April 2016 – Rothesay & CN Test Emergency Communication

For immediate release – 12/04/16

Rothesay – Rothesay and CN Monday jointly tested notification procedures in the case of a rail emergency. With 8 kilometres of track within the Town and rail cars passing through the community including some loaded with dangerous goods, emergency response preparation is a priority. With the cooperation of CN and its first responders, Rothesay has been planning for its response in the case of a derailment or some other rail-related incident.

Monday’s exercise included CN Police, Kennebecasis Regional Police, Kennebecasis Valley Fire Department and the 911 operations in the City of Saint John as well as Town staff.  The group tested communication channels amongst those organizations and discussed other parts of emergency response.

Pierre Bergeron, CN Police Inspector Operations for Québec and the Maritimes noted the company works with communities across the country to share information about rail safety and emergency response planning. CN is pleased to be able to cooperate with Rothesay in developing its preparedness plans.

At Monday night’s meeting Council received a report from the ad hoc Rail Safety Committee outlining a variety of initiatives and concerns of that group. The Rail Safety Committee was composed of volunteers from different parts of Town under the leadership of Deputy Mayor Dr. Nancy Grant, who examined a number of aspects related to the interface of the rail line and the community. The report noted that there are more than 400 homes to which emergency access could be compromised in the case of the rail accident. The final report of the Rail Safety Committee can be found on the Rothesay website.

‘The ad hoc committee did great work in bringing rail safety considerations to Council’, said Rothesay Mayor Bill Bishop; ‘The rail line has been here for a long time and it’s important for the fire, police and ambulance to be properly prepared if access to some parts of the community is restricted for a time’.  Deputy Mayor Grant was pleased to see the emergency communication tested and commented:  ‘Rail safety is critical to many families in Rothesay and the cooperation of CN is pivotal in ensuring our response to a rail-related emergency is as good as it can possibly be’.

Acceptance of the report from the ad hoc rail committee coincided with the adoption of the emergency preparedness plan for the Town prepared under the leadership of Councillor Peter Lewis. ‘We’re really pleased to be able to complete this plan during the mandate of this Council’ said Councillor Lewis.

Following Rothesay EMO Exercise with CN Police from left: Cst. Guy Boudreau, Inspector Pierre Bergeron, CN Police; Mayor Bill Bishop, Inspector Jeff Giggey, Inspector Jeff Porter, KRPF; Deputy Chief Dan McCoy, KVFD.
For more information please call 848-6600 or email Rothesay@Rothesay.ca