Ottawa Ontario - Irving-owned company New Brunswick Southern Railway (NBSR) is facing charges related to the transport of oil.
 
The railway, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Ltd. (JDI), has been charged with 24 counts of violating the Transportation of Dangerous Good Act.
 
Twelve of the charges relate to failing to create proper shipping documents for the purpose of transporting petroleum crude oil, while the other 12 charges relate to having unqualified personnel handling dangerous goods, in this case crude oil, according to Transport Canada (TC).
 
Court documents allege the offences took place between 3 Nov 2012 and 5 Jul 2013 at or near Saint John.
 
The charges are the result of an investigation done by TC in the wake of the Lake Megantic disaster.
 
The company is scheduled to make its first court appearance on 27 Nov 2017.
 
JDI spokesperson Mary Keith said NBSR takes the issue of rail safety very seriously and fully co-operated with Canadian regulatory authorities at the time of the investigation.
 
She said the company is reviewing the charges.
 
Irving Oil Sentenced Last Week
 
Last week, Irving Oil was sentenced to pay $4 million after pleading guilty to 34 counts under the Transportation of Dangerous Good Act.
 
The charges were the result of a joint investigation by TC and the RCMP after the train derailment in Lake Megantic on 6 Jul 2013 that killed 47 people.
 
The investigation found that Irving Oil failed to comply with applicable safety requirements by failing to properly classify the crude oil it transported by train, and that the shipping documents on board the trains were "erroneous", the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said in a news release.
 
The investigation also found that Irving Oil did not adequately train its employees in the transportation of dangerous goods.
 
The derailment in July 2013 set off several massive blasts in Lake Megantic, a town of about 6,000, and wiped out a large portion of the downtown core.
 
The crude oil on the train was destined for Irving's refinery in Saint John.
 
Sarah Petz.