Northwest Community Response Capacity

WHEREAS on June 22, 2006, local governments were notified that key transport development initiatives in northwestern British Columbia will potentially result in a high level of risk for uncontrollable major spills resulting from the transport of hazardous goods; AND WHEREAS existing private hazardous material response resources are located far away from the Northwest, causing actual deployment of qualified personnel to take days to reach the Northwest in sufficient strength; AND WHEREAS the initial burden to respond to hazardous spill incidents rests with the local communities and minimal agency resources: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities urge the provincial and federal governments to take measures to improve the Northwest community response capacity in light of the potential increase in hazardous goods traffic.