District council will be seeking greater transparency with regards to the cargo of trains passing through Sicamous.
Last week council received notice from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) that the federal Transportation Safety Board had completed its yearlong investigation into the fatal Lac-Mégantic derailment of an unattended freight train on July 6, 2013. Resulting explosions killed 47 people and destroyed 40 buildings.
Coun. Fred Busch said council should take heed of the incident, noting there are “umpteen trains that come through here and we really don’t know what it is that they’re carrying.”
“If the rail company, CP Rail here, is able to furnish us with some information on what there might be on those trains, that would certainly help our fire department be prepared for something like that,” said Busch.
“I think that’s something we have to press CP Rail on giving us that information.
“I don’t know if that information is available. I think they’re supposed to, but are they actually doing that?”
Coun. Terry Rysz, acting as deputy mayor, agreed, and recommended a motion to contact FCM’s National Municipal Rail Safety Working Group for policy information with respect to train manifests.
“And also, within the letter, I’d also like to see what their contingency plan is in case something should happen here,” said Rysz. “I’m of the understanding that they do have one, but I’ve never seen anything.”
