problems that may cause harm to the environment in neighbouring properties including the 2 wildlife conservation areas.

This industrial rail yard should never have been built in this location – it should have been built in an industrial area. Now, who will assume responsibility for this mess?

Read the excellent summary in Consider This of Canadian National Railway’s continuing safety problems. This article indicates that since 2000, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has investigated 10 derailments that involved longer, heavier trains and excessive in-train forces. Nine of these were Canadian National trains. CN has the lowest safety level rating, 1 or 2 on a scale of 5. One of many reasons identified for this poor safety record is the lack of dialogue by CN management with its train operators and the general strained relationship between the railway union and CN management. A “culture of fear” is known to exist within CN, and workers are reluctant to bring safety risks to the attention of their supervisors for fear of reprisal.

Considering that CN does not appear to be responding to the many Transportation Safety Board warnings, when will the federal government get serious about forcing CN to comply with safety legislation and policies?

Although CN public relations staff tried to downplay the accident, this is but one more in a long string of CN derailments and spills within a very short period of time. Just within the month of February alone, there have been numerous CN derailments including the following:

• Kennedy Siding in Pine Pass, B.C. – 16 propane cars – end of February

• Fort Fraser, B.C. – 36 coal cars derail – February 12

• Mussey Township, St. Clair County, Michigan – 4 derailed cars, ammonia nitrate spilled – February 7

Following are additional recent CN derailments:

• Derailments caused by too long trains – See this Railroaded posting

• Many CN derailments between September 28, 2010 and January 7, 2011 – See this Railroaded posting

• More CN derailments prior to September 28, 2010 – See many postings under Railroaded’s “News Link”

• CN derailments at Scotford Yard – See this Railroaded posting

Considering all of these derailments and spills by Canadian National Railway, one would hope that CN’s plans to ship more petroleum products by rail will not be seriously considered or permitted by industry or the Transportation Safety Board of Canada .

CN had unsuccessfully argued that the Surface Transportation Board did not have legal grounds to raise environmental concerns in a deal between a large and a small railroad. The court knocked out this argument.

CN has been battling with 33 communities along the EJ&E main line that are concerned about CN’s aggressive approach to the EJ&E takeover. Communities have been concerned about increased rail traffic, increased noise and diesel exhaust pollution, adjacent property devaluation, and increased traffic jams at many rail crossings which have very significant impacts on emergency vehicle response times.

TRAC (The Regional Answer to Canadian National), a coalition of  suburban Chicago-area leaders, joined forces to ensure the quality of life of more than 1 million residents is not adversely impacted by CN’s takeover of EJ&E. To date, this organization has been successful in its mission. Railroaded applauds the efforts of TRAC.

This most recent court decision falls on the heels of a March 11, 2011 fine imposed on CN by the British Columbia Provincial Court for spilling diesel fuel into a fish-bearing river. CN was found guilty of violating the Canada Fisheries Act. As well, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board fined CN $250,000 in December 2010 for intentionally under-reporting train blockages at railroad crossings along the EJ&E line.

Canadian National Railway has a long track record of violating legislation, guidelines, conditions and policies. Going to court is very much an integral part of CN’s daily business. Check out other examples at our website.

In January 2009, Environment Canada was notified of a diesel slick near the confluence of Barker Creek and the Fraser River in B.C.  Their investigation confirmed that the source was a fuel pumping station at the CN Rail Thornton Yards.

On March 11, 2011, a B.C. Provincial Court convicted CN of an offence under the federal Fisheries Act. See Daily Commercial News article.

Check out the latest string of CN derailments here. The federal regulators want to develop science-based regulations that will hopefully reduce the steadily increasing number of derailments.

When they built a rail yard last year to store 225 petroleum tank cars near homes and wildlife conservation areas, they did not bother to contact local landowners or give them any opportunities to object. In the process, they breached many policies, guidelines and laws.

This Sherwood Park News article reports that CN Railway already started clearing trees for construction of its twinned track between Ardrossan and Uncas in Strathcona County without letting neighbours know about their plans. A CN representative stated that the tree clearing activities on site in preparation for construction are considered maintenance, not part of the construction (who is he kidding?). And then the CN representative said Strathcona County will be notified when construction starts. He did not indicate that local and affected residents would be contacted by CN.

This is but one more of many examples of CN’s community relations disasters. CN’s website states, “At CN, we recognize our citizenship responsibilities to the communities in which we operate – not only in our commitment to safety and the environment, but also in making communities better places to live and work.”

