Two Years After Oil Train Disaster, Profound Scars Remain in Lac-Mégantic
"Two years after Lac-Mégantic, oil trains keep exploding and carbon pollution keeps rising. Oil trains are a disaster for our health, our safety, and our climate."
—Stop Oil Trains
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/06/two-years-after-oil-train-disaster-profound-scars-remain-lac-megantic
A week of direct actions across Canada and the U.S. to stop so-called "bomb trains" began on Monday, the two-year anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, when an unmanned train with 72 tankers carrying 30,000 gallons of crude oil careened into a small town in the Canadian province of Quebec, where it derailed, exploded, and killed 47 people.
Decontamination work continues to this day at the crash site, but was suspended at noon for a moment of silence. Later in the day, church bells will ring out 47 times at Lac-Mégantic's St. Agnes Church.
On every level, recovery in the small community has been challenging.
The Globe and Mail reports: "Two years on, there’s still a pile of toxic dirt where the centre of Lac-Mégantic used to be." Reconstruction efforts have moved quickly and without a lot of transparency, the newspaper reports—perhaps too swiftly for citizens who feel they've been sidelined from negotiations.
Meanwhile, as the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix noted in an editorial on Monday, "the psychological toll on residents has been profound. A report from the local health department in January revealed that while the community has become closer and more resilient, substance abuse and mental health issues have been major challenges."
According to the Montreal Gazette, while a memorial mass on Sunday was well-attended, some residents left town for the weekend "to avoid the memories."
