WorldWide Drilling Resource

19 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® AUGUST 2015 Ontario Derailment Calls for Rescue Drilling Compiled by Amy White, Associate Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® On March 7, 2015, an eastbound Canadian National (CN) freight train was traveling on CN’s Ruel Subdivision near Gogama, Ontario, Canada. Equipped with two head-end locomotives, the train had 94 tank cars loaded with petroleum crude oil in tow. It was 2:42 A.M., and the train continued moving ahead at 43 miles per hour as the locomotives crossed the Makami River steel bridge. All of a sudden, the train began braking on its own. Looking back, the train crew, including a locomotive engineer, a trainee, and a conductor, observed a fireball engulfing the oil tank cars about 700 feet behind the locomotives. They detached the locomotives, as well as the first five cars, and pulled clear of the burning tanks. Once the flaming cars were free of the train, they rolled down the river bank, crashing through ice into the Makami River. A total of 38 cars rolled from the track, releasing fuel and igniting a large pool of fire destroying the steel rail bridge. Scott Reid from Strata Drilling Group was soon notified about the derailment. A drill rig was needed on-site immediately to perform drilling for crucial environmental and geotechnical data. Reid quickly headed to the site with a Geoprobe ® 7822DT. Work involving direct push technology was performed around the site of the accident to provide geotechnical data for planning construction of a diversion track. Environmental sampling was also executed down to bedrock at 25 feet to find the extent of impact. At this time, environmental work is continuing. Strata Drilling Group and their Geoprobe ® rigs have been part of an ongoing effort to keep this rail line up and running, which in turn keeps Alberta crude moving to Eastern Canada. The diversion track is complete and the main line for transporting cargo between Winnipeg and Toronto has been reopened. Special thanks to Geoprobe ® and Strata Drilling Group for providing information, as well as the photo! ! " # !