After the derailment of a train carrying fuel devastated a small town in Quebec on Saturday, questions are being raised in B.C. over the safety of transporting fuel by rail.
The possibility of using rail to transport petroleum products instead of pipelines has been floated by David Black, a proponent of a B.C. refinery project in Kitimat. According to Black, shipping diesel gas and jet fuel by train is much safer.
Expanding this method of transportation, however, has been called into question after the train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec led to the death of five people with 40 more missing.
“What happened down there may really change their whole minds and change the minds of Canadians," said Emile Therien, former president of the Canada Safety Council.
Leader of the NDP Tom Mulcair has commented on the industry as well, saying regulation of fuel transportation by rail doesn’t match up with new demand.
"There's been a monumental increase in rail transportation of petroleum products in our country in the past few years and regulation has not followed suit," said Mulcair.
Pipeline critic Ben West of ForestEthics has voiced concern and doesn’t see rail or pipeline as a viable transportation option for fuel in B.C. West is in favour of more safety standards for the industry, but said the safety of either isn’t foolproof.
"Pretty much every couple weeks you see another incident, whether it's rail or pipeline. I think it's pretty tough for anyone to make a case that either pipeline or rail can be done safely,” said West.
The Rail Association of Canada said 99.9 per cent of its rail cars finish their trips without issue.
With a report by CTV British Columbia’s Penny Daflos
