Strong odour coming from Burnaby refinery carried no health risks: fire chief

An “industrial incident” at an oil refinery in Burnaby that blanketed parts of Metro Vancouver with a strong chemical smell on Sunday didn’t pose any risks to the public, according to the Burnaby Fire Department.

The Parkland Refinery, which is located in the north of the city on the Burrard Inlet, shut down during last week’s snowstorm, and a “small issue” arose with one of its units during the start-up process, fire Chief Chris Bowcock said.

He added the problem was “very quickly and rapidly dealt with” when it happened around 7:30 a.m., and that fire crews were in the area all day to monitor the situation.

“There was some discharge of steam, a little bit of smoke, with some very strong odour attached. None of that constitutes or ever did constitute a risk to the community,” he said.

However, the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby issued public safety advisories Sunday, and the Metro Vancouver Regional District issued an air quality bulletin.

The public safety advisories were lifted later in the afternoon, while the air quality bulletin remained in place as of Sunday evening.

“Neighbours in the community may notice temporarily elevated smoke, odours and particulate matter,” Parkland wrote in an emailed statement at 1 p.m. “We continue to work with relevant authorities, and our refinery team is working to resolve this temporary issue.”

It added there were no reported injuries.

Bowcock said it was a “common” fuel product that’s used to heat up the refinery process that was burning.

“It’s not anything that we would find as highly toxic or any kind of chemical waste, it’s actually a hydrocarbon product,” he said.

In a news release around 1 p.m., the City of Burnaby said “using standard operational pre-plans, Burnaby Fire assessed and confirmed no immediate concerns related to the safety of citizens.”

The City of Vancouver issued its public safety advisory just after 11 a.m.

The alert asked anyone who can smell the odour to close all windows and doors, and for anyone outside to consider going into a community centre or library.

Burnaby sent its own alert just after 1 p.m.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District issued the air quality bulletin also around 1 p.m., saying it had received over 100 complaints about the smell in the region.

It said environmental regulation and enforcement officers were sent to the refinery.

“Parkland Refining holds a valid air quality permit with Metro Vancouver, and officers are assessing compliance with that permit, which will be an ongoing process,” the bulletin reads.

The district said anyone with medical conditions such as heart or lung disease, asthma or diabetes “may wish” to reduce physical activity outdoors until the bulletin is lifted.

On Friday, the refinery issued an advisory saying residents “may continue to notice higher than usual flare and potential intermittent noise” in the coming days due to start-up operations.

“The refinery is committed to safe, reliable, and efficient operations while minimizing potential impacts to our neighbours,” Parkland wrote. “All safety and environmental protocols are being followed, and all required regulators have been notified.”