Railways Not Safer than Pipelines

Following a string of recent CN derailments, CN and CP argue they can move oil to our west coast without the risks associated with the Enbridge Inc. Northern Gateway Pipeline. Yes it’s true that Enbridge pipelines had a few leaks this past summer in central Canada, but for CN and CP to suggest that they can transport oil in tanker rail cars from Alberta to the west coast with less environmental risk is laughable.  CN’s record of derailments, spills and other accidents is terrible, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada keeps issuing one report after the other, criticizing CN for its safety record. Whether it’s the 2005 spill of 1.3 million litres of fuel oil and 700,000 litres of Imperial Pole Treating Oil into Lake Wabamun, or the  2005 spill of 40,000 litres of toxic caustic soda into the Cheakamus River that decimated the river’s fish populations, CN has had more than its share of polluting watercourses and killing fish and wildlife. (See many other examples of CN derailments and other accidents elsewhere at this website.) For CN to suggest railways are less risky than pipelines, from a spill and environmental damage perspective, is a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black.

~ by railroaded on December 1, 2010.