So let me get this straight…intentionally not informing neighbouring residents about a new rail yard or new twinned track, both of which mean more rail traffic, more noise, and more carcinogenic locomotive diesel exhaust, is recognizing CN’s “citizenship responsibilities”? What kind of corporate ethic is that? CN can’t even follow its own community relations policy clearly stated on its website.

Canadian National Railway gets top marks in deception, but a failing grade in community relations – again.

Railroaded couldn’t agree more, especially considering that Cando Contracting Ltd, Canadian National Railway and Imperial Oil just completed construction of a rail yard to store petroleum tank cars right next to homes and two wildlife conservation areas just east of Edmonton. The rail yard was built only 68 metres from our neighbour’s house and only 163 metres from our house. The proximity report provides a 300-metre minimum distance guideline between rail yards and homes because of the significant noise and vibration associated with rail yards. CN’s own proximity policy has also been breached.

Community relations and environmental records of CN, Cando Contracting Ltd. and Imperial Oil are terrible; see many other examples elsewhere at this website.

The two railway crossings in Wildwood have been equipped with safety measures such as bells, flashing lights, and crossing arms. Once these safety issues have been addressed, it is possible to apply to Transport Canada for a whistling exemption. Before such an exemption is granted, both Transport Canada and the railway company must conduct a safety audit to ensure that trains can stop whistling safely.

In Strathcona County just east of Edmonton, Council recently voted unanimously to look at mitigating train whistle noise through County hamlets in response to complaints from residents. See this Sherwood Park News article.

A Commission of Inquiry indicated several human errors at the root of the accident, and investigations revealed serious flaws in CN’s employee practices.

Still today, CN derailments and other accidents are frequent due to breaches of railway operating rules, safety rules, policies, guidelines, and even legislation.

When we asked why they needed lights, the surveyors said so the tank cars can be moved at night. This means we’ll be woken up in the middle of the night by locomotive engine noise, coupling, decoupling, brake squeals, etc. Since they started storing and moving tank cars in early November 2010, we have been woken up many times at night by rail yard activities right next to our acreage and house.

We continue to press the federal government and the Canadian Transportation Agency to enforce legislation for which they are responsible.  The rail yard construction and operation have breached many federal laws, CN policies, Imperial Oil policies, railway operating rules and Railway Association of Canada guidelines. The Prime Minister has still not responded to our November 8, 2010 letter. Our MP, Leon Benoit, will be rudely reminded of this lack of support during the next federal election.

This is a ‘must-read’ report for anyone living next to a rail yard and for anyone interested in challenging and helping to minimize the negative impacts of rail yards.  The 7-page report is loaded with strong, clear language and descriptions about the health and environmental impacts of rail yards. Following is an excerpt:

“Operating the trucks, locomotives and yard equipment that service rail yards negatively affects communities’ health and quality of life with increased air pollution, noise, traffic congestion, and industrial blight….Of particular concern are diesel particulate emissions, which have been linked to lung cancer and other health effects. Living near rail yards is also a concern because new studies show that living close to traffic-related pollution is related to asthma and reduced lung function in children, heart disease and stroke in adults, and problems during pregnancy or having babies that are born prematurely or weighing less than normal.”

Based on the California Air Resources Board’s recognition that health risks are high within one mile of a rail yard, the report states, “That means that a new rail yard should not be allowed to be sited within one mile of sensitive receptors.”

The report ends with the following excerpt:

“Affected communities have put forward solutions that would protect the public’s health, advance clean technology, and make railroads better neighbors. It is time for Federal and State officials and the railroad companies to bring the railroad industry into the 21st century and end rail yard pollution.”

Be sure to also check out the excellent  Rail and Reason article on impacts of locomotive diesel exhaust referenced in an earlier Railroaded “Latest News” posting.

Gord Peters, President and CEO of Cando Contracting Ltd., is a very strange appointment to the Red Tape Reduction Commission. Cando Contracting Ltd. has just completed building, in partnership with Canadian National Railway and Imperial Oil, a rail yard near Edmonton to store over 200 petroleum tank cars right next to homes and 2 protected wildlife conservation areas. Cando Contracting Ltd. did not bother to contact neighbouring homeowners about the project, provided no opportunities to object,  and did not conduct an environmental impact assessment or a socio-economic impact assessment prior to construction.

