Transportation Safety Board probing train derailment which crashed car loaded with hydrochloric acid in Port Coquitlam yard

By Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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April 13, 2023

The CP yard in Port Coquitlam. Google Maps image.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating a trail derailment in Port Coquitlam which caused a car loaded with hydrochloric acid to leave the tracks.

The incident occurred on April 12, just after 3 a.m. at the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) yard. Company was handling an assignment of 15 cars, when five cars derailed on their sides.

“There were no injuries, no dangerous goods release reported, and no evacuation,” according to a press release from TSB.

CP and Transport Canada have both sent dangerous goods response teams to the site, and the TSB has assigned their own investigator to gather information and assess the incident.

The Dispatch has sent CP an email with questions regarding the incident, but did not receive a response by press time.

Author

Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Having spent the first 20 years of his life in Port Moody, Patrick Penner has finally returned as a hometown reporter.

His youth was spent wiping out on snowboards, getting hit in the face with hockey pucks, and frolicking on boats in the Port Moody Arm.

After graduating Heritage Woods Secondary School, Penner wandered around aimlessly for a year before being given an ultimatum by loving, but concerned, parents: “rent or college.”

With that, he was off to the University of Victoria to wander slightly less aimlessly from book, to classroom, to beer, and back.

Penner achieved his undergraduate degree in 2017, majoring in political science and minoring in history.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, translating this newfound education into career opportunities proved somewhat challenging.

After working for a short time as a lowly grunt in various labour jobs, Penner’s fruitless drifting came to an end.

He decided it was time to hit the books again. This time, with focus.

Nine months later, Penner had received a certificate of journalism from Langara College and was awarded the Jeani Read-Michael Mercer Fellowship upon graduation.

When that scholarship led to a front page story in the Vancouver Sun, he knew he had found his calling.

Penner moved to Abbotsford to spend the next three years learning from grizzled reporters and editors at Black Press Media.

Assigned to the Mission Record as the city’s sole reporter, he developed a taste for investigative and civic reporting, eventually being nominated for the 2023 John Collison Investigative Journalism Award.

Unfortunately, dwindling resources and cutbacks in the community media sphere convinced Penner to seek out alternative ways to deliver the news.

When a position opened up at the Tri-Cities Dispatch, he knew it was time to jump ship and sail back home to beautiful Port Moody.