By: Olivia Sherman, News Writer
On January 21, the Burnaby Refinery experienced a technical issue with one of its processing units, resulting in smoke, a strong odour, and fumes spreading into Vancouver. Despite being owned by a Calgary-based company, the Burnaby Refinery provides a quarter of BC’s gasoline and fuel.
The Burnaby Refinery is located on the shore of the Burrard Inlet, and a 15km/hr wind blowing eastward spread the chemical smell to metro Vancouver. At that time, the refinery notified the Burnaby RCMP and Burnaby Fire Department of the issue. After multiple community complaints of chemical odours and poor air quality, Vancouver fire and rescue services chief Karen Fry warned the public of a “hydrocarbon, industrial event” making its way to Vancouver.
The Peak contacted a spokesperson for the Burnaby Refinery for more information. Due to the cold weather in late January, the refinery experienced a “disruption in unit operations” and issued a “controlled shutdown of the refinery as a precautionary measure,” the spokesperson said. “An issue occurred in one of the refinery units, a pipe became blocked, which resulted in a strong odour and visible plume coming from the unit stack.”
A statement from the Burnaby Fire Department provided to CTV News said the odours didn’t pose any health risk to the public. However, according to a 2022 report from WSP and Golder, an environmental consulting firm, the three main chemicals emitted from refineries are sulphur dioxide, benzene, and butadiene — the latter two being carcinogenic. Despite the public safety advisories in the Vancouver and Burnaby areas being lifted later in the afternoon, the air quality bulletin remained in place until 2:40 p.m. due to the smoke and smell.
Members of the community expressed concern for their health. In an interview with CBC News, resident Melina Auerbach asked, “What are citizens supposed to do when there is a noxious-smelling, chemical-smelling fume and you have to spend hours trying to dig out the information?”
350 Canada, an environmental activist organization fighting for the end of fossil fuel usage, started a petition after the flare-up at the refinery. The petition calls for a “full independent investigation into the incident,” the assurance of “timely public health warnings” for future issues, and “accountability from Parkland Corporation.” At the time of writing, the petition has 2,355 signatures. “This crisis sends a clear signal that it’s time to accelerate a just transition to a renewable energy economy.”
The Burnaby City Council is submitting a request for an investigation into the incident from the BC Energy Regulator (BCER).
“Burnaby residents and residents of other parts of our region had their lives disrupted by the incident at Parkland refinery and they deserve a full and transparent account of what happened on January 21,” said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley in the City of Burnaby press release. “Municipalities only have a limited set of tools to hold industry accountable, but it is our role to advocate on behalf of our residents and demand answers and accountability in the wake of this incident.”
The mayor and Council are also demanding a reimbursement of $30,000 for the labour of the firefighters who responded to the incident on January 21. The refinery spokesperson responded to The Peak regarding this demand: “We value our longstanding relationship with the City of Burnaby, and we will continue to directly engage with them as we keep the lines of communication open.”
Sonia Furstenau, leader of the BC Green Party, said to the National Observer, “it seemed that the orientation was to protect the reputation of the refinery and that protecting public health wasn’t the first priority.” Furstenau said she’d like to see “absolute transparency” about the chemicals in the refinery.
“The well-being of our neighbours is a top priority and we’re proactively working with regulators to keep the community safe and informed,” the Burnaby Refinery spokesperson stated. “An internal investigation is underway to better understand the event.”
