Boyle village council expressed safety concerns with the placement and very existence of an anhydrous ammonia storage facility in Boyle at a council meeting last Wednesday despite assurances from the company that manages the facility, Richardson Pioneer Ltd.
"Anhydrous ammonia is a popular agricultural fertilizer that is widely used as a nitrogen source for many cereal and oilseed crops," wrote Richardson Pioneer director of operations Michael Morrissey in an Aug. 27 letter to Village of Boyle chief administrative officer Charlie Ashbey.
"However, the product is also considered a dangerous good and can present certain hazards should an unintentional release occur," wrote Morrissey.
Anhydrous ammonia is a liquid compound compressed under high pressure from pure ammonia gas. The gas has a strong odour that typically stings the eyes before causing health risks; direct exposure to the liquid can cause frostbite and, in high concentrations, tissue burns or blindness, as well as liquid in the lungs, according to a CTV report on the substance.
Morrissey invited village administration to "a short emergency preparedness and information session" to be held Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. at the Boyle facility.
"We believe it is important to plan for emergency situations with local emergency responders," said Morrissey of the meeting that Ashbey said is an annual event.
However, due to the apparent health risks of having such material stored near the village — Ashbey later said the village is in the path of prevailing winds that would carry contaminants if the storage tank were compromised — council decided to direct administration to send a letter of objection to Richardson Pioneer.
After village council came out of camera later in the evening, a motion was passed that "administration draft a letter advising Richardson Pioneer that the anhydrous ammonia storage tank located on Market Road poses an unacceptable risk to Boyle residents and that they should plan for its removal as soon as possible."
"That is not a good thing in our village," said councillor David Bencharsky. "It's only safe because they say it's safe, but how the hell would we know if they've got all of the precautions on it or not?
"I'm not prepared to take the chance that if something happens to it, it affects all of the town," said Bencharsky, claiming the County of Athabasca put the storage facility in its current location, but the village inherited it when the village boundaries were adjusted a number of years ago.
"I agree with Dave (Bencharsky) — we should keep pushing them to (remove the tank from town)," said Village of Boyle Mayor Don Radmanovich.
Ashbey said Bencharsky plans to attend the Sept. 12 meeting. Ashbey also referenced the case of an anhydrous ammonia leak from a tank east of Regina in April that was a close call for locals.
In that case, RCMP closed roads to protect drivers, but luckily winds drew the leaked material away from populated areas.
Village council passed a motion last Wednesday to authorize payment to Computrol Fuel Systems Inc. of up to $40,000 for a new credit/debit card system that will allow more convenient acquisition of water at the village's bulk water truck fill.
The new system is valued around $25,000–$30,000, but additional electrical work may be required, so Ashbey recommended a buffer of up to $40,000.
Ashbey suggested rescinding a motion from a prior council meeting authorizing up to $12,000 for the upgrade "because our costs had gone up from what we'd anticipated."
Radmanovich called the upgrade "a Cadillac system."
"What it will do it, it will allow basically 24-hour access to any new customers, because if you've got a debit or credit card, you can buy water. You don't have to have an account (with the village)," Ashbey told council.
"It will free up staff time because we won't have to keep topping up people's accounts … and, quite frankly, the current system — it's just not working right, and we have continual glitches where the amounts on the account does not match what the customer believes they have left on it," said Ashbey.
Village of Boyle director of corporate services Lori MacMurdo said, to date, the village has had to send someone down to meet the customer at the bulk water facility to process their payment.
Ashbey said most times they don't send a member of administration to meet the customer on site, but in some cases after sending a member of public works to the facility, the customer is no longer there, "and it's more time wasted."
Village council passed a unanimous motion to amend the waste management bylaw to permit residential garbage bins for those living in a building up to and including a "five-plex (more than five housing units in one structure."
Radmanovich and Ashbey recently met with Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson and Energy Minister Ken Hughes, along with Portage College representatives, reported Ashbey in his regular report to council.
Ashbey said a Pipeline Training Centre proposed for Boyle's future Portage College campus is "in everybody's best interest, and I think our MLA (Johnson) is really putting some weight behind it."
"We'll see what happens, but I think Ken Hughes seemed very intrigued with the idea, and we'll keep nurturing that one," said Ashbey.
