Rail Accident in Lac-Mégantic CRHNET 13 TH annual Symposium, Montreal, Quebec November 23-25, 2016 Jean Savard EOC manager Public Safety
Lac-Mégantic 20,3 km 2, ~ 6,000 inhabitants; Tourist attractions: national parks, outdoor activities, hunting and fishing, golf, historical downtown core (station, architecture); Ironically, the municipality s economic growth (late 19 th century) was triggered by the arrival of the railway (junction of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. and the Québec Central). 2
Lac-Mégantic Disaster July 6 : Derailment and explosion of a train in downtown Lac-Mégantic 72 railcars (7.6 million liters of crude oil) 3
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MMA Railway Line Lac-Mégantic 6
Description of events Friday, July 5 A train operated by the Montreal Maine Atlantic company heads for the Maritimes 5 locomotives 1 empty (dummy) car 72 tanker cars each containing 110,000 litres of crude oil (7.92 million litres in all) The train stops for the night at Nantes change of engineer, the locomotive is left unattended a fire breaks out in the lead locomotive and is extinguished by firefighters 7 7
Description of events Saturday, July 6 The driverless train begins to move Line between Nantes Lac-Mégantic: 1.2% slope Arrival at high speed (estimated at 100 km/h) in downtown Lac- Mégantic 8 8
Description of events Saturday, July 6 (continued) 01:17, train derails in downtown Lac-Mégantic Multiple explosions and major fire Burning oil runs towards houses and enters sewer system Oil spilled in lake Partial loss of electric power, phone and Internet service 9 9
The Consequences 47 confirmed deaths 40 victims identified 7 to be identified 2000 evacuees (perimeter of 6.4 km 2 ) 40 buildings destroyed, including 35 businesses Job losses Interruption of rail transport 10
The Environmental Consequences Contamination of drinking water affecting over 300,000 people 5,900,000 liters of oil spilled into the environment or burned Soil contamination in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Lake Megantic and the Chaudière River Contamination of buildings in Lac-Mégantic 11
Economic Impact The interruption of the MMA railway line has a major financial impact on many companies and communities. A large part of Lac-Mégantic s businesses were located in the downtown area and were destroyed or contaminated. 12
Summary 1. Quebec Emergency Management Structure and Plan 2. Lake Megantic Incident Response 3. Recovery 4. Initiatives 5. Lessons and learned 13
Quebec emergency management Individual Preparedness CITIZENS Essential Needs Emergency Plans MUNICIPAL RESOURCES Intervention Continued delivery of essential services to residents Municipal Emergency Management Organisation National Emergency Management Plan GOVERNMENT RESOURCES Intervention and support to municipalities Continued delivery of essential services to the population Regional Emergency Management Organisations Quebec Provincial Emergency Management Organisation 14
National Emergency Management Plan (NEMP) The NEMP contains 15 missions, each assigned to a particular government agency. Each mission is designed to address a specific need that is likely to occur in an emergency The National Emergency Management Plan is based on the four pillars of emergency management (mitigation, preparation, intervention and recovery) The Plan is written and maintained by the National Emergency Management Organisation, which is chaired by the Associate Deputy Minister of Fire Safety and Emergency Management and staffed by high-ranking officials from every governement agencies. 15
National Emergency Management Plan (NEHMP) The National Emergency Management Plan is not a command based structure, but rather a coordination system. Every organisation within the plan is responsible for carrying out the responsibilities inscribed within its mission (ESF). The chair of the organisation must make sure that all those missions are working in a coordinated manner that will allow the return to a normal situation as quickly as possible. 16
The 15 missions 1. Economic Activities 2. Financial Assistance 3. Bio-Food 4. Public Communications 5. Environnement 6. Electricity 7. Energy 8. Mass Evacuation, Reintegration and Safety 9. Housing 10. Health 11. Essential Government Services 12. Direct Support to Disaster Victims 13.Technical Support to Municipalities 14. Transport 15. Telecommunications 17
Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Responsibilities of the Quebec Emergency Operations Centre : 1. Anticipate events or situations that could threaten the safety or well-being of the population of Quebec. 2. Alert and mobilize municipal and government stakeholders. 3. To coordinate government operations in the event of a major disaster affecting the province. 18
Emergency Operations Centre Located in Quebec City, the EOC is staffed 24/7 and is outfitted with all the amenities needed to fulfill its role. For Lac-Mégantic, the responsibilities of the EOC were : Manage the flow of information and produce sit reps for the Prime Minister s Office Offer technical support to the Regional field offices (maps, satellite imagery, expertise, etc.) Act as point of contact for the Canadian government Deploy additional ressources to the affected regions Support the National Emergency National Organisation 19
The Response in Lac-Mégantic 20
9-1-1 Call : 01:17 July 6 Firefighters called Evacuation of downtown Lac-Mégantic initiated Numerous Fire Departments brought in to support, including 100 American Firefighters from 8 Maine Fire Departments. Security perimeter established by the Sûreté du Québec 0500 : 1,000 individuals evacuated Activation of Filet 4 for Mass Casualty Incidents. 21
Quebec EMO Response 01h44 : Local 9-1-1 Center contacts the Quebec Provincial EOC. Quebec EMO personnel sent to Lac-Mégantic and Sherbrooke Because of the forest fires in the North of the province, the provincial EOC was already fully activated. 0300 : Full activation of regional EOC in Sherbrooke. 0330 : Activation of Regional Emergency Management Organisation 1200 : Activation of National Emergency Management Organisation. 22
