A need for More Dialogue the takeaway for Councillor Nick Adey following Taylor Bachrach's Town Hall on Rail Safety

A review of some of the key points from the May 20th Town Hall on Rail Safety hosted by Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach made for part of the discussion Monday night at Prince Rupert City Council, 

That as Councillor Nick Adey, who has been appointed as the city's point person on the subject outlined some of his observations from the forum, as well as some thoughts from local participants in that May virtual town hall. 

The Councillors update included an overview of the presentation by Rail Safety advocate and author, Bruce Campbell who wrote a book on the Lac Megantic disaster in Quebec. 

The main thrust of his contribution to the forum was to explain that there is no such thing as no risk when it comes to the transport of goods by rail.  

Mr Adey adding that Campbell had observed as to some of the safety measures in place and how they are subject to change by the railway,  further noting how the author had outlined  how the government needed to do more in the way of oversight of rail safety planning by the railways.

"It's not that the companies aren't aware of the issue. It seems that there is a bit of a lag or a discrepancy between the existence of the regulations and the will or the ability to measure how successful they are and in that context there is a very powerful relationship between the major rail companies and Transport Canada which would oversee these things"  -- Some of Councillor Nick Adey's observations of a recent Town Hall Forum on Rail Safety hosted by MP Taylor Bachrach

Another key element of the forum relayed by Councillor Adey were observations public participation and towards the need to protect the workers at the railroads.

"There need to be better measures to improve public participation in a discussion about rail safety and the second was that he felt that there were two ways in which the workers for the rail companies  needed to be protected more actively. One was in the area of fatigue management and the other was on whistle blower protection in the event that there was a problem that a worker becomes aware of"

When it came to the local contributors to the town hall, Mr. Adey noted the following from those who participate in the forum from the Prince Rupert area.

An under reporting of dangerous goods incidents in the Prince Rupert region.

A sense of local government had a hard time being listened to on the issue as its a federal concern, with a recommendation of frequent dialogue with the MP 

Concerns were expressed on issues of noise and vibration for those near rail infrastructure as well as speed.

To that topic, Mr. Adey noted that with the introduction of the propane facilities in Prince Rupert the reduced speed measures have been implemented in the region.

There was also a call by one participant for national standards related to noise, speed limits and concerns of toxins that are transported.

A CN Rail Propane Train pulling into the Pembina 
Shipment Terminal on Watson Island
(photo from Pembina library)

On the theme of dangerous goods and the potential for incidents,  Councillor Adey observed that it would be the local First Responders in the community would be the first on the scene, with the corporate response personnel based in Terrace in the Northwest. 

"If there is an incident in say the Prince Rupert waterfront area, or in our region somewhere, it is our local first responders who are going to be the first ones on the scene.  The railway companies have staff and personnel who are trained in dealing with it, but they are not here. They would need to come from further away, I think Terrace is the closest place. So there's a lag time there where it really does depend on our first responders.  So there needs to be, and I know there is a relationship between first responders here and the companies, in terms of emergency planning. But it's not something that the public necessarily has  very much access to in terms of the details"

The need for additional dialogue among all stakeholders not just in Prince Rupert but along the entire CN corridor in the Northwest, was one of the key  points that the Councillor took from the forum. 

Mr. Adey also noted he had much more material from the session and if anyone wanted to discuss the issue of rail safety they could contact him for further information on the Town Hall and other themes.

You can review his full presentation from the City's Video archive starting at the one hour forty minute mark.

More notes on Monday's Council session can be explored from our Council Timeline.

A wider overview of past Council themes is available here.

Items of interest on the railway in the Northwest can be reviewed here.