Question Period Note: Crude oil derailment in Emo, Ontario

On 18 February 2020, a Canadian National (CN) Rail train carrying various dangerous goods was involved in a derailment near Emo, ON.

• The safety of Canadians is a top priority for me and the Government of Canada. The latest derailment involving dangerous goods in Emo, Ontario is concerning.
• Transport Canada has put into place specific measures through a Ministerial Order to help prevent further derailments of trains carrying large quantities of dangerous goods.
• Transport Canada will continue to review the accident and will take all necessary safety actions to protect public safety.

Background information (preliminary information)

• At approximately 21:30 ET on February 18, 2020, a Canadian National (CN) Rail Key train carrying 132 loads of various goods, including dangerous goods, was involved in a derailment near Mile 108.2 on the Fort Frances Subdivision near Emo, Ontario and the Rainy River First Nation's Manitou Rapids Indian Reserve No. 11.
• The derailment occurred near Highway 602, which is just north of the Canada-United States border. This highway remains closed in both directions. The cause of the derailment remains undetermined.
• Approximately 31 cars derailed, including 26 tank cars, with 5 cars leaking crude oil. The pooling of the crude oil is contained near the cars. The spill is not near the river or any other waterways. The amount of oil that has leaked has not been determined. The train was travelling at approximately 44 mph.
• Transportation Safety Board and Transport Canada officials, as well as CN Railway, Ontario Provincial Police and local fire department are attending the scene. Eight homes were evacuated but the evacuation was lifted as of the evening of February 19, 2020. No fire and no injuries have occurred.
• On February 20, 2020, CN installed new track in the area of the incident and a total of 8 trains have passed through since 00:00 ET, February 21, 2020, operating at 10-15 mph. It is expected that CN will continue to operate trains at 25 mph at the site of the incident for the week of February 24, 2020.
• Remediation efforts are still ongoing. The road crossing remains closed to the public until the railcars have left the site. It is unknown when the crossing will reopen to the public. There is a temporary crossing in place for local emergency services to use.
• TC inspectors last inspected the track on August 28, 2019. A number of non-compliances were identified, but have since been remediated by CN. TC issued a notice acknowledging the immediate action taken by CN with respect to the identified non-compliances.
• It should be noted that on May 4, 2019, another CN train derailment occurred near the location of the present accident, in which 6 cars containing Petroleum Crude Oil derailed. No injuries or leaks resulted from the derailment.

Speed restrictions

• The Key Train and Key Route Rules, which came into effect in February 2016, impose speed restrictions on trains carrying dangerous goods.
• This rule limits Key Trains to a maximum speed of 50 mph and further restrict Key Trains to a maximum speed of 40 MPH within the core and secondary core of Census Metropolitan Areas.
• A Key Train has one or more loaded tank cars of dangerous goods that are toxic by inhalation or 20 or more loaded tank cars containing dangerous goods.
• Measures for the immediate slowdown of key trains (carrying 20 or more cars containing dangerous goods; or a train carrying one or more cars of toxic inhalation gas) were introduced, via Ministerial Order, following the accident in Guernsey, Saskatchewan on February 6, 2020.
• Since then, the Ministerial Order has been updated to provide a more targeted risk-based approach, and will remain in place until April 1, 2020.
• The speed limit for key trains is now limited to 35 mph in metropolitan areas. Outside of metropolitan areas where there are no track signals, the speed is limited to 40 mph.
• The speed limit for higher risk key trains is now limited to 25 mph where there are no track signals. For metropolitan areas, the speed limit is 30mph unless the metropolitan area is in a non-signal territory where the speed limit will be maintain at a maximum 25 mph.
• Higher risk key trains are unit trains where tank cars are loaded with a single dangerous goods commodity moving to the same point of destination; or trains that include any combination of 80 or more tank cars containing dangerous goods.

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