A talk at the old church last night centered around the dangers of shipping harmful chemicals by train and the risk this could pose to the Bulkley Valley.
The Friends of Morice Bulkley hosted the Are We Safe talk. It featured a presentation on the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Quebec and the Hazleton coal train accident from a year ago.
Chairperson of Friends of Morice Bulkley, Dawn Remington said these talks are crucial because there is a real possibility with the Vopack deal that Smithers and other towns along the line could experience a similar situation.
“Lac Magantic was another small town with a volunteer fire department. If a blast like that happens, there is not a lot that’s going to save anyone who is close enough to it,” said Remington.
The Vopak deal aims to have 240 train cars a day come through the Bulkley Valley carrying diesel, gasoline, methanol, and propane.
The project is currently under review by the provinces environmental assessment office but Remington said the assessment does not look at the dangers rail transport could pose to towns along the route.
Towns and villages along the route include Telkwa, Houston, Smithers, and Hazleton.
Impact assessment maps at the meeting show that should a train derail it has the potential to take out half the town depending on the chemical it is transporting.
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On each of the maps, the fire department and ambulance station are within the blast zone.
“We are going to have to put our heads together to figure out what we can do to have safety regulations improved and energy resources. We are just unprepared at this point,” said Remington.