White Rock council has asked staff for a full report on emergency systems, for both response and public communication, in the event of a catastrophe in the city, such as a major train derailment along the BNSF鈥檚 waterfront line.
The unanimously supported motion was made by Coun. David Chesney, reacting to an emergency operations orientation presentation by Fire Chief Phil Lemire before council on April 15.
Chesney suggested that while protocols currently in place may be effective in daylight hours, it would be difficult to properly inform the public of dangers if, for example, 鈥渁 chlorine train derailed at 3 a.m.鈥�
鈥淚 just really think we鈥檙e asleep at the switch here,鈥� he said.
Chesney held up the 2013 Lac-Megantic, Que. disaster 鈥� in which derailment of a freight train caused a fire and explosion of tank cars that claimed 47 lives and destroyed 30 town centre buildings 鈥� as 鈥渁 perfect example.鈥�
鈥淭hey thought they were safe as hell, and we know what happened there,鈥� he said.
鈥淕od forbid that would ever happen here, but we have a perfect storm (situation) between here and Crescent Beach, with those unstable hillsides; train tracks at the bottom, rip-rap on the shore side, which is exactly where that train鈥檚 going to go when it鈥檚 knocked off; rail cars filled with everything from jet fuel to the Bakken oil we saw in Quebec, chlorine gas to whatever else nasty stuff (is being transported).
鈥淚t rolls over and hits those rocks and we鈥檙e all in big trouble.鈥�
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Lemire鈥檚 presentation to council provided an overview of current emergency management procedures in the city, including a continuing cycle of four 鈥減illars鈥� 鈥� preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation and prevention.
But Chesney, while underlining that he meant to provide constructive criticism rather than knock existing efforts, said, 鈥淚 really believe we need to have something in place in our community.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e anywhere near prepared. All of these things we鈥檙e seeing today are wonderful, but it鈥檚 that overnight (situation), with that railway running by here with dangerous goods鈥�
鈥淲e just had another slide last week in the middle of the night, that could have knocked that train onto that rip-rap, and folks, when that happens, hell will have no fury like we鈥檒l see unleashed into our community. We won鈥檛 have time, we simply won鈥檛 have time.鈥�
Chief administrative officer Dan Bottrill urged council to maintain the focus on campaigning for rail relocation off the waterfront, for which the city has budgeted some $75,000 this year.
鈥淲e could have a horrendous amount of training, education and awareness, but, at the end of the day, I think our council and our community have spoken about rail relocation 鈥� it鈥檚 one of those things that we鈥檙e still working our way through,鈥� he said.
鈥淐an we please make sure that we have the funding in place so that ourselves, Surrey, the province and our federal government can work together in order to move forward with rail relocation?
鈥淚t鈥檚 just as important today as it was when it was first envisioned a few years ago. It鈥檚 something that we really want to work towards.鈥�
Bottrill noted that Lemire had a recent training session with BNSF, as part of ongoing emergency preparedness measures, which also include regular consultation with Whatcom County officials 鈥� as Lemire earlier pointed out, a major incident would not respect city or international boundaries.
鈥淏ut it doesn鈥檛 really help,鈥� Bottrill said, 鈥渨hen the significance of the disaster is such that, no matter how much training, there鈥檚 a real risk here.鈥�
Deputy mayor Scott Kristjanson, who chaired the meeting, said he also shared Chesney鈥檚 concerns, and wondered what procedures are in place to warn people if a train derailed on White Rock beach 鈥� even in full daylight.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a number of means, whether it be 鈥� if you鈥檙e in an immediate area 鈥� by anything from loud-hailers to who you can use on the beach to spread the word,鈥� Lemire said.
Lemire said, however, that while BNSF does transport 鈥渉azardous product that goes through our community on a regular basis,鈥� the company 鈥渉as systems in place that have been working over the years,鈥� including a slide-triggered trip fence that has been effective in providing early warnings and stopping trains from going through hazardous areas.
But that argument did not satisfy Chesney, who acknowledged that he is 鈥渋ncredibly passionate about this rail line that runs between our communities, having reported on numerous situations.鈥�
鈥淭hose electronic trip wires are not maintained with any level of effectiveness at all. There are many slides that have happened along that corridor between here and Crescent Beach that the BNSF had no idea had happened until a train came roaring up to it and had to call and say, 鈥楬ey, the line鈥檚 closed.鈥欌��
Lemire said that emergency planning risk assessment must balance incidents that have a 鈥渉igh severity impact鈥� but a low risk of occurrence, against a main focus on 鈥渨hat鈥檚 going to have the highest occurrence.鈥�
But Kristjanson commented that the potentially high death rate from certain kinds of incidents must be weighed in the balance, even if they are deemed at a low risk of occurring.
alexbrowne@peacearchnews.com
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