New Westminster is already on track to find out exactly what kinds of dangerous goods may be riding the rails through the city.
The federal government has directed railway companies to share details about the dangerous goods passing through communities on a quarterly basis. The railways will provide the designated emergency-planning official in each municipality with information and the nature and volume of dangerous goods being transported through their cities.
While the federal transportation minister just provided the directive to railways, the City of New Westminster has already made progress on this issue, said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr.
“We are quite far ahead on this issue,” he said. “We have certainly been working on it.”
According to Puchmayr, the city has been working with railways to get quick access to information about the types of materials being transported through New Westminster. He said the city has compiled a file of dangerous goods going through the city at any given time.
Burnaby city council recently voiced support for heavier regulation of railways, and the need for more information about the dangerous goods being transported through that city so first responders are able to respond to potential emergencies.
Puchmayr said New Westminster’s ability to get details on dangerous goods passing through the city might be due to its relationship with railways operating in the city.
“The difference may be the fact Southern Railway handles goods from the three railways,” he said. “We have found a good cooperation with Southern Railway. They are willing to disclose that information to us.”
Puchmayr is a member of the city’s community advisory panel, which includes city representatives, citizens and representatives from the four railways traveling in New Westminster.
Brian Allen, chair of the Quayside Community Board’s rail noise committee, has urged the city to take action to eliminate the storage of staging of hazardous and explosive goods in the Quayside Rail yard. He told The Record in September that the issue hit home after the July 6 tragedy in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, when a runaway train rolled down a steep slope into the town, derailed and exploded, leaving 47 dead and ravaging the downtown area.
“We are moving very positively on this and quite quickly,” Puchmayr told The Record Wednesday. “Since Megantic, we have got a lot of work done.”
New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services is also seeking funding in its 2014 budget to establish a hazardous materials response team, which would respond to emergencies such as derailment of rail cars carrying dangerous goods.
Puchmayr, Mayor Wayne Wright and Fire Chief Tim Armstrong recently boarded a Southern Railway train and travelled along its routes through New Westminster. In addition to safety issues, they also discussed whistle cessation.
For more on this story, visit Theresa McManus’s Only in New West blog. Go to www.royalcityrecord.com and Click on the Opinion tab, then the Blogs tab.
