XPost: can.politics, ont.politics   
   From: "@nyet.ca   
      
   The Canadian Press - August 19, 2014   
      
      
   Lac-Megantic: TSB blames railway for safety issues, Ottawa for poor oversight   
      
      
   LAC-MEGANTIC, Que. - The combination of a lack of government oversight and a   
   penny-pinching railway contributed to the deadly oil-train disaster that   
   devastated Lac-Megantic, says a report tabled Tuesday by Canada's   
   Transportation Safety Board.   
      
   The federal agency's report, the first comprehensive account of last summer's   
   crash to be released to the public, identified 18 key factors it says led to   
   the Quebec catastrophe.   
      
   Among them, the TSB pointed to roles it says were played by the Montreal, Maine   
   and Atlantic Railway and Transport Canada in the tanker crash, an incident that   
   came amid a growing pan-continental, oil-by-rail industry.   
      
   "Who was the guardian of public safety?" TSB chair Wendy Tadros said in   
   Lac-Megantic, where the report was unveiled.   
      
   "That is the role of government. To provide checks and balances â€â€�   
   oversight.   
   And yet this booming industry, where unit trains were shipping more and more   
   oil across Canada and across the border, ran largely unchecked."   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   The agency launched its year-long investigation after the MMA train broke loose   
   from its parking spot uphill of Lac-Megantic in July 2013 and crashed into the   
   community, killing 47 people. Almost all of the 63 derailed tank cars, which   
   were filled with volatile crude, ruptured in the derailment and set off huge   
   explosions that were even spotted by satellites in space.   
      
   The report also produced two new recommendations that the TSB argues would help   
   prevent future runaway trains and keep a closer eye on companies like the   
   now-bankrupt MMA, which it criticized for having a "weak safety culture" and   
   "poor training" efforts for its employees.   
      
   The TSB said one of the recommendations would seek to ensure that safety   
   systems of railways are adequate.   
      
   Tadros said the role of the regulator has been to determine whether a company   
   has a safety management system. She believes Transport Canada should now   
   undertake audits to find out if the company is truly managing safety.   
      
   "We're saying it's not enough," said Tadros of the current arrangement, adding   
   that MMA did not have a functioning safety system.   
      
   The other new recommendation calls for requirements that rail operators use   
   additional physical methods, such as wheel chocks or modernized braking   
   technology, to improve train securement.   
      
   "There has to be a change in the Canadian rail industry," Tadros said.   
      
   "We have to look beyond just strict adherence to rules, because while those   
   rules have changed over the years, you cannot always rely on people to stick to   
   those rules 100-per-cent of the time.   
      
   "So, you need a backup defence and you particularly need this in high-risk   
   industries."   
      
   In Ottawa, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said her department will review the   
   report and develop "concrete actions" to address the TSB recommendations.   
      
   "Today's report indeed does talk about higher expectations for Transport   
   Canada," said Raitt, who inherited the transport portfolio after the disaster.   
      
   "I share those expectations and I know the public shares those expectations,   
   too."   
      
   In January, the TSB called on Ottawa to take urgent action to enhance tank car   
   safety standards, to reassess all potential routes used to transport dangerous   
   goods and to implement emergency response plans whenever large volumes of these   
   materials are shipped.   
      
   Tadros said the first three recommendations prompted swift reaction from the   
   industry and the federal government. For example, Ottawa pledged in April to   
   remove all old, rupture-prone tank cars, known as DOT-111s, off Canada's rails   
   in the next few years.   
      
   "But more still needs to be done," said Tadros.   
      
   The latest recommendations seek to address some of the 18 contributing factors   
   the TSB outlined in its report.   
      
   Three people are already facing trial for their alleged roles in the crash.   
      
   The MMA and three of its employees, including engineer Tom Harding, have each   
   been charged with 47 counts of criminal negligence.   
      
   The report said Harding applied an insufficient number of hand brakes on the   
   train â€â€� seven â€â€� and conducted an inadequate test before he left   
   the convoy   
   unattended and retired to a local inn for the night.   
      
   Before he left, the TSB says Harding called MMA's rail-traffic controller to   
   report mechanical problems on the locomotive and thick smoke belching from its   
   exhaust. They agreed he could leave the engine for the night.   
      
   Later that night, a fire broke out on the locomotive. Firefighters called to   
   the scene shut down the locomotive, which gradually disengaged the engine's air   
   brakes.   
      
   An MMA track foreman with no background in locomotives met the firefighters at   
   the scene and, after consulting the rail-traffic controller, they left without   
   restarting the locomotive. Eventually, the train started rolling toward   
   Lac-Megantic.   
      
   Tadros, however, said the underlying causes of the accident go well beyond the   
   number of hand brakes applied and the engineer's actions that night.   
      
   The factors listed in the TSB report include:   
      
   Ã¢â‚¬â€� A poor repair â€â€� using an epoxy-like material â€â€� to fix   
   an engine failure   
   on the lead locomotive, which led to the fire.   
      
   Ã¢â‚¬â€� Failure by MMA to provide proper training or supervision to ensure its   
   staff could secure a train adequately.   
      
   Ã¢â‚¬â€� The train was parked unattended on a main line, with a steep grade   
   and was   
   led by a locomotive that was not in proper operating condition.   
      
   Ã¢â‚¬â€� Transport Canada failed to ensure that recurring safety problems at   
   MMA had   
   been corrected.   
      
   Lac-Megantic Mayor Colette Roy Laroche said Tuesday that she hopes changes are   
   on the way now that it appears the derailment could have been avoided.   
      
   "We demand ... that government authorities assume their responsibilities," Roy   
   Laroche told a news conference Tuesday after the report's release.   
      
   "We also demand deep changes to the culture of safety at Transport Canada and   
   that of the rail industry. We demand that the changes are immediate."   
      
   Asked about the report, Edward Burkhardt, who was chairman of the former MMA,   
   said Tuesday that he was studying it. He added that he did not want to comment.   
      
   "My lawyers will be very unhappy with me if I do," Burkhardt told The Canadian   
   Press from his office in suburban Chicago.   
      
   "I don't have anything to say at the moment anyway because I haven't got   
   through most of the report."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)