In August 2016, a CP derailment in Toronto's west end resulted in a noxious spill of thousands of litres of diesel fuel. Numerous queries landed in our inbox. People were shaken. They wanted to know how to stay safe, and what to do in the event of a derailment. Up to that point, our focus had been primarily on preventing derailments of dangerous goods. When we looked into possible resources regarding rail emergency preparedness, we found there aren't many that are easily accessible to the public.
As we began to research what residents in rail communities want, and what we could help create for them, we became aware of a grant opportunity through Transport Canada's Rail Safety Improvement Program. In April 2017, we were pleased to learn that our grant application had been successful, and that our proposed rail safety project would be funded in part by Transport Canada. As an incorporated not-for-profit, we must raise about $12,000 CDN, half the cost of our project, which runs until March 2019.
The main outputs of our project will be:
- A rail emergency toolkit for municipalities
- A rail emergency toolkit for First Nations
If you are interested in learning more about this project or our work overall, please connect with us at [email protected]