21 October 2007
MP to Present Parliament with Petition on Rail Yard
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Blandford-Blenheim township proposed rail yard.
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Ayr Ontario - Politicians and residents by the
hundreds are calling on the federal government to order a full environmental assessment of plans for a new rail yard between Cambridge
and Woodstock.
Despite letters, a petition and pleas to government officials, CP Rail's project appears to fall under a clear exemption from any such
review by the Canadian Transportation Agency.
"The agency would not have any jurisdiction to look into a matter like this," said Jadrino Hnot, an agency spokesperson.
"It's clear they're falling into the exemption in what's written in the Canada Transportation Act."
Nor is there any precedent for the agency to circumvent the exemption and force an environmental assessment on a railway project that's
within 100 metres of a mainline track and less than three kilometres long, he said.
"The length of the project is 2.98 km," said Margaret Hicks, co-founder of a citizens group opposing the plans.
The Wolverton Siding Association has met politicians from Blanford-Blenheim and North Dumfries townships, and Cambridge MP
Gary Goodyear to voice concerns about the railway.
When area residents filled a public meeting the railway hosted in Ayr in August, rail officials didn't answer many questions about
their plans, Hicks said. "There was a lot of that. They obviously didn't expect the response they got from the people of
Ayr."
Goodyear was at the meeting and wasn't impressed with the railway's response to questions about the eight-track rail yard
between Blenheim and Trussler roads.
"I felt these consultants had come down to appease us on decisions that were already made... I was insulted by that."
Goodyear isn't opposed to a rail yard - it's needed for the local economy - but opposes the way CP is ramming the project forward under
"dinosaur-like" federal railway rules.
Next week, he plans to present a 1,200-name petition to Parliament that is critical of the railway's plans. It also calls
for a review and updating of Canada's railway legislation, moving it from the 19th century to the 21st.
Goodyear didn't want to present it this week, fearing it would be lost in the political noise around the throne speech. "I want to
make sure my members in the house pay attention. I want them to say That's a problem in my riding, too."
CP is digesting public comment and intends to have the rail yard plan finalized by year's end, said railway spokesperson Michel
Spenard. The goal is to have the yard ready to handle trains when the Woodstock Toyota plant opens in September 2008.
Citizen and local government concerns are being heard, he said. Another public information meeting is under consideration.
Recent meetings have been held with local fire officials about emergency access around trains and water supply to the new yard, he
said.
Emergency access around the tracks is a key worry for North Dumfries Mayor Kim Denouden.
More long trains will block Northumberland Street and Trussler Road, delaying fire trucks from Ayr that are routinely called to crashes
on Highway 401. And she's worried the rail yard can be used to store hazardous materials as easily as new cars, near thousands of Ayr
residents and passing vehicles on Highway 401.
She wants CP to build a bridge to carry Trussler Road over the tracks, an expensive solution the railroad rejects. She also wants the
railroad to be more upfront with its plans and how it will handle any incidents on the tracks that bisect
Ayr.
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