There’s still no clear understanding between the Burnaby fire department and Kinder Morgan as to who would respond to a major petroleum fire at the tank farm and Westridge Marine Terminal.
The National Energy Board recently ruled Kinder Morgan must release its emergency management program for the Trans Mountain pipeline, even though the company wanted to keep it secret for proprietary reasons. The board gave Kinder Morgan an Oct. 17 deadline to release the plan, and while deputy fire chief Chris Bowcock has seen it, the information hasn’t changed his concerns about the tank farm, and there’s still no clear agreement as to who would actually handle a major oil fire.
“It’s a very generic plan. There are no specific details. There are some inaccuracies in the plan. We have some concerns about the content of that plan,” Bowcock told the NOW.
The inaccuracies, according to Bowcock, are in the section that deals with how the tank farm and the Westridge Marine Terminal will manage a fire.
“They direct their personnel not to apply any firefighting against or conduct any firefighting operations unless directed by the fire department,” Bowcock said. “We have a problem with that, in that Kinder Morgan is required to be the primary fire protection responder (at) that facility, and in the emergency response plan, they direct their people to take no action unless directed by the fire department.”
Bowcock says the fire department has had conversations about the matter with Kinder Morgan, but nothing has been resolved.
“We’ve expressed explicitly that we will not absolve them of their primary firefighting duties except with buildings (such as the control room or office),” Bowcock said. “They need hydrocarbon fire fighting capability, because the City of Burnaby does not provide that through the fire department. … It’s been clearly stated to Kinder Morgan that’s their responsibility.”
If a major fire broke out at either the Burnaby Mountain tank farm or Westridge terminal, Bowcock expects Kinder Morgan to deal with it, while Kinder Morgan is counting on the fire department.
“Our expectation is Kinder Morgan – either themselves or through a mutual aid agreement with other hydrocarbon facilities – they would provide the required fire response to control the emergency on the interior of the fence line,” he said.
The NOW requested a copy of the plan, but Bowcock couldn’t provide one.
Furthermore, Bowcock said Kinder Morgan needs a fire protection plan, which deals with the specifics on how to handle a fire. (The emergency response plan deals with the management side of responding to an event, while the fire protection plan outlines how Kinder Morgan will actually handle the fire fighting.)
"As we understand, Kinder Morgan doesn't currently have, but is working on, a fire protection plan for its facility. We would expect that to be in place currently, and we have indicated by letter because those specific plans are not in place that they are in contravention of the city's fire protection bylaw," Bowcock said.
They made a commitment to get back to us," he added. "They wanted some detail from us as to the format. I told them I could provide that on their request. They haven't requested it."
The NOW contacted Rob Hadden, Kinder Morgan's Western director and the main person Bowcock has been working with. Instead, Kinder Morgan spokesperson Andy Galarnyk replied with the following emailed statement: "In response to your email to Rob, we are aware of the concerns expressed by the Burnaby Fire Department and have offered to meet to discuss our plans but they have declined. We feel our facility is compliant with the Burnaby municipal fire bylaws as they relate to oil storage facilities. In addition we have continued to invest in improvements over the past few years that further enhance our ability to respond in the unlikely event of a fire at the terminal. We remain open to meetings with the fire department should they wish to accept to discuss our plans. As always, the safety of the community, our employees and the environment is our top priority."
Kinder Morgan has applied to the NEB to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline, tank farm and marine terminal. The $5.4 billion expansion would increase the line's capacity from 300,000 barrels of oil a day to 890,000. The tank farm would grow from 13 tanks with 1.6 million barrels of crude to 26 tanks with 5.6 million barrels. The Westridge Marine Terminal, which can now load one tanker, would be able to load three after the expansion. The monthly number of tankers filling up at the terminal would increase from five to 34.
