DENHOLM — Update Aug. 1: While Denholm residents have expressed concern about the volume and safety of used railway ties that have been stockpiled near their community, CN has offered an apology but no timeline as to when they will be moved on.
Here is a statement by Tyler W. Banick, manager of public and governmental affairs out of British Columbia: "
To ensure safe and efficient operations across our network, every year we replace roughly two million rail ties that are then collected, sorted, and shipped by rail car to our processing facilities for disposal.
"Over the last few weeks, the team has been in the area replacing ties and have been centralizing them in the Denholm back track, south of the residences and mainline. Used tie collection can take some time, depending on how many ties are changed out and the weather conditions when they are being collected.
"The track team is aware of the need to have them collected and shipped and will be finishing up the tie replacement by weeks end. They will then order in rail cars and equipment to remove the ties as soon as possible.
"CN would like to apologize for any inconveniences the temporary storage of these ties may cause."
Original story July 31: Retired railway ties are being stockpiled along parts of CN's Aberdeen subdivision, which runs between Humboldt and North Battleford, and residents of Denholm aren't happy about it.
The sight and the smell of the piles of creosote-treated ties are problem enough, but the fire hazard is even more concerning.
Mayor Donna Oborowsky says the village’s biggest concern is fire, with only the Maymont volunteer fire department, which is 25 km away, for their protection. Creosote is flammable, and about a decade ago the volunteer department had to deal with what Oborowsky called a small fire.
It was discovered by a resident at 1:30 in the morning and it was an hour before the firefighters could get there.
While piles of ties have been left at Denholm before — even for years at a time — the size of this latest stockpile has caused alarm.
CN has been using the extra line there off and on over the year ever since Denholm’s elevators came down, explains Oborowsky. They have stored used ties and rails alongside the railway and have even stored extra cars on the extra rail when elevators were here. This time around it seems to be more than they’ve had in the past.
She says she has had little communication from CN and has a request in for more information, but, she notes, it is their property to do with what they want, after all.
The News-Optimist/SASKTODAY.ca is also awaiting word from CN on a query sent Friday.
At least one local resident, Tony Yarrow, has sent an email to CN expressing concern over the used ties posing a fire hazard and a safety issue for children of the community, as well as the environment.
His parents, Richard and Diana Yarrow, moved from North Battleford to Denholm eight years ago.
“We searched a long time for this house in a quiet little community,” Diana told the News-Optimist.
But now their dream home is located across the street from a pile of blackened ties. It blocks the views, and smells awful, but Diana says her biggest concerns are the fire hazard and the way the creosote may affect people with breathing difficulties.
There were no piles of ties when they first moved to Denholm, but they did show up afterwards.
“They came and removed the load two or three years ago,” said Diana. “It was completely cleaned up from what we could see.”
She added there was even a company that came with a magnet picking up metal scraps.
But that only happened after six years of the pile sitting there.
This time, she said, it’s all broken ties and wood. With the wind coming from the south, it blows garbage, dirt and dust into town, not to mention the smell of creosote, which she believes has begun aggravating her husband’s breathing difficulties.
She also worries about fire. It was her son, Tony, who called the alarm a decade ago when a pile started on fire. And with the heat this summer, she is afraid another could start.
She also worries about the safety of children in the village. Creosote is not only flammable, it is a known carcinogen.
Everyone she has talked to in the village is also concerned, says Diana.
She agrees with her son’s suggestion that CN use the siding at Maymont instead of Denholm
“It’s out in the woods, nobody sees it from town,” she says. “Why not put them out there?
The equipment performing the stockpiling is identified as belonging to contractor Herzog Railroad Services. A supervisor in a CN truck also shows up during the work, says Diana.
The supervisor was vague when she and Richard talked with him, she said, saying only that his supervisor was told by CN the contractor was to put used ties at Denholm. He was unable to give them any time frame.
Retired ties
What eventually happens to stockpiles of old ties?
According to CN’s 2022 Sustainability Report, the company is working with its partners to explore innovative ways to optimize resource use and divert waste from landfills.
“For example, our partnership with Kruger, a North American leader in paper and paperboard recycling and a long-standing CN customer, has enabled us to ensure used rail ties are transformed into renewable energy instead of being sent to landfill. In 2020 alone, through our partnership we diverted over 751,000 of CN’s rail ties and generated approximately 186 GWh of clean energy at Kruger facilities.”
Rather than sending retired ties to the land, the report says CN collects, chips and ships them to some of its customers, like Kruger, for use as biomass to power their cogeneration plants.
A little over a year ago, when Lac La Biche, Alta;, expressed concerns over a similar stockpile of ties, a CN spokesperson said there is no environmental concern related to the ties. To address the worry about fire, they had security watching over the site.
