Kinder Morgan is working on a fire safety plan for the Burnaby Mountain tank farm after recent talks with the local fire department, but the deputy fire chief is wondering why the plan isn't in place already.
Deputy fire chief Chris Bowcock said Kinder Morgan reviewed the fire department's expectations in January - mainly that the tank farm needs be able to fight its own fires, as the department doesn't handle major petroleum fires - and the company is now working on "fire preplans". According to Bowcock, the plans should include clearly identified resources, equipment and personnel for fighting a major fire.
"Those protocols need to be in place right now, and they haven't been. Those need to be in place and current all the time, and they are just building them right now," he told the NOW. "They have said they would take it away and work on it. I'm not comfortable that it's not currently in place."
The fire department's agreement with other local oil facilities is that they fight their own fires, while the Burnaby fire department protects the surrounding community and helps supply water. According to Bowcock, the tank farm used to have its own fire truck and fire brigade but got rid of it without notifying the department, and Kinder Morgan is now in contravention of the local fire code.
Kinder Morgan maintains there has never been a fire at the facility in its 60 years of operations.
The tank farm, located on the south slope of Burnaby Mountain, consists of 13 tanks, holding a total of 1.6 million barrels of crude.
Kinder Morgan spokesperson Ali Hounsell said the company already has a plan in place.
"I guess where we're at with the Burnaby fire department is there's a difference of opinion of what's in that plan and what should be in that plan," she told the NOW.
Hounsell couldn't say when the fire preplans would be ready, but she said the company is prepared to handle a fire.
"If something happened today, we have the staff and the equipment to respond to it," she said.
When asked if staff could handle a fully involved fire in one of the tanks, Hounsell replied, "We would absolutely do what we can."
Hounsell pointed out that Kinder Morgan also pays property taxes in the City of Burnaby, and should have access to fire response services like other businesses.
"That said, we've spent millions of dollars upgrading the fire system in the last few years, and they are far better than what was in place with the truck," she said, adding that the number of people trained to fight fires at the tank farm has not changed over the years.
"I guess it's clear we do have different expectations and perspectives, and that's why we're pleased we're sitting down at the table now," she added.
Hounsell also stated that the company believes it is not in violation of Burnaby's fire code.
"We believe we meet those requirements in terms of capacity through our equipment, including the multimillion dollars in upgrades we've done and having the staff trained," she said.
Kinder Morgan has applied to the National Energy Board to nearly triple capacity on the Trans Mountain pipeline from 300,000 barrels of oil per day to 890,000. The expansion includes a proposal to add 14 new tanks and replace on old one, bringing the total to 26 and the volume to roughly 5.6 million barrels.
What does Kinder Morgan have in place now?
- Sensors, called "fire eyes," on storage tanks that detect flames.
- A new fire-water pump that sends fire-fighting foam through an underground system of pipes to the rims of the tanks.
- A foam trailer that can be deployed in the event of an emergency.
- Trained staff to operate the fire equipment, and roughly 20 people who can be called on in the event of a fire.
