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HomeOur workFighting for thorough environmental assessments for oil-by-rail projects
A tanker car on a train sits on a track.

Alberta
Victory

Fighting for thorough environmental assessments for oil-by-rail projects

September 1, 2016

Oil-by-rail transport has grown from approximately 500 rail cars in 2009 to 140,000 cars in 2014.

These oil rail cars are filled with volatile, flammable, and toxic substances prone to violent explosions and spills when the trains derail.  It is estimated that roughly a dozen oil trains have exploded in the United States and Canada during 2013-2015, including one in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec that left 47 people dead.

Despite the calls by many to reduce these risks by taking oil trains off the tracks, the oil industry continues to propose massive new rail terminals like the proposed expansion of the Hardisty Rail Terminal in Alberta. With the total capacity to ship up to 336,000 barrels a day of Alberta’s heavy oil and bitumen, the proposed expansion in Hardisty would make this new super terminal Canada’s largest oil-by-rail loading facility.

We know that locking in more carbon-intensive infrastructure will not help us reduce carbon pollution and combat climate change. And we know that putting more oil trains on the tracks means a greater chance of explosive derailments — putting both public safety and the environment at risk. All without necessarily having to undergo an environmental assessment.

That’s why Ecojustice, on behalf of Greenpeace Canada and Safe Rail Communities, told the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency that there needs to be an environmental assessment of the Hardisty Rail Terminal Project to assess the environmental effects of the project.

In late January 2016, the Agency ordered the first-ever environmental assessment of a rail-based oil shipping facility. This means that before the Hardisty project could go-ahead, it would need to identify and mitigate all of its possible adverse environmental effects including, public safety issues and climate impacts.

Ecojustice staff

Fraser Thomson

 

Clients/Partners

Greenpeace Canada

Safe Rail Communities

Jul 2016
press release

Feds must take action to ensure safer oil-by-rail facilities
Community groups call on federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change to require environmental assessments of oil-by-rail terminals CALGARY – Oil-by-rail facilities in Canada are not required to undergo environmental assessments, but they should be, in order to address public safety and environmental concerns, say community groups.
Jun 2016
A black tanker car sits on a train track.
blog

We’re (hopefully) saying sayonara to the Hardisty Rail Terminal project
Thanks to your calls for more safeguards for oil-by-rail projects, the Hardisty oil-by-rail terminal will not be expanded anytime soon Whether you live in Toronto, Vancouver, or somewhere in between, I can almost guarantee you that an oil train will pass through a community near you.
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