Clean-up at the site of the March 30, 2007 train derailment north of Englehart, Ontario is progressing well.
Remediation Efforts/Progress Update
The pH levels in both Miller Creek and the Blanche River have returned to normal, according to recent readings, and these levels have remained stable for more than 30 hours.
We will continue to monitor pH levels.
All of the sulphuric acid has been transshipped (transferred from the derailed tank cars to new ones) and removed from the site.
The rebuilding of approximately 1,000 ft of track is nearly complete.
Railway to Re-Open Track repair efforts are ahead of schedule and the railway is expected to re-open this evening (Wednesday, April 4, 2007).
The Northlander passenger train will resume regular service between Toronto and Cochrane on Thursday however, passengers traveling south from Cochrane to North Bay will be traveling by motor coach on Thursday morning only.
All freight customers have been contacted and arrangements to resume transportation have been made.
***********
On Friday, March 30, 2007, at 2:00 p.m., an Ontario Northland freight train derailed 10 miles north of Englehart (2 hours north of North Bay, Ontario). No one was injured in the incident.
22 of the 37 cars on the train derailed - seven cars carrying various commodities and 15 sulphuric acid cars. Five of the sulphuric acid cars had been leaking however, all leaks had been contained as of Sunday morning.
Emergency response personnel from Ontario Northland and from the shipper are on site responding to the situation. In addition, personnel from the Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment Canada, CANUTEC (the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre operated by Transport Canada) and two environmental consulting firms are assisting in the assessment and clean-up.
Additional incident details and an update on the clean-up and remediation efforts are noted below:
Incident
A closer inspection of the site has revealed that 22 cars derailed on Friday (versus the original estimate of 24 cars).
It is estimated that two tank cars of sulphuric acid have been lost (between 100,000 and 150,000 L). Some of this acid has drained into Miller Creek (which is located next to the derailment site) and has adversely affected the pH levels of the creek and, to a lesser extent, the Blanche River into which the creek flows.
Water Advisory An alert was issued by the Timiskaming Health Unit on March 31, 2007, advising residents and people in the area not to use the Blanche River water system for any purpose until further notice.
Remediation Efforts/Progress Update Work to neutralize the acid was initiated promptly and is ongoing; the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Canada are monitoring the situation, along with the two environmental consulting firms.
At present, all cars have been either rerailed or relocated off of the railway track.
Personnel have begun transshipping the sulphuric acid (transferring the acid from the derailed cars to new tank cars); one car had been transshipped as of noon on April 2, 2007 and transshipping will be ongoing until all acid has been transferred to new cars and removed from the site.
New rail has been put in place to assist with the transshipping. In addition, Ontario Northland’s engineering team has begun rebuilding the remaining affected track.
It is estimated that Ontario Northland's rail line will reopen on Thursday, April 5, 2007. Freight customers have been contacted and freight shipments are expected to resume once the line has been reopened.
The Northlander passenger train will not be running between Cochrane and North Bay until the line reopens. In the interim, motor coaches are being substituted.
Investigation
An initial investigation of the site did not reveal a cause for the incident. An in-depth investigation will be undertaken by the Ontario Northland team to identify the cause and make recommendations for future prevention.
