CP Rail has issued a statement regarding the cause of the low-speed derailment that occurred in Estevan on May 8.
The derailment saw four oil tanker rail cars slip off the tracks located in the company's rail yard in the centre of the city near the Devonian industrial subdivision.
None of the cars ruptured and no contents were spilled.
"Following careful investigation, it's been determined the derailment was caused by track subsidence," said Andy Cummings, spokesman for the CPR.
"In an effort to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future, CP's engineering department has laid out a detailed plan to completely rebuild this section of track."
Cummings was unable to say when the new track would be put in place or what the costs of the derailment and subsequent replacement tracks, would be.
Since the incident took place away from the company's main rail system through the city, no daily rail traffic was affected.
He did note their officials have briefed the City of Estevan and local emergency measures officials regarding their plans. That was confirmed a few weeks ago when Estevan EMO co-ordinator Helen Fornwald presented her monthly report to city council.
"We're pleased with our strong working relationship with the city," said Cummings.
The May 8 derailment saw a quick response from local emergency response teams, including Estevan Fire Rescue, which issued evacuation orders to some nearby businesses in the early stages of the incident to ensure safety. Those orders were lifted a short time after it was confirmed that there had been no leakage and the situation was stabilized so the cars could be unloaded and reset.
In 2004, a number of rail cars jumped the track in another low-speed incident in the central part of the city, that time near Estevan Diversified Services. In that event, some tanker cars carrying ammonia did leak slightly, which led to an evacuation order for nearby businesses and a few residences. Those orders were kept in effect for more than a day while the railway and response teams secured the site and emptied the damaged cars.
