Three Boyle area farmers are asking Boyle village council to reconsider its motion to decommission an anhydrous ammonia storage tank within village limits.
Ellwood Splane, Joseph Rosich and Ed Zilinski presented their case to village council during the regular council meeting last Wednesday.
Council said they would listen to the delegation, but no decision would be made during the meeting.
Anhydrous ammonia, or pure ammonia gas, is used by farmers as a fertilizer but can be harmful to humans if leaked in to the air. The storage tank in question is within village limits and in the path of prevailing winds that would carry contaminants through the village if the storage tank were compromised, according to village chief administrative officer Charlie Ashbey. In October, village council ordered the company that owns the tank, Richardson Pioneer, to remove it.
“Local area agricultural producers are greatly concerned by this decision, as it has direct and significant financial and operational impact on approximately 30 farm businesses in the area,” Splane said, reading from a prepared letter from all three farmers. “Richardson Pioneer has indicated that due to the costs involved, the tank will not be relocated, but rather that the regional service will be shut down entirely.”
According to village chief administrative officer Charlie Ashbey, this is the first he has heard of closure. He said he has recently contacted Richardson Pioneer, and the company asked for more time to prepare to move the tank. Council had originally told the company to remove the tank by Nov. 15.
“We would allow time for them to develop an exit strategy from the current location while continuing to provide uninterrupted service to our local farm customers,” Ashbey said. “At that time, they were considering finding an alternate location.”
Splane said the cost to relocate the tank would be in the range of $450,000.
“This amount is calculated based on the setup requirements for other tanks that have been recently installed in western Canada,” he said.
Splane explained the decision to close the facility would directly impact farmers.
“Council’s decision to prohibit further operations out of this site, and the subsequent loss of the service to the local agricultural community, is a cost that will ultimately be borne by area farm businesses,” he said. “The loss of this service represents a considerable negative impact in lost potential of equipment investments, lost efficiency in product application and delivery, and lost value as this cost-effective product will no longer be available.”
With the farmers being set up for this kind of product, Splane said it would be detrimental to the farming community to switch products.
“While it is difficult to measure the precise impact, the cost to area farmers will almost certainly exceed a million dollars in lost equipment potential and retooling alone, and the long-term lost efficiency and increased product cost will be even more significant,” he explained. “As such, we request that village council reconsider their decision to force the viable, important and safe Richardson Pioneer anhydrous service centre to decommission its tank, thus ending anhydrous service in the Boyle area.”
Splane listed the reasons the farmers would be impacted by the closure.
“Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) is usually the lowest-priced form of nitrogen fertilizer,” he said. “Over the years, it has worked out to about $5 per acre — less than granular nitrogen fertilizer.
“For example, on the Splane family farms, that is a saving of about $20,000, based on 4,000 acres seeded at $5 per acre,” he calculated.
The efficiency with which the product is delivered has an impact; Splane stated the $5 per acre includes the delivery fee.
“This added benefit is very significant during the critical seeding operations. If dry or liquid fertilizer is used instead of NH3, considerable additional hauling work is required on each farm operation that previously used NH3,” he explained. “In practice, many operations will require an additional employee, typically with a class one or three driving license, to manage this additional work.”
Splane stated the product is also efficient in its application.
“Because NH3 is a pressurized gas, most application systems do not require active mechanical systems to dispense the product; it simply flows passively out of the tank into the applicator and to the ground,” he explained. “By contrast, dry and liquid products require hydraulic fans or pumps respectively, both of which not only cost more to install, but also require expensive, late model tractors with adequate hydraulic pumps to power these systems.”
Splane stated the farmers are currently set up to use anhydrous ammonia.
“For the most simple systems, these items represent an investment of at least $20,000, and on larger systems, the cost is up to $60,000,” he said. “Moreover, far from an outmoded product, several area producers have invested in new anhydrous equipment even in just the last two years.”
An equipment switch would be costly, he said.
“Exact costs will vary, but for an average direct seeding operation, retooling from an NH3 tank to a used air cart and upgraded tractor could easily cost a typical farm $200,000,” he said. “For new equipment, that cost is much higher.”
Splane spoke on behalf of the two other farmers, who accompanied him as the delegation.
“For the 30 farm businesses that rely on NH3 service from Richardson Pioneer’s Boyle facility, council’s decision to prohibit continued operation of this area business has very real and significant cost and operational implications,” he explained. “While we respect the needs of council to ensure community safety, the decision to shut down this fertilizer service centre is both unnecessary and contrary to regulations and precedents within the legislation around transportation of dangerous goods and within the decisions and recommendations made by Boyle council in the recent past.”
When the issues of safety were brought up by council, Splane rebutted, “The Richardson Pioneer tank was installed in the current location in the early 1990s. This was done with the full sanction of the legislation at the time. Since then, the product has not changed, and the Village of Boyle’s residential areas have not grown closer.”
The tank does not meet current regulations for how far a tank must be placed from residential areas. It is within 800 metres of village residents; for tanks commissioned since 2012, the mandatory setback has been three kilometres, according to a Richardson Pioneer representative, who noted that older tanks are still legally permitted to exist in closer proximity.
Splane explained the handling of NH3 is highly regulated and monitored.
“Safety controls at this site are in place, and they satisfy Alberta Transportation and other regulatory bodies,” he said. “As part of the process of regular compliance with legislation, Richardson Pioneer spent $25,000 in August 2013 to have this tank inspected (and) recertified.”
To further the farming community’s argument, Splane pointed out the anhydrous ammonia season is short: approximately 60 days a year.
“The tank is not used during the winter and summer seasons, and risks for 10 months of the year are negligible,” he explained. “Your decision affects us, and we are concerned.”
