The City of Estevan is vowing to keep the pressure on Canadian Pacific Railway over its oil transloading site.
The members of council and heads of various City departments held a closed door meeting with CPR Dec. 20 at City Hall where they aired a number of concerns about the site, which is located on the company's property. Mayor Gary St. Onge said they also asked CPR to move the transload site out of Estevan.
"Basically, by and large, it was everybody giving them the gears that they really need to be out of town," St. Onge said of last week's meeting. "They said it was a pilot project and at the point at which it becomes bigger, they would move out of town but they weren't able to give us any timelines as to when this might occur so we weren't too pleased about that."
St. Onge added the City's biggest concerns revolve around the safety of the site and the increased traffic on the already too busy Kensington Avenue, which the tanker trucks will use when they access the site and then offload their oil onto rail cars.
Fire Chief Ron Tocker expressed concern that there is no access to water which is needed for the foam that would be used to put out a tanker fire should one begin. St. Onge said land development manager Rob Denys also pointed out issues with the potential damage to Kensington Avenue and that where the trucks will be turning, there are no traffic control devices.
The City is also asking CPR to hold a public meeting where Estevan residents can have the opportunity to express their thoughts about the site to company officials.
"They didn't commit to doing that. They actually didn't commit to doing anything," St. Onge said.
When asked if CPR would consider moving the transload site out of Estevan, company spokesman Ed Greenberg said they prefer to keep those discussions between themselves and the City. As for the meeting, Greenberg described it as positive and said CPR is aware of all the City's concerns.
"There were questions around areas that we are going to be working on with the City of Estevan and officials to assure we are answering any questions," said Greenberg. "We began this process back in September of discussing the transload facility with the City of Estevan and this was the next step meeting with the mayor and local officials and discussing questions and the areas that have been raised. The dialogue will continue and we have indicated that we will work with them on the areas they have raised."
As for where things will go from here, St. Onge said the City plans to keep the pressure on CPR and is also checking with Transport Canada to see if there is anything they can do. MP Ed Komarnicki, who was in attendance at the meeting, will also check to see if the City has any recourse.
"I am, personally, not 100 per cent sure about the safety issue. It could be safe if they are not doing a whole lot. They said right now they could do a maximum of 16 cars but they don't think they'll get there soon and right now they have shutdown for Christmas and are starting again on the 28th," St. Onge said.
"I think I am more concerned about the beating up of the road and the problems over there. Like Councillor (Lynn) Chipley said, 'we are trying to get the trucks out of town with the truck route and there are more coming in.'
"They heard us loud and clear. It was a united voice get out of town."
St. Onge added the court of public opinion might also become very important in the matter.
"If enough people get after them I don't think they like to have negative publicity. That is why I was hoping they would have an open house."
As for bylaws limiting access to the site, St. Onge said it is unlikely any such move would stand up in court.
