PEERS — There has been another derailment of a CN Rail train, this time near the hamlet of Peers in west-central Alberta.
A news release from Yellowhead County says 13 cars were involved — 12 carrying lumber and one tanker with sulphur dioxide.
The county says the sulphur dioxide is categorized as a dangerous goods cargo, but added the tanker wasn’t leaking.
Yellowhead County says its fire chief went to the scene, but that CN didn’t ask for assistance since there wasn’t a fire or any immediate safety concerns for residents.
The derailment is less than 100 kilometres from the scene of last month’s train disaster in Gainford where roughly 100 residents were forced from their homes.
Rail cars laden with petroleum products caught fire and it took days for the fires to burn themselves out.
Greenpeace said on Sunday that the latest derailment is another reminder of the need for a national independent safety review of petrochemical transportation.
“Once again we have another derailment to remind us about how the Harper government is failing to protect our communities and our environment from the increasing threats of petrochemical transportation,” Greenpeace campaigner Mike Hudema said in a news release.
“How many more incidents does it take before the Harper government takes the foot off the gas so that safety recommendations can keep up?”
After last month’s derailment near Gainford, Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt’s office issued a statement on saying the government has spent more than $100 million on rail safety and has increased fines for companies that violate safety regulations.
Rail safety has been a hot button issue since tank cars from Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway filled with oil exploded after rolling into Lac-Megantic — a catastrophe that ravaged the Quebec town’s historic core and claimed an estimated 47 lives.