Work is underway today at the site of a fiery CN train derailment in east-central Saskatchewan to transfer the contents from damaged cars and clean up the scene.
Twenty-six of 100 cars went off the tracks late yesterday morning.
Provincial emergency response officials said six of the 26 cars contained dangerous goods: two contained petroleum distillate commonly known as Varsol, two contained sodium hydroxide and two contained hydrochloric acid.
Emergency management commissioner Duane McKay said the Varsol burned and was responsible for the huge clouds of black smoke that blanketed the area.
The fire is now out and salvage operations have began.
An evacuation order that saw about 30 people from the communities of Clair and Paswegin and nearby farms forced from their homes has been lifted.
Read Also
Canada appoints new envoy to India
Canada announced on Thursday it had appointed a new high commissioner, or ambassador, to India in the latest sign of improving ties between the two trading partners.
Ralph Bock, the environment ministry’s manager of hazardous materials and impacted sites, said air quality testing was conducted throughout the incident and will continue until clean-up is complete.
“The measurements that would have been undertaken there would have been for volatile hydrocarbons in the atmosphere and as far as we know, there has been no measurable quantities of health concerns at the site,” Bock said.
However, farmers with livestock in the area may contact emergency officials if they are worried about the smoke their animals were exposed to, and someone will be sent to check on them.
McKay said CN has said it will pay for water quality testing for anyone concerned about their drinking water or dugouts.
Bock said any cars that were damaged have now been moved to the side of the tracks, and detailed assessments show none are leaking.
“We will be focusing in the next 12 hours (on) doing the product transfers from those damaged or compromised cars to a safe means of containment to get it off site,” he said.
Highway 5 remains closed around the scene and a local detour of about six kilometres is in place. CN is in charge of traffic control.
Deanna Wysoskey, provincial co-ordinator of emergency social services, said the Rural Municipality of Lakeview was proactive in setting up accommodation for non-resident hunters at an outfitter camp, and none of the evacuated people required assistance for accommodation.
The Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The two crew members were not injured in the accident.
McKay added the province will continue to monitor residual effects of the fire, but the situation is now considered stable.
