Dear editor:
Many gathered in Lac Mégantic on July 6—a year to the day when 47 people lost their lives when rail oil tanker cars exploded.
As residents remembered the loss of lives, and the destruction of a large section of the town, the clean-up of six million litres of oil remains a long-term project.
The oil which exploded in Lac Mégantic came from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields.
The federal government has responded with regulations that rail companies use stronger tank cars; but the questions raised by Lac Mégantic will not go away. Exactly how much oil is being shipped through Ontario by rail? How much come from the Bakken fields and how much from the oilsands?
We are told that oilsands production will double in the next 15 years and rail companies are preparing for the job of transporting it to refineries on our coasts.
Can any small town or city possibly be prepared for what happened in Lac Mégantic?
All the first responders, volunteer and professional firefighters, and police in the region would not be enough; nor is there any local organization prepared to contain and clean up a massive spill.
In Lac Mégantic, oil seeped into the ground and into the sewage system—some of it igniting and causing explosions. Lac Mégantic sits on a lake and the Chaudière River cuts through town.
The day after the Lac Mégantic disaster, a sheen of oil could be seen 80 km down the Chaudière River.
How much sunk to the bottom of the lake and river is unknown, but what we do know is that the spill contaminated tons of soil, released toxic vapours into the air, and occupied a crew of up to 500 people in containment and clean-up.
People lost their lives, buildings were destroyed, and water, air, and soil polluted, with damage to fish and wildlife still to be tallied.
And the psychological damage? Will the people of Lac Mégantic feel safe again?
One further thing we should think about. The Bakken fields frack the oil. In the process, the frackers flare off up to 100 million dollars of natural gas every month—gone, burned up, wasted.
Chris Hadfield would have seen the red glow of the flaring as he orbited the Earth. Google it to see for yourself.
There also is evidence that fracking is connected with an increase in earthquake activity in Oklahoma.
What happened at Lac Mégantic and issues around fracking raises two questions: what price are we prepared to pay for oil, and when are we going to get serious about cleaner, safer alternatives?
(Signed)
Peter Kirby
Kenora, Ont.
