Earlier today, a Canadian National (CN) Rail train carrying coal, derailed near Burns Lake.
Reportedly, nine train cars carrying coal went off the tracks near Burns Lake and the coal spillage had not reached the nearby water body.
On March 5, another CN Rail train had derailed near Prince George spilling nearly 42 tonnes of petroleum coke near Hay Creek. In an emailed statement, the company said that “a small amount” of the substance, described as “a non-hazardous by-product of the refining process,” had spilled as a result of the derailment, into a creek in Giscome. This time however, the company has said that the derailment of the train carrying coal, has neither resulted in any injuries nor has the coal entered and disturbed the water body nearby.
As per the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s website, there are currently four separate active investigations into CN train derailments, oldest of which is for the incident on June 28, 2019, when a westbound CN freight train had derailed between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. The latest of the four active investigations is for the main track derailment that occurred on Jan. 7, 2020 where 33 cars loaded with wood products had derailed at Mile 70 of Bulkley Subdivision.
CN is investigating the cause for this latest derailment near Burns Lake and as per the spokesperson for the company, the cleaning crew is already on site. In a statement emailed to Black Press, Jonathan Abecassis, the spokesperson for CN wrote,”There is no danger to public safety as there are no fires, injuries, or dangerous goods involved.”
