Hike in serious rail, pipeline accidents in 2017 says safety board
OTTAWA — Serious accidents involving both rail and pipeline transport of dangerous substances like crude oil and gas increased in 2017 over the previous year, according to statistics compiled by the Transportation Safety Board.
Of the total 1,090 railway incidents that were serious enough to be deemed “accidents” last year, 115 involved dangerous substances, including five accidents where the substances leaked. That’s up from 100 accidents involving dangerous goods in 2016 that included only two involving leaks.
Similarly, the number of pipeline accidents went up last year to five from zero in 2016. One of those accidents resulted in the February 2017 spill of nearly 200,000 litres of crude oil condensate from an Enbridge pipeline at an industrial site near Edmonton.
Jean Laporte, the Chief Operating Officer of the Transportation Safety Board, said his agency will be looking in the coming months into why serious railway accidents have gone up.