A partnership between the District of Sparwood, Teck Resources, and CP Rail could help mitigate coal dust while in transport.
Sparwood Mayor David Wilks said the two companies approach the District about finding a solution to the coal dust problem.
“CP Rail and Teck approached the District of Sparwood sometime ago with regards to a new initiative to try and keep the coal on the coal trains as it’s being transported from the Elk Valley down to Vancouver, Roberts Bank, and/or Neptune Terminals,” Wilks told MyEastKootenayNow.com. “They wanted to utilize water from the District of Sparwood as part of the solution that goes on top of the train. We agreed to that.”
Working alongside CP Rail and Teck Resources, Wilks said a new spray station has been established behind the Sparwood Recreation Centre on the CP Rail’s mainline.
“Every coal train that departs Sparwood is sprayed with this solution,” said Wilks. “What the hope is, is that it will keep any of the top layer of coal that gets dry as it’s going from here to Vancouver, that it will solidify the top layer of that coal so that there won’t be any dust coming off the trains.”
Reaching out to Teck Resources, MyEastKootenayNow.com received a written statement from the mining company.
“As part of our ongoing dust mitigation work, we have recently begun piloting a new spray station in Sparwood which coats steelmaking coal on trains with a latex-based polymer coating prior to transport to west coast ports,” said Teck. “This builds on our existing dust management processes, which include spraying loaded cars before they leave each operation and profiling the loads in each railcar.”
Wilks said they have received complaints about the coal dust over the years, and that those concerns were forwarded to both CP Rail and Teck.
“Good on Teck and CP Rail for being proactive and trying something new and we look forward to seeing if it does work,” said Wilks. “When everyone works together we can find a solution, hopefully, that works for not only the community but also for everyone between Sparwood or the Elk Valley and Vancouver and we hope that this works. If it does, it will be a permanent solution hopefully for CP Rail and Teck Resources.”
Teck said the spray system has been successful in managing dust on trains travelling long distances in other jurisdictions, and that they are looking forward to seeing how it can perform in British Columbia.
“We have worked closely with CP Rail and the District of Sparwood on this initiative and thank them for their collaboration,” said Teck.
Although a pilot project, the spray station will continue to spray the steelmaking coal loads with the latex-based polymer coating if successful in mitigating the coal dust.
Video of the coating solution being sprayed on Teck’s train loads of steelmaking coal. (Supplied by Teck Resources)