EAGLE VALLEY
NEWS
Charity trip an eye-opening experience Page 6
Trail stewards and volunteers needed in area Page 7
Wednesday, September 24, 2014 PM40008236
Vol. 59 No. 39 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (GST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Details lacking on hazardous rail shipments By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
A recent derailment in Revelstoke has further emphasized the need for more co-operation and communication by local governments emergency service providers with a rail company that operates in the region. Awareness, or a lack thereof, of what’s being transported on Canada’s rail network came to the forefront among local governments following the disastrous derailment of an unattended freight train in Lac-Mégantic on July 6, 2013. The accident resulted in explosions killing 47 people and destroying 40 buildings. Since then, local governments, including Salmon Arm and Sicamous council, have expressed an interest in knowing what’s being shipped in the hundreds of railcars that CP Rail should come through their com- inform, immediately, munities on a daily basis. the nearby comSicamous council has munities if there’s a been particularly vocal as derailment of some of late, calling for greater sort, whether it’s seritransparency and co-op- ous or not. We should eration on the part of lo- be first on the list to cal rail operator, CP Rail. respond to. “Right now, CP seems Terry Rysz to be giving us very little information as to what’s coming through our communities,” commented Coun. Terry Rysz. “In investigating this, they claim the don’t want to give out too much information because of the possibility of terrorist attacks. I kind of feel that’s a bit of a cop-out. “I feel we should have a manifest of some sort so that we know what the hell is going through here. We couldn’t deal with that for every train, because there’s a train coming through every 20 minutes. But we should have some sort of general idea.” Furthermore, if a derailment should occur within the district, be it hazardous or benign, Rysz argues the municipality and its emergency responders should be at the top of CP’s “to-call” list. “CP Rail should inform, immediately, the nearby communities if there’s a derailment of some sort, See Regional on page 2
Fungi fest: Anything one might want to know about local wild mushrooms could be learned at the annual Fungi Festival, held over the weekend in Sicamous. Above, UBC mycologist and author Paul Kroeger identifies a toxic mushroom during a walking tour. Below, Gideon Bruegen examines various polyspores and crusts on display in the Red Barn. Photos by Lachlan Labere