WORLD
WATER DAY
It
was a bit nippy this Sunday March 22, this year’s World Water Day. Twenty-eight
people showed up to mark the WWD at the CP railway tracks that skirt Ramsey
Lake, Sudbury’s pre-eminent water supply. Elaine Porter (Laurentian U.) who is
the Sudbury Chapter’s lead on water campaigns organized the rally that welcomed
Richard Eberhardt (Federal NDP riding), Lilly Noble (Ramsey Lake Stewardship Committee and
the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury) and David Robinson (Laurentian U. and Green Party activist).
Members of the Aboriginal community and media representatives also joined us.
Regrettably, none of the city’s Council members attended despite repeated
invitations.
The
speakers talked about the threats to our local waters that included the Gogama
Train disaster, the Wahnapitae river train crash, clear cutting at Geneva Lake
and Sioux Narrows, the Lac Megantic rail disaster and the high risk of such
disasters with the CP rail line skirting Ramsey Lake. The gathering also
recognized the global threats to water that are leaving millions in dire,
critical need of drinkable water.
The
day’s event actually started the previous Tuesday with members of the Sudbury
Chapter (Wayne Paulk, Patrick McCoy and Andre Clement) visiting the Gogama CN
derailment site to learn about the cleanup from the near-miss accident at
Gogama that could have been another Lac Megantic. That same trip included a
visit to Geneva Lake to talk to the local folks concerned about the clear
cutting scheduled around the lake’s watershed.
The
Sudbury Chapter rally was one of many such events cross Canada and the world as
people joined to make note of the earth’s water issues.
Cold
as it was, the day was sunny and children of the First Nations who sang a song
for the occasion very nicely wrapped up the event. There was a call for City Council to
undertake an intended watershed study and, hopefully, to relocate the rail line
away from Ramsey Lake.
Media Coop article by Naomi Grant
SUDBURY STAR article by Carol Mulligan
CTV News Northern Ontario by Gord Nichols
The following handout was distributed at
the Rally.
UN WATER DAY, MARCH 22, 2015 (hosted
by the Council of Canadians)
Threats to
Water Quality in Northern Ontario and Sources of Information
1. Our Addiction to Oil has us going
down many slippery slopes. With
increasing concerns over oil spills, how likely is a catastrophic train
derailment along Lake Ramsey?
Train derailments piling up near Gogama:
• Feb.
15, 2015: CN train pulling 100 rail tanker cars had 29 cars leave the
track and 7 caught fire; each tanker car can contain up to 20,000 gallons of
crude oil. The smoke went in a
south-west direction away from Gogama and Mattagami First Nation up to 100
kilometers away and clean-up continues in the rivers.
• March 7, 2015:30 tankers crash and
burn 3 kilometers from town center - a near miss of a Lac Megantic type of
disaster in which 47 people died and that will require oil clean-up for the
next 3 to 5 years costing at least $400 million; even though these were tankers
improved post 2011 they still punctured and caught on fire; all old cars will
be allowed to run until 2017 (80,000 tankers in NA).
The Wahnapitae Train Derailment: aging
infrastructure & inadequate monitoring:
The
Transportation Safety Board found the 12 car bodies and 20 containers derailed
due to an aging roller bearing cage which overheated a ball bearing; no safety
guidelines had been violated. Dangerous
goods were contained but the bridge was severely damaged.
Other evidence: Globe & Mail, Eric
Atkins, Feb. 24, 2015: Since 2005, the TSB said, rail defects missed in tests
have caused several derailments involving dangerous goods; a 2011 incident near
Alix Junction, Alta. spilled 900 litres of phosphoric acid..
WHAT TO DO? PROVIDE FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY AND CITIZEN
PARTICIPATION:
Decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and
re-strengthen the Navigable Waters Protection Act (Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury); Citizens Climate Lobby http://www.citizensclimatelobby.ca/node/115;
Blue Dot David Suzuki project: http://bluedot.ca/the-plan/
Move the rail lines: Imagine Sudbury Susan
Thompson 560-0963 sqt@sympatico.ca
Stop the transportation of dangerous
goods through Greater Sudbury. Railroads are allowed to keep information from the general
public on which hazardous goods travel through the community. Railroads are
mandated by government to haul dangerous goods.
Need for
strengthened safety measures and increased governmental oversight but railroad
companies get to set their own standards based on its risk assessment which
remain private. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada
only oversees the industry standards.
Increased
Insurance does not a substitute for prevention and how much is enough? In its refusal to
release its own analyses of potential disaster costs in Canada, Transport
Canada cites commercial confidentiality.
The proposed
Energy East Pipeline which would cut across northern Ontario carrying diluted
bitumen in former retrofitted natural gas lines poses risks to the environment. For example, in the Englehart
accident on Sept. 12, 2009, there was a fire and loss of 3,420,000 cubic metres
of natural gas. Regular inspections had
been done but with an improper inspection tool not designed to
identify the stress corrosion cracking in the longitudinal seam weld which
caused the accident (Transportation Safety Board; for more info., go to Northwatch.org)
2. Pollution of Waters due to
clearcutting run-off and use of glyphosates
---
Geneva Lake area clearcutting threatens Dowes Lake and the Spanish River
---
Grassy Narrows faces the same prospects with the threat of mercury poisoning.
3. The Ramsey Lake watershed study results need to be used for
decision-making on all watershed, lakeside and on-lake activities, including
stormwater management (Ramsey Lake Stewardship Committee; Greater Sudbury
Watershed Alliance).
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