Acid train disaster in Temagami

Officials scrambling to contain acid after derailment in northern Ontario

By: Charlie Angus for Straight Goods

  The environmental impact of the Tuesday (March 14, 2000) night train derailment south of Temagami, Ontario appears to be growing. Initial reports stated that two tanker cars, carrying sulphuric acid from the Horne Smelter near Noranda, were leaking into the waters of Rabbit Creek after 19 cars jumped the track and slid down a 10 metre embankment. The number of ruptured tankers has now grown to twelve.
 

The Ontario Northland's "Acid" train. Photo courtesy C. Angus

  Each car contains 100 imperial tonnes (13,000 U.S. gallons) of extremely corrosive acid (think battery acid). Officials from Ontario's Ministry of Environment say that 700 tonnes of acid has been lost to the waters of waters of Rabbit Creek and nearby Hornet Lake. Although they say the spill has been contained, it now appears that the acid had spread more than two kilometres in the first day.
  Dead fish have been reported downstream from the spill and residents at two nearby tourist operations have been told not to drink the water. Rabbit Creek is said to be almost completely pure in acid. The transport of sulphuric acid makes up a major part of Ontario Northland's business. Northern residents are well used to the sight of the long line of black and white tanker cars that make up the "acid" train. The acid comes from the Kidd Creek Metallurgical site near Timmins and the Horne copper smelter in Noranda, Quebec.
  Straight Goods reporter Charlie Angus attempted to visit the isolated scene at first light Wednesday morning but was turned back by ONR security. The region is in the dense shield, creeks and swamps 15 kilometres south of Temagami.
  Had I been successful in reaching the site of the derailment (near the rail siding of Doherty) I would have been treated to a scene right out of a Hollywood disaster film as emergency crews from Noranda and the railway worked in complete protective gear.
  These crews have been hampered in their work by a blanket of snow which fell throughout Wednesday. The snow has covered over potentially dangerous pockets of acid, forcing work crews to move carefully through the region. A much worse effect, however, would be rain or a sudden thaw.
  Judy Cardoni, the ONR spokesperson at the Temagami command centre says that the clean up could take up to two weeks. If the weather turns warm (which reports say it may by Monday), officials would be faced with the nightmare of a major run-off in the thaw.
  Judy Cardoni says that at this point crews are simply working one step at a time to ensure the clean-up goes ahead smoothly. A number of cars, both in front of the derailment and behind the derailment, have to be removed. Another line of track will have to be put into the region, as well as a makeshift road cut through the bush so machines and cranes can get into the site.
  Any acid left in the tankers will have to be pumped out before the cranes can set about the task of pulling the cars out of the ravine. No one was injured in the crash.

Charlie Angus is the editor of HighGrader Magazine in Cobalt, Ontario. His latest book is the photo-collaboration, Industrial Cathedrals of the North. He is the lead singer with the Canadian folk band Grievous Angels.

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