Gogama derailment clean up causing concern for residents

There’s plenty of tension brewing between residents in Gogama, and CN Rail officials.

CN has been on site clean up efforts after two train derailments devastated the community last spring.

Gogama Fire Department Chief Mike Benson says he’s been hearing rumours from workers that CN is hiding stuff, like oil and are leeching in areas that are supposed to be rehabilitated.

“They’re not being open and honest with us,” he said.

“They have no authority to close the road whatsoever.  No police are involved (or) the Ministry of Labour.”

Benson says he wrote to CN multiple times, and visited the site as well.

He says the environmentalist in charge of the derailment site has told Benson he’ll keep the road closed “as long as he likes,” and when he asked under what authority, and according to him, the response was “they didn’t need it.”

When it comes to the work being done, Benson says it doesn’t seem like any government agency is involved, and are getting land samples sent to them by environmental workers.

“The people of the town are thinking it’s kind of like the fox watching the hen house,” he adds.

To paint a picture, Benson says the company has all the equipment pulled to the end of the road and is using that as an excuse to keep the road closed.  This, despite about three acres of barren land that isn’t being used.

“There’s only a handful of people working there,” he said, “I think there’s five people on the dredging team and one back hoe.”

“The dredging team is in the water, got nothing to do with the road whatsoever, and the back hoe is working over by the tracks, which is nowhere near the road.

Benson recalls a conversation he had with CN officials.

“The best thing for them to do is open that road,” he adds, saying the closure has been an inconvenience for the town.

“We all use that road as sort of a shortcut when heading down south.”

Benson says he went there the other day, and CN tried kicking him off the property, even after identifying himself.

Not allowing him on the property could also be classified as disobeying the “Inspections Act.”  He says within five minutes, he had five or six people around him, claiming the land belonged to CN, even though it was 100 yards away from the track.

In an email to CN’s Aaron Stadnyk, Benson says “from day one I have given this incident and all those involved the utmost courtesy and assistance and benefit of the doubt.”

“I’m am now seriously leaning to the “hiding unsafe and illegal activity” view of many townsfolk, and since Sect 18 of the Act addresses “the quality of the natural environment for any use that can be made of it,” I will continue to do whatever Is needed to ensure the safety of my community.”

In response, a CN Rail Spokesman had this to say:

“Any claims that CN is hiding information or material from the regulators are false and unfounded.  The Old Gogama Road was closed to ensure public safety at the active work site supporting the ongoing remediation of the March 7 derailment site. The closing is supported by the local road authority, and CN hopes to re open the road to the public by mid-October, when work at the site concludes. All response, clean up and remediation work at the derailment site is being done with full cooperation and to the satisfaction of the provincial and federal authorities.”

Learn more about the story from the department’s mouth on their Facebook page, which you can view HERE.