Anne Hill of the North West Watch stood before Terrace City Council yesterday to raise environmental concerns relating to the transportation of dangerous goods via rail.
According to Hill, more than 240 additional rail cars of volatile fuels will be transported through Terrace each day as a result of the Vopak storage facility coming to Ridley Island.
While these numbers are available, the amount of dangerous goods currently transported on CN Rail lines is not known to the public.
This, along with an unwillingless to disclose specific information, has Hill concerned over a possible catastrophic explosion or disaster.
If a disaster were to occur on rail lines coming through Terrace, most of the city, along with most major emergency services, would be caught in the evacuation zone.
CN Rail’s emergency response plan relies heavily on municipal governments, and as a result, Hill is asking the City to disclose their plan.
Anyone wishing for more information can check out a presentation by author and professor Bruce Campbell at Knox United Church on January 24th at 7:00 pm.
