‘Catastrophe:’ Strong resistance to Lac-Mégantic Rail Bypass 10 years after tragedy

LAC-Mégantic, Que.—Raymond Savoie has lived all his 71 years in a small stone house surrounded by farmland, originally built nearly 100 years ago by his great-grandfather in Lac-Mégantic, Que.

But last month he and his partner, Rita Boulanger, learned that their home and part of their land will be expropriated by the federal government on Aug. 1 for a project to divert trains out of the center of the community, parts of which were closed in 2013. were destroyed. when an oil-laden train derailed, killing 47 people.

At first he was told the house would be moved, or torn down and rebuilt brick by brick, but he doesn’t believe that. “They want to put a bulldozer in it,” he said.

The 12.5-kilometer rail bypass was supposed to help the city heal from the collective trauma of the disaster. But 10 years after the tragedy, work has yet to begin, and the bypass has become a source of division and anger rather than unity.

Ottawa confirmed in mid-June that it would expropriate land from 43 residents, including Savoie, and said construction should begin in the fall. In response, lawyers representing some of the dispossessed residents filed an injunction in federal court last week, seeking to suspend the trial until the case can be heard on the merits.

One of their lawyers, Frédéric Paré, says the federal government has not followed proper procedure and that it is premature to seize property because the Canadian Transportation Agency has yet to approve construction of the bypass.

But residents’ concerns go beyond expropriations. Some 63 parties and their lawyers objected to the bypass during public consultations in May, according to the Hearing Officer’s report.

They lamented the fact that the proposed ring road has more curves – which could cause derailments – than the current track. They also said that surveys show that the majority of residents in all three communities along the ring road, including in Lac-Mégantic, are against it. They also say that alternative routes have not been well studied and that the rising price for the project has exploded.

But the most common concern was the potential environmental impacts: loss of wetlands, lowering of groundwater levels and deterioration of private wells.

A hydrogeology report published in May 2022 by the firm Englobe noted that several wetlands were likely to be affected, either directly by construction or by lowering the water table. Resources, as well as surface waters, such as rivers, can be affected, it turned out.

Yolande Boulanger, 85, would lose nearly 36 acres of the farm where she has lived since 1964.

Boulanger, who lost her 19-year-old grandson in the Mégantic train tragedy, says her opposition to the bypass is not just about losing part of the cattle ranch owned by her late husband’s family since 1933, or feeling from the vibrations of the trains passing in front of her shed. Instead, she said she’s fighting for the city’s water, which she’s convinced will be contaminated by the coming explosions and excavation.

“If this (bypass) happens, it’s another catastrophe in the making,” she said.

Paré, meanwhile, said the route was chosen “based on the costs of 2017 and, above all, the expertise we had in 2017.”

“At that time, there was no mention of wetlands, there was no question of a bridge, there was no question of digging a canyon,” Paré said. “The project has changed a lot.” He said most environmental assessments were done before construction details were known and the amount of land being expropriated has also increased significantly.

Paré said the proposed route was chosen in part because it was cheaper — an estimated $133 million when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard announced joint funding in 2018. Transport Canada will not confirm, but Paré said opponents believe it will now. cost nearly a billion dollars for what amounts to a “gift” to a private railroad company.

Transport Canada says it remains fully committed to the bypass, which will reduce the number of homes near the track from 265 to eight and reduce the number of level crossings from 16 to four.

However, despite the commitments, the final project has still not been approved.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Canadian Transportation Agency suggested that Central Maine and Quebec Railway Canada’s application is incomplete. The agency sent a letter to the company in February asking for more information, including how the findings of a recent hydrogeological survey were incorporated into an assessment of the project’s environmental impact.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City, owner of the Lac-Mégantic rail line, said in an email that the transportation agency’s request required “significant additional work” from both the company and Transport Canada, and that it was working “diligently” to get its share to complete.

Lac-Mégantic mayor Julie Morin has said the bypass is necessary because of Lac-Mégantic’s sloping topography, the “collective trauma” of the derailment and the increasing number of rail cars carrying hazardous materials through the heart of downtown.

Transport Canada did not confirm the price of the bypass, but said the federal and provincial governments had agreed to increase funding to cover rising costs.

For now, Savoie and Boulanger say they have no plans to pack their bags. They will stay in the small stone house, where Boulanger grows vegetables in raised beds made from antique farm equipment, and where Savoie harvests the hay to feed their three cows.

They say they still don’t know how much compensation they will receive, and that the stress and uncertainty has led to them both now having to take medication to sleep. But they say they will fight to the end, hoping that Savoie can end his days in the house where he was born.

By Morgan Lowrie