Quebec Governement and partners Response 30 government departments and agencies mobilized in support to the municipality. Canadian Red Cross Specialized services : Coroner office, Judicial Investigation and Legal Medecine Laboratory, Provincial Police Department s Mass Casualty Incidents Specialists, etc. Specialized companies: oil recovery, soil decontamination, water clean-up, etc. 23
Regional Emergency Management Office (Estrie) Based in Lac-Mégantic from July 8th to the end of August Responsibilities : Direct assistance to the City of Lac-Mégantic Public communications Coordination of regional governement agencies (Regional Emergency Management Plan) Information gathering and management 24
Regional Emergency Management Office (Quebec) Based in Quebec City Responsibilities : Assist municipalities along the Chaudière River dealing with contaminated water supplies following the oil spill 25
Public Communications Daily press briefings were used to convey important informations to the public. 20 press briefings Provincial police Twitter and Facebook accounts : Information on investigation, bodies recovered and identified Provincial Government Communication Agency Twitter and Facebook accounts : Specific instructions to the public 26
National Emergency Management Organisation Following the Lac-Mégantic accident, the National Emergency Management Organisation coordinated effort to : Ensure that the Quebec governement would deliver a concerted and coherent response to the situation; Respond to numerous political requests; Create the Bureau of Assistance and Information in Lac-Mégantic; Coordinate reconstruction effort in downtown Lac- Mégantic. 27
Short-Term Recovery : Bureau of Assistance and Information (BAI) The BAI was set up in the days following the derailment: Under the supervision of Quebec Emergency Management 22 government agencies on site to speed up bureaucratic processes for victims of the event. 28
Bureau of Assistance and Information 29
Bureau of Assistance and Information Opened from July 15 to August 12 Acts as a single point of contact to reach 22 governement agencies for victims of the accident. Examples of services offered : Production of death certificates; Help with insurance companies Re-issuance of lost identification papers or important legal documents Help with re-lodging for people whose homes have been destroyed. Etc. 30
Bureau of Assistance and Information It was the first time that Quebec Emergency Management decided to create such a structure following an event, and the logistic aspects proved to be quite a challenge (to open a brand new and fully-functioning governement office in less than 48 hours). It was widely considered by all partners involved and by the city of Lac-Mégantic to be a very useful service since the office received thousands of visits during its operation. Quebec Emergency Management will include the opening of such an office in its planning for future events. 31
Long-Term Recovery : Bureau of Expertise and Coordination Installed in Lac-Mégantic to supervise the recovery and reconstruction of Lac-Mégantic. Under the joint responsibility of the following departments : Municipal Affairs Environment Transportation Public Safety 32
Bureau of Expertise and Coordination Main responsibilites of the Bureau: Reintegration and relocation of 2,000 people affected. Decontamination of the soil and buildings in Lac- Mégantic (in progress). Clean-up of the shorelines of Lake Mégantic and the Chaudière river (in progress). Temporary connection of the city to the railroad. Relocation of downtown businesses (in progress). 33
Bureau of Expertise and Coordination (BEC) National Emergency Management Organisation Regional Emergency Management Organisation Environment Site clean-up Municipal Affairs Main Activities 34 Main activities Decontamination Environmental Monitoring Municipal Legislation Downtown re-building Technical Support Coordinating Agency (Quebec EMO) Information Management, Liaison, Coherence of government interventions BEC Economic Affairs Transport Main Activities Main activities Rail transport Technical Support Geotechnic Support to industries Economic Growth Civil engineering Public Health Main Activities Quebec EMO Recovery Specialists Others Impact of Health from contamination Psychosocial support Public information As needed: Agriculture Red Cross Welfare Etc. Main activities City of Lac-Mégantic Financial Help to Lac- Mégantic Support to the municipality Relodging of long-term evacuees 2013/08/26
Reconstruction of Lac-Mégantic Bureau of Expertise and Coordination City of Lac-Mégantic Private contractors hired by the Quebec Governement to clean and rebuild downtown Lac-Mégantic 35 2013/08/26
Local initiatives Constant monitoring of the population. White Angels : Volunteer unit offering psychosocial services Neighborhood watch conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Services as well as the Canadian Red Cross. Hairdressers and high school teachers specifically trained to detect people at risk of suicide. Therapy groups for residents living near the train track. 36
Lessons learned Importance of regular follow-up with local responders They knew the victims They re-live the events every day Sûreté du Québec : Operational and emotional after-action reviews Training given to officers on post-traumatic stress disorder and on the mourning process Consequence : very few psychological lasting effects on first responders Responders more apt to intervene with affected population Fire Department : no structured emotional support offered to responders. Some occurrences of post-traumatic stress disorders and psychological problems Provincial police officers have more experience dealing with stressfull situations than members of a small Fire Department like the one in Lac-Mégantic. 37
Questions? 38