Residents near this rail yard are stuck with the noise, smell, health impacts, visual impact, devalued properties and ruined quality of life. Many laws, policies and guidelines have been breached during construction and operation of this rail yard.

So Gord Peters and Cando Contracting Ltd. know all about “red tape reduction”.  Somebody forgot to check the background of individuals nominated for the Red Tape Reduction Commission. Had such a background check been conducted, it is possible someone like Gord Peters might not have been appointed.

• Vernon Township, Michigan: Hydrochloric acid spill forces resident evacuations.

• Tete-Jaune, B.C.: 33 coal cars derail near Fraser River.

• Neenah Rail Yard, Wisconsin: 11 freight cars derail.

• Pritchard, Alabama: 10 cars derail.

• Scotford Rail Yard, Alberta: 14 cars derail, 3 months following 43-car derailment in same yard.

• Vibank, Saskatchewan: 2 locomotives and 1 hopper car derail.

• Williams Lake, B.C.: 2 locomotives derail.

• Northwest of Edmonton, Alberta: 2 locomotives and 18 cars derail.

• Brimson, Minnesota: 5 injured in head-on collision between 2 CN trains; 3 locomotives and many cars derail.

When interviewed, CN personnel appear to have the standard response of…..”No one was injured and there were no environmental issues. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.” The public seldom is informed about the outcome of such investigations.

Canadian and U.S. regulators have criticized CN’s safety record and have issued many warnings to CN. Regulators have cited many reasons for CN’s growing number of derailments and accidents since CN was privatized in 1995, including: improper rail welds, rotting railroad ties, unsafe rail cars, and marshalling problems. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has warned of potential disasters similar to the Lake Wabamun CN train wreck in 2005 where CN was fined $1.4 million and payed millions more in clean up costs and compensation. About 2 million litres of toxic fuel oil and pole treating oil spilled into Lake Wabamun, killing waterbirds and fish and covering lakeside cottage beaches with oil.

See previous postings below, and many news articles under our “Latest News” link for further details and examples of CN’s failing derailment and safety record.

Imperial Oil is facing growing public criticism over many other infringements of environmental, private property and traditional aboriginal use laws including: about 2,000 ducks killed in its Syncrude tailings ponds; storing its petroleum tank cars in a new rail yard just built by CN, Imperial Oil and Cando Contracting right next to two wildlife conservation areas near Edmonton; leaking gas wells right next to people’s homes in Calmar southwest of Edmonton; partnering in one of the United States’ most polluted sites; and displacing aboriginal people from the Norman Wells area in the N.W.T.

Perhaps the manner in which Imperial Oil has been mismanaging its environmental and community relations issues lately is one of the reasons that Imperial Oil stock (New York Stock Exchange) has recently been downgraded to an “Underperform” rating by Zacks Investment Research.

As TRAC stated in the attached posting, “The STB decision brings to light a serious flaw in how railroads are regulated.”  TRAC has indicated that more needs to be done to ensure that communities across the U.S.  are not harmed by CN’s lack of respect for U.S. citizens. Railroaded applauds the efforts of TRAC, and sincerely hopes that this decision in the U.S. will open the eyes of railway regulators in Canada (e.g., Canadian Transportation Agency, Transportation Safety Board of Canada) to act in a meaningful way on the many concerns that Canadians have about the way CN operates in Canada.

In addition to a petition already signed by all of the local residents who can see and/or hear this rail yard, Railroaded has started an on line petition for individuals to sign who support this rail yard getting shut down.

And, Imperial Oil continues to press Idaho and Montana to provide permits for trucking Imperial’s gigantic tar sands refining modules along narrow and winding highways through scenic river valleys and national forests that are major tourist attractions.  In this article residents, tourism operators and environmentalists cite their concerns and push to legally block these megaloads from destroying their river valleys, forests, businesses and quality of life.

The letter also highlights concerns by Strathcona County residents about the rail yard recently completed by CN, Cando Contracting and Imperial Oil to store over 200 petroleum tank cars way too close to protected wildlife conservation areas and homes.

Railroaded wholeheartedly supports this announcement. If you live in Canada, Railroaded encourages you to contact your federal Member of Parliament (MP) to let them know you support this consultation process and look forward to future emissions regulations that protect the health of Canadians who are exposed on a regular basis to locomotive emissions.

