The effects of a train derailment in northern Ontario linger on 10 years later
Jonathan Migneault | CBC News | Posted: March 7, 2025 11:00 AM | Last Updated: March 7
Former Gogama fire chief Mike Benson says he still won’t eat fish from area waters
On March 7, 2015, Mike Benson was the first person to drive up to a giant plume of smoke from a pile of smouldering oil tankers.
A CN train had just crashed outside the small northern Ontario town of Gogama. Benson was the volunteer fire chief at that time.
"It was two kilometres away and the sky was all lit up," he said about the sight when he first looked up.
"There was obviously something pretty serious going on. When I got there, the oil was running down the ice."
The crash was actually the second to occur in that part of northern Ontario in a few weeks. On Feb. 14 there was a smaller derailment in a remote area, about 45 kilometres from Gogama.
In the first days of the response, Benson said collaboration between the small volunteer fire service, CN and Ontario's ministries of the environment and natural resources was "fantastic."
"We all seemed to be on the same page," he said.
Because the crash happened in the winter, emergency crews could let the fire burn for a couple of days without fear it would spread.
Once the flames had died down, they were about to extinguish the remaining fires and start work on remediation.
Although he was told the bitumen in the tankers would float on freshwater, making cleanup easier, Benson said he later learned some had sunk in the Makami River, next to the crash site.
It's estimated that around 2.6 million litres of crude oil spilled into the environment, including wetlands and the river that flows into Minisinakwa Lake.
The Ontario Court of Justice has ordered Canadian National (CN) Railway to pay an $8-million fine after the company pleaded guilty to causing two derailments near Gogama in 2015 that spilled a total of over three million litres of crude oil.
"Everybody I spoke to told me that it was clean. It's perfectly safe. We're well within standards," Benson said.
"But I knew that two weekends previous to that a friend of mine had dropped his anchor and pure oil came to the surface."
A decade later, Benson said he still doesn't eat fish from area waters, and many of his friends are still weary the environmental remediation was done correctly.
Improving rail safety
In an email to CBC News, CN spokesperson Ashley Michnowski said the company "immediately implemented emergency response plans and conducted effective containment and remediation efforts to mitigate environmental impacts."
Michnowski said that mitigation included containing the oil spill to protect wetlands, the removal and treatment of affected soil and groundwater, and continuous monitoring of surface water, drinking water, wildlife and air quality.
On safety, she said CN "invested heavily" in track infrastructure in the area. The company also augmented inspection protocols and improved worker training on the causes of derailments.
Industry consultant Ian Naish said rail safety in Canada hasn't really improved in the 10 years since the Gogama derailment.
"It's sort of been going along at the same safety rate," he said.
When trains carrying dangerous goods travel at speeds higher than 35 miles per hour, or 56 kilometres per hour, Naish said tankers are likely to be damaged in the event of a crash.
Impact on a nearby First Nation
The Gogama train derailment also affected Mattagami First Nation, located 25 kilometres northeast of the town.
Chief Jennifer Constant was a council member at the time of the crash, and said it has had a lasting impact on the community.
"There's still a hesitancy among some of our elders and members to consume fish [from the area]," she said.
But Constant noted recent tests have shown the water is safe.
She said the derailment also led the community to develop a more robust emergency response plan and to hire a full-time emergency co-ordinator.
Constant said the community had concerns early on about being included in discussions around the emergency response and cleanup following the derailment.