Improving the safe transportation of dangerous goods is a priority for the Government of Canada, which is why new research is being undertaken to support this goal.
Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Marc Garneau announced that research is underway through 23 new projects involving the transportation of dangerous goods. The research projects will be implemented from 2020 to 2023.
A total of $3.6 million has been allocated to the 23 research projects. Funding for the projects was provided to Transport Canada from court settlements paid largely by Irving Oil related to the Lac-Mégantic disaster.
The projects were carefully selected among numerous ideas resulting from a research symposium held in 2019. The symposium brought together over 200 transportation of dangerous goods partners, including emergency responders, industry representatives, academia, and experts on the transportation of dangerous goods.
The selected projects cover topics such as tools for emergency response; dangerous goods containers; lithium batteries and other energy storage systems; risk assessment and analysis; and other emerging issues.
Six projects are slated to move forward in the next year, namely:
- Validation of recommended emergency actions for liquefied natural gas in the Emergency Response Guidebook;
- Comprehensive review of the criteria and thresholds for emergency response assistance plans in the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations;
- Evaluation of any risks resulting from hydrogen being transported to hydrogen-vehicle fueling stations;
- Hazard assessment of energy storage systems being transported in enclosed vessels for marine transport;
- Development of a geographic risk assessment methodology for moving dangerous goods by road; and,
- Development of a smart package for lithium battery transportation that indicates warnings about issues inside the package.
Quotes
"The safe transportation of dangerous goods doesn't just happen. It's underpinned by extensive research and testing to ensure everything is being moved safely. To keep Canadians safe, we must continue to address knowledge gaps that exist and the projects being announced today do just this. The results of these research projects will help us develop new initiatives and enhance existing ones to further improve the safety of our transportation system and the safety of Canadians."
Minister of Transport
The Honourable Marc Garneau
Quick facts
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Transport Canada delivers a wide range of research on the transportation of dangerous goods, including scientific, engineering, risk, geographic information systems and socio-economic research.
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Over 120 research ideas were evaluated following a 2019 Transportation of Dangerous Goods Research Symposium.
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In 2020-21, Transport Canada will initiate six of these research projects and allocate an estimated $900,000 in funding towards them.
