Refinery insists it's a 'good neighbour' after emission incident

Representatives of Parkland Corporation's refinery in Burnaby, B.C., told a public forum Tuesday night that it is a responsible community member and is being transparent over an incident a month ago that resulted in dark smoke being released from the facility, along with an acrid odour that spread across parts of Metro Vancouver.

"We pride ourselves on safe and reliable operations," refinery plant manager Alex Coles said at the community forum, which was held at a hotel on the Lougheed Highway. 

"We pride ourselves on being a good neighbour. We want to be a good neighbour and that's why we're here."

Dozens of people attended the information session, which featured Coles and other company representatives along with billboards detailing what caused the emission on Jan. 21, the company's response, and what could be done to prevent it from happening again.

Coles said a blocked pipe resulted in the emission, which included steam and sulphur dioxide. It happened when workers tried to restart the refinery following a shutdown due to extreme cold weather.

He said it was the first time the refinery had been shut down due to cold in 40 years. Work was continuing to figure out the exact cause of the equipment failure and an accounting of how the company responded.

"When we finalize the investigation, in the spirit of transparency we will share that with the community," he said.

At the time of the incident the Metro Vancouver Regional District issued an air quality bulletin about the emission, but later found it did not breach pollution standards.

The event had some residents calling for more transparency from the company over what exactly happened and what was emitted, but also concern over an apparent lack of information at the time.

Michelle Joel lives close to the refinery and also sits on a citizens' advisory panel that meets with Parkland once every few months.

She said she didn't notice the smell of the emission at the time, but did hear a loud boom early in the morning.

"Our biggest concern is we weren't alerted right away," said Joel, who attended the information session Tuesday night. 

"We had to be told by the firefighters to go inside, stay inside, and we didn't have any idea what was happening. There was smoke coming from the smokestack, huge black smoke pumping out, and that was a concern from us."

Joel acknowledged that the company has been receptive to community concerns in the past and wants assurances a similar emission does not happen again.

"I think they're trying and I think they're getting better. Are they there yet? No," she said about the company's communication with those living near the refinery.

WorkSafeBC, the province's work safety agency, is continuing to investigate after nine refinery workers sought medical attention for injuries related to the Jan. 21 incident.

In an email to CBC News, WorkSafeBC said Parkland requested, and was granted, an extension for submitting a full incident report to the agency for its investigation. The original deadline was Feb. 20. That has now been extend to mid-March, said the email.

Meanwhile, the City of Burnaby says it is seeking to recover $30,000 in emergency response costs related to responding to the site.

Coles said Parkland is actively working with the city to settle the matter.