Leak at Regina Co-op refinery on May 22 discharged 60K litres of 'oily liquid', says Water Security Agency

Regina Mayor Michael Fougere says a spill of oily liquid that was recently released from the Co-op Refinery Complex into the city's sewage collection system demonstrates a need for more accountability.

The leak at the Co-op Refinery Complex on May 22 discharged about 60,000 litres of oily liquid into the City of Regina's sewage collection system, an email from the Water Security Agency confirms.

University of Regina associate professor Sean Tucker is an occupational health and safety researcher who has been following developments at the refinery closely since the start of the lockout in December 2019.

The Water Security Agency confirmed in an email to Tucker that "about 60,000L" of oily liquid was discharged from the refinery's wastewater storage pond into the city's sewage collection system.

The email says most of the hydrocarbons were isolated in the lagoons at the city's sewage treatment facility and that low levels of hydrocarbons were detected in the wastewater treatment plant's effluent and in Wascana Creek, which dissipated quickly. 

Patrick Boyle, spokesperson for the Water Security Agency, said the agency is still reviewing the situation with the city and investigating what happened. 

Boyle said the "oily liquid" amount detailed in the email is correct, but that it is important to note that includes sewage water and the oily liquid from the refinery. 

"This doesn't mean there's 60,000 litres of oil," Doyle said. "That number is likely far less than 60,000." 

Doyle said the employees at the Regina wastewater treatment plant noticed the oily liquid and removed 60,000 litres of  sewage water and the liquid. Doyle said the investigation is continuing to determine the exact amount of oil sludge that was leaked into the system from the refinery. 

When the leak was initially disclosed on May 30, the amount of sludge that spilled was not provided.

Fougere said he first learned the volume of the spill from CBC. 

"That's just disappointing," Fougere said.

Fougere said he was told most of the spill was isolated in the treatment plant.

"Any time you have a spill like that, there's got to be accountability and there has to be a recovery payment for the cost of those having to clean that up," he said.

"And you know the cost of cleanup and cost of what we are going through will be redirected back to the refinery."

He said he isn't sure what the clean up cost will be in the end.

Fougere said he hopes for the public to be better informed of such problems in the future. 

"Everyone should know about this more off the top so we can protect those downstream," Fougere said. "We just need to be diligent and vigilant and make sure we protect our environment, that is the most critical factor here."

Doyle said the mayor and refinery were not told the volume of the spill because the investigation is continuing. He said the information would be shared when the investigation was completed.

"From our perspective, we really determine what's gone on there to actually release information," Doyle said. 

Doyle said the Water Security Agency has asked the city to communicate with anyone downstream throughout the process. He said current and ongoing testing show there is little to no impact downstream and that testing will continue.

Brad DeLorey, CRC director of communications and public affairs, said Wednesday night that he had not yet been able to confirm the 60,000 litre amount internally or with the Water Security Agency.

"I don't know how the Water Security Agency came up with that number," he said. "I do know there was no environmental impact to the water or humans."

He said an amount wasn't initially provided because it's an ongoing investigation and it's difficult to estimate how much sludge was released.

The CRC previously said the leak was due to "strong and sustained winds."

DeLorey said CRC has lowered the ponds to mitigate higher winds and that other changes to the system and processes are being made.

Sean Tucker said he would like to see more transparency from the CRC. He said the refinery would benefit from a community liaison committee that meets quarterly to discuss public health matters.

"Other cities have this; we could have it as well," he said. "The current model is broken. Residents require more transparency."