Ramsey Lake train derailment: What are the chances? What can we do?

This map of Ramsey Lake shows the rail line in blue. The main water intake pipe for 60,000 Sudburians is indicated with the red arrow. (Map provided by Gordon Drysdale.)

an analysis piece by Lilly Noble (July 7, 2013)

There are many threats to the health of Ramsey Lake -- phosphorus from fertilizers, sodium chloride de-icers, and stormwater just to name a few.

But recently, another threat has been brought to mind due to the June derailment of 11 rail cars into the Wanapitei River and then the flooding in Calgary, which lead to a cracked bridge and the very real possibility of five railcars loaded with petroleum distillate falling into the Bow River. And then on July 6, a runaway train carrying crude oil ploughed into a town in Quebec, derailed, exploded and proceeded to burn up the town. Some rail cars also managed to spill oil into the local river. Derailments are a serious threat.

Let’s look a bit closer at our most recent local derailment. The cause of the June 2nd Wanapitei derailment, which sent 24 containers off the track and half of those into the Wanapitei River, was blamed on an “unexpected and catastrophic wheel bearing failure”. Normally, electronic monitoring systems find these problems and alert the operators. It’s not known why the system didn’t identify this problem earlier and avert the derailment. That’s an issue. Luckily, the contents of the containers were not chemical in nature although river water samples did find slightly higher-than-normal amount of contaminants due to increased motorboat activity during the cleanup operation, some diesel leakage and other railroad track chemicals coming into contact with the river. It is fortuitous that the Wanapitei municipal water intake is located upstream of the train tracks, so chemical spills on this particular track will have minimal impact on the drinking water supplied to 60% of Sudbury residents. But other residents, who have private intakes downstream of the derailment, were not so lucky. Over 50 residents downstream of the derailment were told to stop using water from the river for 12 days. Imagine having to use bottled water for household uses for 12 days. Not easy, especially for those with babies.

Other types of derailments are more dangerous than the Wanapitei derailment, as seen in the Quebec derailment and explosion, which has led to the death of at least 5 people. Other types of derailment can damage the environment for days or years. For instance, take a derailment that happened in 2007, in which 15 tanks of sulfuric acid jumped the tracks 215 km north of North Bay. For two days, five of those cars leaked 200 tonnes of sulfuric acid into the local river and lowered the pH to 2.7. In another derailment, heavy bunker fuel oil and cancer-linked polycyclic aromatic compounds leaked near Lake Wabamun, Alberta, in 2005. A derailment near Cheakamus B.C., on August 5, 2005 resulted in the release of about 45,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Cheakamus River, killing approximately 500,000 fish.

None of this was supposed to happen, but it did.

So now let’s consider Ramsey Lake and the relationship of the municipal water intake pipe and the railroad track.

Unfortunately, the David Street water intake pipe (see red arrow), which is located 300 metres from shore, is downstream of the rail line (in blue). A rail line spill would most certainly affect the water supply for approximately 60,000 Sudburians, who rely on drinking water from this source. Many people also draw water from private intakes along Ramsey Lake so they could be similarly impacted by a derailment.

Since none of the above derailments were supposed to happen, we can assume any one of these types of derailments could occur on the shores of Ramsey Lake. So what can be done? Planning for the worst is one option. Some types of spills, like those involving sulfuric acid, have a remedy, namely lime. Depending on how quickly the lime could be added, the damage might be minimal and short-lived. Other chemical or petroleum-type spills are not so easily cleaned and could linger for years. An explosion would be devastating to those living nearby. So what else can we do about the transportation of toxic and dangerous chemicals within our city and near our drinking water source?

A local group, Imagine Sudbury, has spearheaded the effort to remove rail lands from downtown Sudbury in favour of a rail yard to the north, somewhere between Azilda and Garson. This move would not only free up valuable land in the downtown core but would also eliminate the need to move dangerous cargo along Ramsey Lake. The cost has been estimated at $235-$468 million, according to a 2011 study, while the value of the land is estimated at near $500 million. So it’s not such a far-fetched idea, from a cost perspective, to change the way we move cargo around Sudbury. What it requires, by all stakeholders, is the will and desire to stop transporting dangerous materials near our highly populated areas and drinking water source. Until this happens, we are left with the real possibility of a train derailment right in the middle of our city.

Lilly Noble

Co-Chair,

Ramsey Lake Stewardship Committee

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/07/07/quebec_train_derailment_three_now_confirmed_dead.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/story/2013/06/03/sby-train-derailment-update-sudbury-wanup-wanapitei-river-bridge-collapse.html

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2011/10/14/rail-yard-could-cost-468m