Refinery covers neighbourhoods in dust

The Department of the Environment is investigating a malfunction at the Irving Oil refinery that left parts of Saint John covered in a grey, gritty dust overnight Thursday.

Residents in the east end of the city awoke Friday to find their homes and cars covered by the residue.

Notices from Irving Oil were placed in residents' mailboxes stating that the dust was a non-hazardous material and questions and cleaning information should be directed to Irving Oil. 

The company hired Stew's Buffing and Polishing to clean homes and cars for free. A mobile wash truck was making the rounds Friday morning.

The Irving Oil note, signed by environment manager Jeff MacDonald, said soap and water or vacuuming would easily remove the residue. MacDonald wrote that the problem was caused by an interrupted start-up of a processing unit at around 6:20 p.m. Thursday. It's still unclear how much material was released into the air.

"We always try to mitigate the impact of our operations on our neighbours and we apologize for this inconvenience," the note said.

Affected neighbourhoods included Champlain Heights, Silver Falls, and Loch Lomond.

Gordon Dalzell, who lives in the area, said he was concerned.

"Stuff that comes out of an oil refinery is not the kind of material you want getting into your lungs, your skin, or your body," he said. "And we already have to deal with the regular operation over there which is challenging enough, but to have these extraordinary emissions and these … conditions is not reassuring."