Dangerous Chemicals Exposure

Investigators are trying to find out what chemicals were being carried in the train cars that exploded and burned with such a 'fierce fire' following the train crash at Lac-Mégantic, Que., that killed 47 people. Photograph by: AFP, Getty Images, Postmedia News

The fall-out from the tragedy of Lac Megantic will continue for quite some time into the future. The immediate task at hand is the in-depth cleansing of the area from the crude oil spill -- that occurred when the 72-car tankers pulled by three locomotives raging down a long gradient from where it had been parked by its engineer in the dark early hours of a Saturday morning to derail and explode, killing 47 people and destroying the town centre infrastructure -- finally spilled its cargo.

There were reports released to the public by reporting media that first responders, fire-fighters and specialists hired to clean up the debris and the oil, had to wear protective helmets against chemical fumes, and that as a result of the unendurable heat from the fires and the gases escaping from chemicals no one was able to spend more than short periods working in the area, because it was obvious their health was being impacted.

There were some questions raised as to what else the tank cars which had been pierced and spilled their loads, might have been carrying other than light crude oil. The oil itself, it was bruited about, should not have combusted. "We have received no other information that there could have been other contaminants", responded Dr. Melissa Genereux, of Quebec's Eastern Townships public health department.

Canada's federal Transportation Safety Board also stated that crude oil does not generally lead to the type of "fierce fire" and subsequent explosions that occurred on July 6 in Lac Megantic. Now, the TSB, the federal and provincial environment departments and the federal transport department are examining samples of liquids taken from the site, from tank cars that hadn't leaked and from another MM&A train left parked at Farnham, Quebec.

The oil being transported by the MM&A train that derailed and exploded into a firebomb in Lac Megantic came from South Dakota. It would appear that crude oil from the Bakken formation straddling North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba can contain up to ten times the benzene contained in conventional crude oil. Along with high levels of hydrogen sulphide. And benzene is a known carcinogen. The hydrogen sulphide could have resulted in the explosion.

Even the fluids used for hydraulic fracturing, according to Greenpeace Canada spokespeople, could have infiltrated the oil; fluids such as ethylene glycol (antifreeze), carcinogenic naphthalene, or highly flammable hydrochloric acid could be been mixed in with the crude oil. Tests conducted by an American oil-spill cleanup company validated that the oil was Bakken crude in which was discovered "very concerning" levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, associated with cancer in humans.

Toxicologist Daniel Green collected water and soil samples independently, in Lac Megantic and along the Chaudiere River soon after the accident occurred to "get a better handle on what was spilled". He discovered soot from the fire's smoke that settled on mailboxes, pool covers and vegetation smelled of a very strong solvent. He had been informed of cleanup workers who had been burned, or had been affected in a manner not usually associated with crude oil.

"If the TSB has information that tells us that other chemicals were spilled, then I think they have a duty to inform the people of Lac Megantic", said Daniel Green, president of the Societe pour vaincre la pollution. "People need to know what they were exposed to and what they continue to be exposed to in these oil products."