Residents in the same County (Strathcona) who live near a recently completed rail yard built by Cando Contracting to store over 200 Imperial Oil petroleum tank cars are becoming extremely concerned about CN’s safety record, especially in rail yards. They say that at least this string of derailments at the Scotford Rail Yard is happening in an industrial area, whereas the recently completed rail yard in their community in the southwest part of the same County is right next to homes and wildlife conservation areas, and close to a school and golf course. A derailment and fire at this rail yard would be disastrous.

There have been many other recent CN derailments in other locations, including one northwest of Edmonton and one near Vibank, Saskatchewan (see “Latest News” link). Rail yards are particularly prone to derailments and other accidents. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will undoubtedly be looking into this recent escalation in CN derailments.

• Rail and Reason
• Edmonton Tamarack Train Protest
• TRAC The Regional Answer to Canadian National
• Nous es les trains
• Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions (CURES)
• Bolivar Heights
• Quayside Community Board
• Plainfield Village Board

What is particularly frustrating to local farm and acreage owners is that Strathcona County staff, who had no authority to approve this project which falls under federal jurisdiction, met secretly with the proponents,  provided noise permits, road use agreements, and other construction approvals. County staff ignored their own rail yard setback of a minimum of 300m from homes. (This setback is one endorsed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities of which Strathcona County is a member.) Residents are trying to get to the bottom of why the County was so quick to assist and facilitate this project.

And, Idaho residents are angry because Imperial Oil wants to transport tar sands infrastructure along a highway through popular national forests and parks in the state. The infrastructure is headed for Imperial’s Kearl Oil Sands Project near Fort McMurray.

We have posted several news articles at Railroaded’s “Latest News” link at http://railroaded.wordpress.com/news/ on these stories.

For several days during the past week, the trucks and other equipment parked on both sides of our narrow country road right by the railway crossing have been so numerous that it has been difficult for anyone, including our school buses, to get through safely. They park half in the ditch and half on the road, which creates a safety hazard.

During our July 8 phone conversation, Mr. Benoit promised to look into the matter on our behalf. He asked for more background information, so in addition to all of the other information we had already provided to him, we forwarded more information. That was more than 3 months ago, and we have yet to receive any word from our MP, in spite of numerous additional attempts on our part.

One would think, because this rail yard is affecting our health, safety, property values, quality of life and 2 adjacent wildlife conservation areas, that our MP would take an interest in our plight, particularly since  rail yards fall primarily under federal authorities. To date, Mr. Benoit has shown little interest in helping us. Our community will remember this during the next federal election.

On the other hand, the Strathcona County administration has not been helpful, in fact they have done nothing to assist us, but have done everything to assist Cando Contracting Ltd. build the rail yard, even though they have no jurisdictional authority to approve the project. First, County staff met secretly with Cando for at least 7 months before we found out by accident of the rail yard plans. Second, County staff approved a Road Use Agreement for our small and narrow roads to be used by Cando and contractor construction equipment….these roads have now been destroyed by all the heavy truck and equipment traffic. Third, County staff approved construction of a driveway from the main road into the rail yard site. Fourth, County staff ignored the fact that Strathcona County was an active participant in establishment of the Bretona Pond Buck-for-Wildlife Area in 1985 and the County initiated the Bretona ConservAction Area project on our private land in 1989. Both of these protected natural areas are located less than 30m from the Cando rail yard. Fifth, as a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Strathcona County has ignored the joint Federation of Canadian Municipalities/Railway Association of Canada  proximity guideline of a minimum of 300m distance between rail yards and homes (our home is only 163m and our neighbour’s home is only 68m from the rail yard).

We later discovered that Cando Contracting Ltd. had been planning for over a year to build an industrial rail yard right next to our acreage home, our neighbour’s farm and two protected natural areas.  The rail yard would consist of an extra track (siding) plus 10 tracks side-by-side to store 225 petroleum tanker cars owned by Imperial Oil. To say the least, we were shocked. Within a few days we learned that Cando had spoken to the County of Strathcona in Fall 2009 about this rail yard which they planned to build on CN’s right-of-way next to the existing CN Camrose Sub-Division Mainline. We could not believe that no one had contacted us as the adjacent landowners about the project – not Cando Contracting Ltd., not CN, not Imperial Oil and not the County of Strathcona. We later found out that this practice of not notifying landowners and not following rules, guidelines and in some cases, legislation, has happened before for Cando and CN, particularly following privatization of CN in 1995. However, we were shocked to find out that our municipal government let us down; not only did they not make us aware of this project earlier on, but they disregarded proximity guidelines agreed to by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (of which Strathcona County is a member).