Belleville Fire Chief Mark MacDonald addressing city council November 27, 2017 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
A bid by CN Rail to build flammable liquid storage tanks in Belleville is meeting some strong opposition from the city.
CN Rail wants to build the transfer facility on Airport Road, across from the Kellogg’s back yard.
Councillor Jack Miller told council Monday night. “I can’t imagine there would ever be enough information to change my mind.” He added there is no way he would ever consider it.
Mayor Christopher told Quinte News, “The message from the floor (of the council chambers) was, thank you very much, not needed in our municipality!”
Fire Chief Mark MacDonald told council it would mean a Class One flammable liquid facility within a critical area stretching across the city.
MacDonald said the facility, which will house millions of litres of fuel, could mean devastation for a large swath of the city if there was ever a fire or explosion at the site, located near residential, industrial park and recreational facilities.
MacDonald told Council this is a very critical issue, and there are significant risk management concerns.
The proposal calls for several above ground tanks, each housing 176,000 gallons of flammable content, meaning several million litres being stored above ground.
CN Rail had asked MacDonald to sign off indicating he had no concerns about the proposal. MacDonald told Quinte News he would not do that.
Mayor Christopher says the city is not the place for such a facility.
It is a federal issue and council hopes to meet with the federal Minister of Transportation and local MPs to discuss their concerns.
