WINNIPEG, Man. – If recent examples are anything to go by – such as the high profile case of a shipment of weapons grade plutonium to Chalk River, Ont. (see Truck News, January 2000) – the transportation of dangerous goods has often caused considerable public uproar. Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman recently went so far as to suggest after an August truck accident that dangerous goods shouldn’t be sent through his municipality.

Diamond-shaped placards might as well come in the form of skull and crossbones in the minds of some critics.

But researchers at the Transport Institute at the University of Manitoba have found that the average annual number of deaths resulting from dangerous goods accidents has been relatively small.

There are some 27 million average annual shipments of dangerous goods in Canada, but between 1988 and 1998 the number of reportable accidents ranged from a high of 561 back in 1989 to a low of 242 in 1993, with an 11-year average of 408. Forty-six per cent of those accidents happened en route.

In fact, while accidents involving dangerous goods-laden vehicles kill an average of 11.6 people per year, accidents involving the cargo itself kill three people, the study found.

Simply put, the act of transportation appears to be more dangerous than the chance of exposure to the dangerous goods that the trucks carry.

Regulatory agencies such as the federal Transport of Dangerous Goods Directorate govern the transportation of dangerous goods (often referred to as TDG). Transport Canada and provincial governments administer the program as a whole.

While there are 10 different provincial and three different territorial requirements for moving dangerous goods, these are all harmonized through the all-government National Task Force on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods, which meets three times a year to ensure that a common set of regulations is enforced.

But some communities have decided to control the entry of dangerous shipments at all times. In Brandon, Man., the Manitoba Provincial Trunk Hwy. 10 and Hwy. 1A – both running through the city – are closed to dangerous goods transporters who have not obtained a special permit. The pilot project began this January, and makes for a 25.5-km detour around the city.

In the eyes of Manitoba’s Ministry of Highways, however, it can save truckers time because of higher speeds, less traffic congestion and fewer lights. The core of the city, meanwhile, isn’t exposed to passing shipments of dangerous goods.

And there are always political aspects to consider when planning a high-profile dangerous goods shipment.

The weapons grade plutonium shipment that was heading to Chalk River, Ont., for example, encountered significant opposition both on the U.S. side of the border and in the various communities it was to pass in Canada. The shipment ended up being flown in because of planned protests along the roads. n