CN Considering Shipping Alberta Crude Oil to Prince Rupert by Rail

Shortly following what has been characterized as the most devastating rail accident in Canadian history, CN Railway is considering shipping Alberta tar sands bitumen to Prince Rupert, British Columbia (Edmonton Journal).

July 7, 2013, 47 people were killed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec after a runaway train hauling oil derailed, causing massive explosions and fires that also destroyed a major portion of downtown Lac-Megantic. The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada continues its investigations into this horrific accident that so far has involved railway safety breaches and intentional mislabelling of rail tank car contents.

In the wake of the Lac-Megantic derailment, there have been demands by the public, railway safety experts, municipal governments across Canada, federal opposition parties, and many others for a complete overhaul of Canada’s railway safety legislation and regulation. Yet, before the TSB is even finished its investigations of the Lac-Megantic disaster, CN and the tar sands industry (Nexen Inc.) are considering shipping oil sands products by rail through parks; along rivers, streams and lakes; and through many villages, towns and cities in Alberta and British Columbia. It is difficult to find words to describe how completely inappropriate it is for CN and Chinese-owned Nexen Inc. to be considering such a venture at this time.

We will not repeat the multitude of reasons shipping oil by rail involves far more risk than pipelines; rather, we’ll direct our followers to this blog, to this link and to this research paper prepared by Railroaded.

~ by railroaded on September 24, 2013.