(The Canadian Press circulated the following on August 4.)
LYTTON, B.C. — An official with CP Rail promises better communication with local communities after the derailment of a coal train this week.
Ed Greenberg said the railway will act on the concerns of Mayor Chris O’Connor who has demanded that more effort be put into informing communities along the rail line of the goods that are being shipped by train.
“Certainly we’re concerned when the mayor of a community that is along our track has concerns because it is something we take very seriously,” Mr. Greenberg said yesterday.
“Though this incident is being led by CN, our company will continue to be involved in the investigation and is now in regular communication with local stakeholders as it was our train that was on the CN rail.”
The Canadian Pacific coal train derailed Monday on a bridge just outside Lytton, sending 12 cars into the Thompson River. Each car was carrying up to 100 tonnes of coal.
Officials have said there is probably little risk to human health, but a Fisheries spokesman has said people shouldn’t eat fish caught in the river until lab tests are completed. There is no commercial fishery in the area, but there is recreational fishing.
The derailment is expected to be cleaned up by the weekend, but it’s unclear when the coal will be cleaned from the river.
The rail on the bridge is suspected as a possible cause of the accident, a Transportation Safety Board spokesman has said.
Meanwhile, answers to what caused a deadly derailment north of Lillooet last month have been slow in coming.
Dan Hollbrook, western region manager of the Transportation Safety Board, said yesterday that investigators have to return to the site a second time to retrieve more physical evidence from a locomotive. He said they removed a number of locomotive airbrake components and sent them to Ottawa for further analysis.
Tom Dodd, 55, and Don Faulkner, 59, were killed and a third crewman was injured when a locomotive and lumber car went off the tracks and plunged down steep cliffs. After the accident, CN Rail was ordered to use dynamic brakes on its locomotives. Dynamic brakes are a supplementary braking system that help control the speed of a train when it’s going downhill.