'The science is not what they want to hear': CN spokesperson on Gogama

A CN Rail spokesperson says attempting to take more oil out of the waters near Gogama, Ont. will do more harm than good to the local environment.

People in the small northern Ontario town, located about 190 km north of Sudbury, are upset that oil sheens can still be seen in the Makami River, weeks after clean-up crews remediating the site of the March, 2015 derailment packed up.

Residents once again expressed those frustrations at a public meeting on Wednesday night.

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CN Rail's director of public affairs, Jim Feeny, was there and said he had a hard time getting residents to listen to his message.

"The science is not what they want to hear," said Feeny.

"What they want to hear is that everything that was spilled is absolutely gone."

Over 1,000 tests of soil and water in the area show there is just a trace amount of oil in the river, Feeny said, and that it doesn't pose a risk to fish or drinking water.

He added that oil sheens can be created by a very small amount of oil.

According to Feeny, experts are telling the railroad that trying to remove more contaminated soil from the riverbed could be even more damaging to the environment.

"We caused the spill, we understand that, we're dealing with it," he said. "But if in the last stages of [cleanup] we do more harm than good, we're not doing the environment — or the community for that matter — any favours either."

Feeny said CN continues to monitor the situation in Gogama and is sharing its results with Ontario's Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, which has the final word on whether or not the clean-up is complete.

Requests for interviews with the minister or other ministry officials have all been turned down.

But Environment Minister Glen Murray did talk about Gogama at Queen's Park this week, in the face of steady heckling from the NDP benches.

Murray said there are 20 different efforts underway by the ministry to make sure the spill was properly cleaned up.

A statement from the environment ministry this week said that the Gogama situation is one of its "top priorities."