OTTAWA – Hundreds of
people, including 120 residents of a nursing
home, were forced from their homes early Monday
morning after a train-yard collision in
Maxville, Ont., caused a 60,000 litre leak of
volatile liquid from a tank car.
"A
freight train from the Ottawa Central Railway .tmp) sideswiped another car that
had [ethanol] in it," said Via Rail Canada
spokesperson Seychelle Harding. The car was
being shunted at the time and sprang a leak in
its underside on one end.
Officials from Ontario's Ministry of the
Environment, the fire department, and Ontario
Provincial Police were called to the scene,
about 70 kilometres east of Ottawa, and worked
to neutralize the highly flammable liquid. By
mid-morning the spill was contained and workers
were transferring the remaining ethanol to
another tank car.
All roads leading into Maxville were
closed through the morning, but County Road 20
re-opened just before noon. The rest were opened
by mid-afternoon.
As well, elementary schools in the area
were closed for the day.
The incident happened at about 2:30 a.m.,
according to an OPP release. Shortly afterward,
staff at the Maxville Manor nursing home
received a call telling them there was an
emergency, said Craig Munro, the nursing home's
the executive director.
.tmp)
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This tank car leaked ethanol
from a softball-sized hole (detail in bottom
image) | Maxville Manor was evacuated, and temporary
shelter for the home's 120 residents, whose
average age is 85, was been set up in the
banquet hall of the local sportsplex.
It was unclear whether the liquid has
contaminated the groundwater, but Munro said it
was certainly evident on the manor's property.
"There's a stream that runs through our property
and you can see it. It's like a cloudy colour."
Munro planned to meet with authorities on
Monday to determine whether the nursing home's
well water was affected.
In all, approximately 200 people were
forced from their homes.
By mid-afternoon they were told they
could return to their residences, but were
provided bottled water for drinking and cooking.
The risk from this spill is not great,
says Nancy Doubleday, associate chair of
Carleton's department of geography and
environmental studies, partly because pure
ethanol tends to evaporate quickly.
Also, if the ground was previously
saturated by rain, Doubleday says it's
conceivable that the combustible liquid might
not make it into the area's wells.
It will take a number of days before all
the wells are tested.
Via Rail cancelled its train service
between Ottawa and Montreal for much of the day,
but used buses to get passengers to their
destinations.
Railway officials re-opened the track in
the middle of the afternoon.
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