January 3, 2008 by admin.

Lamont Leader, 2007 12 11, p. 3

BY CATHY WEETMAN

Note by folc.ca: Cathy Weetman’s article is posted here with the permission of the Lamont Leader. The fact that the permission was granted does not imply in any way that the Lamont Leader is partial in its reporting of issues relating to industrial development in Lamont County. Any perception of conflict between Hazco’s statements (as reported in the Lamont Leader article) and the appended comments by folc.ca is a result of differences between Hazco’s assertions and folc.ca’s clarifications but does not reflect any bias by the Lamont Leader.

A delegation of four representatives from Hazco were in attendance at the November 27 Lamont Town Council meeting to address concerns raised by councillors over the company’s proposed sulphur processing terminal to be built east of Bruderheim.

Rob Mann, Director of Sulphur Services, Sylvia Holowach, Project Administrator, Andrew Timlick, Business Development, Sulphur Services, Gordon Johnson, with Worley, Parsons Comex, stayed for an hour to answer questions from council about the time line for the proposed project, how large the stack of sulphur pastilles would be, traffic congestion on Highway 15, air monitoring and emergency response by the local fire departments in case of a fire.

Mann reported HAZCO has now completed the Environmental Impact Assessment study and it is now under technical review. From there, the Natural Resources Conservation Board takes over the review, and if the project is approved at that stage, a public hearing will take place. The time-line from now until the public hearing and final approval will be at least a year, he added.

Mann was asked how much truck traffic would be added to the already congested Highway 15. He responded that initially, there would be 40 trucks making round trips daily to and from the site that would be using both Highways 15 and 45. [Emphasis by folc.ca; see also appended comment #1 –WHS]

Another concern brought up by council was the height of the stockpiled sulphur pastilles as opposed to the height of the windscreen. Council was told that the majority of dust would be coming from machinery working at the base of the stockpile [emphasis by folc.ca; see also appended comment #2], and due to the type of sulphur processing equipment, the formed pastilles are much firmer and less likely to crumble than those processed a few years ago. [Emphasis by folc.ca; see also appended comment #3. –WHS]

“The older processes of forming the pastilles made them more susceptible to the wind blowing and causing dust,” noted Mann. [Emphasis by folc.ca; see also appended comment # 2 –WHS]

As to whether local emergency response organizations such as the Bruderheim and Lamont fire departments would need to assist HAZCO with on-site fires, Mann replied that it would depend on the size of the fire. A Level 1 fire could be handled by personnel on site, while a Level 2 fire would require the assistance of a local fire department. In a worse case scenario, a Level 3 fire would require the assistance of NR Care if the plant personnel and fire departments are unable to extinguish the fire. Local fire departments would not require special equipment or training when handling a fire. [Emphasis by folc.ca; see also appended comment #4 –WHS]

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Comments by folc.ca

1. “Initially” is an important key word here. What counts is not so much the initial traffic volume but what the volume of truck traffic will eventually be. Given the volume of sulphur to be formed into pastilles according to Hazco’s intentions, the truck traffic volume would soon intensify to two and more times than what Hazco stated it will initially be. Hazco is fully aware of what the trend in the increase of the traffic volume will be.
2. The hardness of the formed sulphur whose “…formed pastilles are much firmer and less likely to crumble than those processed a few years ago.” Regardless of the forming process used, solidified sulphur has a hardness of 2, about as hard as a fingernail but is brittle and prone to cracking, crumbling and pulverization if put under pressure, such as by a vehicle tire. Robert Mann failed to identify the forming process and locations used that produced much softer pastilles in the past, while the process intended to be used by Hazco will employ forming machines of a type that have been in use by Shell’s Shantz Sulphur Facility for 20 years or more.
3. The sulphur dust to be generated in Lamont County will be due to a major difference between the sulphur-handling process at Shantz and that proposed by Hazco. At Shantz, the whole handling process is by means of a totally enclosed conveyor belt system and large storage silos, while Hazco’s proposal calls for open storage piles and transfer from their sulphur pile to the train-loading facility by means of front-end loaders.
4. Fire fighting, fire-crew readiness and risks. Standards for procedures used in fighting sulphur fires call for a minimum of two fire-fighters wearing self-contained breathing apparatus, with a minimum of a further two fire-fighters that are also equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus standing by in case the active fire-fighters require to be rescued. To my knowledge, so far no agreements are in place as to local fire teams becoming involved in fighting sulphur fires at the proposed Hazco sulphur facility if that should be necessary and desired. (Check the consequences of a recent sulphur fire in Calgary: Huge Fine Handed to Calgary Sulphur Processor.) When I mentioned Hazco’s assertion that “Local fire departments would not require special equipment or training when handling a fire,” to the fire chief of one of our local volunteer fire departments, his comment was: “If that’s they way they feel, let Hazco fight their fires by themselves.”
   No one should blame him for that attitude. After all, his crew consists of our relatives, neighbours and friends who would be risking their lives in potentially dangerous situations whose danger Hazco insisted all along is non-existent.

