Task force struck to assess toxic chemical spill on Cheakamus; derailed train cars scheduled for removal Friday morning
Sylvie Paillard
[email protected]
A multi-partnered group will be struck to develop a recovery plan for the Cheakamus River following an Aug. 5 chemical spill, the Ministry of Environment announced Wednesday.
Led by the Ministry of Environment, the group, which includes CN Rail, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the 樱桃视频First Nation, will first complete an assessment of the river, and the impact on fish stocks, wildlife and surrounding habitat from last week's train derailment that resulted in nine cars going off the tracks, including one that spilled thousands of litres of sodium hydroxide into the Cheakamus River.
At approximately 7:15 a.m. Aug. 5, a train out of North Vancouver bound for Prince George on the former BC Rail 樱桃视频Subdivision, derailed approximately 40 kilometres south of Whistler. A total of nine cars derailed on a bridge over the Cheakamus River and one of the derailed cars dumped 41,000 litres of sodium hydroxide on the north side of the bridge.
CN Rail is scheduled to begin removing the derailed tank car at noon Friday (Aug. 12) with completion of the work expected by 6 p.m., according to a District of 樱桃视频news release. The news release also states that residents should not use the Cheakamus River or the 樱桃视频River below the confluence with the Cheakamus River to the 樱桃视频Estuary. 樱桃视频Nation representative Randall Lewis said the Nation was shocked at the lack of communication and emergency response, and plans to take action.
"If CN Rail steps up and says we understand that there was a major fish kill of fish that are at risk, we're going to provide $5 million or $10 million for restoration for whatever we need to do to build those stocks up, than great," said Lewis. "But if not, I'll strongly recommend taking action."
Thousands of fish were lost in the spill, according to Regional Manager of Environmental Stewardship, fish biologist Brian Clark.
"It pretty much took out everything between the crash location and the confluence with the 樱桃视频River," he said.From 40 lbs Chinook to just emerged bullhead, 4,500 fish were collected for study purposes and they are now frozen. The fish were killed by the oxygen extraction from the water.
"They suffocated," said Clark adding that the dead carcasses don't pose a chemical risk to wildlife and birds.
DOS acting Mayor Sonja Lebans said that the municipality will investigate why the town's residents were not immediately told of the toxic spill.
"We were somewhat disappointed by the communication startup," said Lebans.
Residents along the river only discovered that there was a problem several hours after the 7:15 a.m. spill when thousands of dead chinook, steelhead and pink salmon began floating on the surface of the river. Carl Halverson of the North Vancouver Outdoor School, located on the river's banks 11 kilometres (seven miles) away from the derailment, assessed the water's acidity level five hours after the incident as "off the charts."
"It's killed everything," he said.
The fish stock was severely depleted by the 2003 floods and were just coming back to its previous numbers, said 樱桃视频Streamkeepers Society member Carolyn Melville.
"I'm this close to drying my eyes out," she said standing on the riverbank. "It's going to take years and years to recover from this."
Len Lewer of the Transportation Safety Board said there were no broken rails or ties that would have caused the accident. Investigators are now checking the cars in the train and how the train was made up for clues as to what caused the derailment, he said.
CN confirmed the derailed cars were at the head-end of the train. The tanker and eight empty centre beam lumber cars went off the rails. The affected rail cars were located four cars from the head-end, said Bill Danks, a CN risk management officer based in Vancouver.
Danks confirmed the derailment took place on the rail bridge at Mile 56.6 of the line.
Lebans said that a Provincial Emergency Preparedness (PEP) team visited the site on the day of the spill and set up an emergency operations centre in 樱桃视频with federal provincial and district participants.
"Our next step is going to have a meeting and debriefing with the total group to look at what we did right and wrong to make sure it doesn't happen again," she said. "And then we'll have a public forum to talk to people about what actually happened, how it came about and I guess CN at that time may be able to explain how it happened."
The public meeting is expected to occur in the second week of September.
The newly formed Ministry-led task force plans to develop an ecosystem recovery plan that will be implemented by CN Rail with provincial, federal and First Nation officials overseeing the work.
In addition, officials from the Ministry of Environment and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are looking at what changes may be required to recreational angling regulations on the Cheakamus to ensure healthy fish stocks.
Provincial officials are also collaborating with Environment Canada on an investigation into the spill under the Federal Fisheries Act and relevant provincial legislation. The investigation will be in addition to the one already underway by Transport Canada into the cause of the train derailment.
Meanwhile, Environment Minister Barry Penner is rejecting NDP calls for his ministry to conduct a complete review of the accident, saying that铆s up to the Safety Board.
-with files from John French.
