Huge flames and thick black smoke pour into the sky after a CPR train derailed near Plunkett on Dec. 9, 2019. (Brent Bosker/650 CKOM)

By CKOM News

New Developments

CP rail responsible for cost and cleanup of train derailment

Dec 12, 2019 | 3:12 PM

More than 100 responders were on the ground dealing with Monday’s train derailment near Guernsey.

Dale Kristoff is an environmental protection officer and hazardous materials co-ordinator with the Saskatchewan ministry of environment. He said the ministry had officers on site to assist in any emergency response and to oversee the environmental assessment and remediation.

“Canadian Pacific Railway is the responsible party, so they would be responsible for completing that assessment and paying for any costs for the incident and the cleanup,” Kristoff said.

The train had been carrying crude oil and when it derailed, fires broke out, causing huge plumes of black smoke to fill the air.

Kristoff said part of the ministry’s responsibility was to monitor the air quality. “In this incident, there were some residents close by. They self-evacuated,” said Kristoff. “There was no wind going towards their house.”

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Kristoff said now that the emergency phase of the incident is done, his department will now monitor the progress of the CP assessment and cleanup.

“Obviously there’s some work to do with emptying rail cars out, getting rid of the crude that’s still on site, cleaning the rail cars, moving them, cutting them up and moving them off-site,” said Kristoff.

He said in an incident like this one, there isn’t a hard timeline on getting the work done.