Posted in Community & Industry, Explosions & Fires, Emission Incidents & Issues, Hazco, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

January 3, 2008 by admin.

In the report on the massive expansion in Lamont of the area zoned Heavy Industrial the wording of three sentences was changed and reduced to two sentences, to alleviate the accusatory tone in speculating on why the Lamont Leader failed to report the massive expansion of the Heavy Industrial zone to 38 sections of land with corresponding development restrictions on a further 31 sections of land surrounding the Heavy Industrial zone.

Let there be no mistake, the editorial and journalistic content of the Lamont leader is a vast improvement over what was in place prior to its coming into existence. We owe the Lamont Leader our gratitude for its quality and objectivity.

See also the changed passage in the report.

Posted in Community & Industry | Print | No Comments »

January 3, 2008 by admin.

Jan 2008 [Alberta Construction Magazine]

Alberta’s industrial construction sector is seeing a shift in its centre of gravity.
by Godfrey Budd

In recent years, oilsands development in the Fort McMurray region has accounted for the lion’s share of industrial construction projects in the province. This has been the pattern since the current round of expansion began around 2000. But it is about to change….

The year 2007 saw construction starts on two Edmonton-area upgrader projects. After receiving board approval in November 2006, construction began on the expansion of Shell’s upgrader at Scotford in Strathcona County. Construction on the $5.6-billion project is scheduled for completion in 2010. BA Energy’s Alberta Heartland upgrader also saw a construction start in 2007. Phase 1 has an estimated cost of $1.1 billion, according to the provincial government. It is being built northwest of Bruderheim, with completion scheduled for 2008.

As is the case with so many oilsands projects, other phases of the Heartland upgrader to be built stretch well into the future. Phase 1 should see the start of operations in 2008. According to the company’s website, this will produce about 77,000 barrels of upgraded oil per day. But, by 2013, when a projected third phase should be complete, production is supposed to hit more than 200,000 barrels per day.

BA Energy does not include the cost of all three phases, perhaps because a meaningful estimate of the actual cost would be hard to arrive at. The completion year, 2013, is five years away and the inflation rate in the province’s construction sector as a whole has been oscillating between and one and two per cent per month since late 2005.

Big projects ahead

There are several upgrader projects that could help put the Edmonton area on par with Fort McMurray for oilsands construction….

Today’s spending levels are in sharp contrast to those of even four or five years ago. Statistics Canada figures from 2002 to 2004 show spending on oilsands projects at $6.9 billion, $5.2 billion and $6.3 billion, respectively. Capital expenditures on oilsands projects jumped to $9.9 billion in 2005 and then to $11.6 billion in 2006.

In 1997, before the current rush for oilsands development got underway, capital spending was $1.7 billion. That was when there was no major new project under construction. The reason for such an outlay, despite no major new project, stems from the fact that large heavy oil production facilities require “huge volumes of sustaining capital,” says Herb Holmes, Edmonton manager for Construction Labour Relations….

A crunch is coming, and many observers believe it’s likely to hit in either 2009 or 2010. Averaged out, CAPP’s figure of $48 billion for 2009–2010 means $24 billion per year spent on oilsands development. Given how stretched resources are already, industry watchers are saying that the capacity is simply not there.

“Unless something radical happens, it’s impossible for the work to be done on schedule,” Holmes says. “By radical, I mean for example a huge influx of workers. Also needed would be tools, machining equipment, engineers. We are seeing shortages now and we are not yet at the peak.”….

It seems that Alberta’s industrial construction is almost all about energy. Vegreville could be the site of a $400-million ethanol plant that will convert straw into biofuel. The project, however, is not in the bag yet. Ottawa-based Iogen Corp. is also considering sites in Idaho and Saskatchewan for the facility.

Besides oilsands projects, other energy sectors are also facing challenges to get their projects off the ground. There are more than half a dozen wind power projects waiting in the wings, all in southern Alberta….(Full Story)

Posted in Community & Industry, Sulphur-Related Construction Costs | Print | No Comments »