The City of Estevan is hoping a Tuesday meeting may lead to some major changes or the possible closure of Canadian Pacific Railway's oil transloading site.
The two sides were expected to meet to discuss the site, which opened in December and has been a source of controversy since. Although The Mercury was unable to speak with any of the meeting participants before press time, it was expected they would undertake a risk assessment exercise that would go over many of the City's safety concerns and how CPR plans to handle them.
"CPR believes that there is really no risk associated with the transload facility and I think this process will prove to them and us that there is indeed risk to it, there is risk that should have been mitigated and there are things that should have been done before they started," city manager Jim Puffalt said.
"CPR has said they take these things seriously and I think they are going to find there is a lot of things they should have done and still need to do if they propose to continue to run that inside Estevan."
Puffalt said the City has no problem with the concept of shipping oil by rail but does not feel the loading site should be located within Estevan.
"It's a great business oppourtunity for CPR, don't get us wrong. We would love to see it about five miles out of here but putting it right in the middle of our city, right by our centralized leisure facilities, close to residential and our downtown core could you have found a worse place to put this?"
Puffalt stopped short of saying the City would again ask CPR to close the site at Tuesday's meeting but
was hopeful the risk assessment exercise would provide them with proof that the site isn't safe.
"We have to have data to back up our suggestions. That is what we are trying to accomplish, to get the hard facts that says this is a bad thing for Estevan or it's not a bad thing for Estevan.
"We just need to deal with the hard facts. If we are going to take this forward we need to have data to back up what they are saying."
Asked why the City has taken such a hard stance against the transload station when there are far worse chemicals transported through the city by rail or semi on a daily basis, Puffalt said the fact the crude is being loaded right in Estevan makes the situation different from their perspective.
"When you transport it you have an opportunity for an employee or operator error," he said. "We know there is much worse stuff than that coming through the city but that is already loaded in contained vessels. If it derailed like the anhydrous ammonia did in 2002 we know there is going to be a huge issue but that is an accident. This is something that is happening on an everyday basis where they are transloading and asking for, we think, trouble because you are taking it from one vessel to another."
In the meantime, CPR provided The Mercury with a Tuesday tour of the transload site which is located on their property just west of the Devonian Industrial Subdivision and the opportunity to witness the transloading process.
Kevin Hrysak, the media relations manager for CPR, says the primary focus at the site is safety.
"Transloading is a very safe process," he said. "The number one priority for us is safety and community. Safety of our employees and the surrounding public not to mention the environment. All that happens before any operations come into place."
Among the safety measures in place is a grounding system that prevents any static electricity. There are also other devices in place to prevent the double skinned rail tankers, which can carry 650 barrels of oil, from moving unexpectedly. Hrysak said there is also a very extensive spill management system in place should one occur.
For as much fuss as the site has caused, the actual machine that facilitates transloading is roughly the size of a small car.
The process of moving the oil from one tank to the other is also a relatively simple one. Once a truck pulls up to the location, employees from Bulk Plus Logistics attach a hose to the tanker truck and another to the bottom of the rail car allowing the oil to flow from one location to the other through a device called a gantry which contains a filter and meters. The actual pumping is done by the tanker truck itself.
Another critical aspect of the process is the third hose that is used to control the fumes. Hrysak noted the vapour recovery system captures 98 per cent of the fumes and pumps them back into the truck which later releases them at another location. Although fumes were a concern for many in the city, it is evident simply by the fact employees are able to work at the site without breathing apparatuses that the recovery system does in fact do its job.
"All the fumes go from out the top, through that hose and back into the truck so it is a contained system," he said. "Obviously you get a little bit of fumes when you open up the hatch but it's unlike a gasoline tanker where those fumes vent into the atmosphere."
While the process is taking place Hrysak noted that each of the three Bulk Plus employees visually inspect each connection to ensure everything is working smoothly. He added there are also various shutoff measures available if needed.
While safety is clearly an important focus for CPR and Bulk Plus Logistics, many with the City of Estevan and its safety personnel have expressed concerns about the human error element. Hrysak noted that is why they have multiple people in place when the process is ongoing.
"That is why they have four people here. They are stepping up the manpower so it's not just one person or two people doing this and somebody has a heart attack and something happens," he said. "There is always somebody else in place as well. This is industry standard and these guys are specialists in their field and meet codes and regulations in all regards."
Hrysak added that CPR has never had a fire occur during an oil transload and they have also never had a major spill at any of their 35 locations in Canada.
