Friday, June 14, 1991 ~ North Shore News - 3

Chemical cures

Local industries grapple with safer handling, transportation

LOCAL CHEMICAL companies are stepping up efforts to
get the message out about initiatives under way to make
“the entire chemical lifecycle safer.*'

The Canadian Chemical Pro-
ducers’ Association (CCPA) has
developed a package of codes of
practice as part of its ‘‘responsible
care’’ program. Members of the
association have agreed to meet
goals outlined in the program by
1992. And the CCPA, is spending
$5.5 million on a_ three-year
advertising campaign to heighten
public awareness of the campaign.

Areas covered include research
and development, community
awareness and emergency
response, manufacturing, trans-
portation, distribution and haz-
ardous waste management.

In some areas the standards set
by industry for industry surpass
existing provincial and federal
regulations.

Said Brian Smyth, manager of
the North Vancouver Albright &
Wilson Americas plant and B.C.
regional CCPA chairman, ‘It’s to
do the right thing and to be seen
doing the right thing. We
recognize in the past that we
haven't had a good reputation and
some things have not been done
well.”’

According to Smyth, U.S.,
U.K. and Australian chemical
companies are picking up on the
responsible care concept developed
by the CCPA.

“Basically they sat back and
said, we’ve got to be pro-active
and we’ve got to put these things
in place rather than wait for regu-
lation,’’ Smyth said.

Smyth points to the CCPA-
inember company practice of
auditing the performance of
motor carriers as an example of
pro-active policy.

“The motor carrier evaulation
program is basically where the

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Burrard Intet

{ Dow Canada

chemical industry is going out and
evaluating the tucking industry —
various carriers and saying these
guys meet the requirements and
these guys don’t,”’ he said.

The 1988 Vancouver Area
Transport Of Dangerous Goods
Study, jointly carried out by fed-
eral, provincial and municipal
representatives, concluded that
members of the public in general
have ‘fa reasonably high level of
overall confidence in current
methods of overseeing the trans-
port of dangerous gocds."’

But the survey also showed that
“the public is iooking for evidence
that responsible authorities are
making efforts to maximize public
safety."

The safe transport of hazardous
products is of particular concern
on the North Shore, where rail,
road and waterway meet to serve
industry as a conduit’ for for
goods bound for markets along
the cvast and abroad.

2 CanadianOxy

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

Ed Ginn is the manager of the
North Vancouver-based Dow
Chemical Canada West Coast
Distribution Centre and chairman
of the B.C. regional Transcaer
(Transportation Community
Awareness and Emergency
Response) committee.

Transcaer supports the CCPA
transportation code of practice
and includes under its umbrella
the Transportation Emergency
Assistance Plan (TEAP), the in-
dustry’s own wing of response in
the event of a chemical transpor-
tation accident.

Last year community emergency
responders and industry held a rail
disaster exercise in North Van-
couver under the auspices of
Transcaer.

Said Ginn, **Another element to
getting out into the community is
talking about Partners in
Transcaer. [t’s a program that was
developed by the Alberta commit-
tee and we're just taking it on
here. We'll take specific com-
munities within B.C. and a com-
pany like CanOxy, Albright &
Wilson or ourselves will go out
and present CCPA_ background
information and we'll talk about
the products that are moving
through their community. We'll
be the link to the CCPA from
that community, answering the
public’s concerns.”

Added North Vancouver Cana-
dianOxy plant’ manager Brian
Thornton, ‘‘f think it’s a partner-
ship and that is basically what
responsible care is all about.’*

Lyan Croeh
Seymour River

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—
3 Albright & Wilson

¥et some people would be hap-
py enough to see a seawalk and
condominiums lining Burrard Inlet
in place of an industrial water-
front supporting the manufacture
and transport of hazardous goods,

But respernded Smythe, ‘If
people would think about the
chemicals they have in their house
— if you eliminate those chemi-
cais, you would have nothing
there. Whether it’s plastics in your
car or whatever, chemicals are a
fact of life.

“What we're trying to do in the
industry is to operate as respon-
sibly as we can and as safely as we
can. We recognize where we're
Jocated here on the North Shore.

_ ft would be a lot easier to operate

out in the sticks somewhere. We
have to do everthing that we can
as best as we can to ensure that
we operate as good corporate citi-
zens, We've come a lone way und
we still have a lot to do,’ he add-
ed.

NEWS photo fdike Waketield

THE CANADIAN Chemical Producers’ Association has developed a new set of safety standards for
its member companies. Local chemical plant managers, Brian Smyth of Albright & Wilson
Americas, Ed Ginn of Dow Canada, and Brian Thorriton of CanadianOxy, met recently at the North

Vancouver CanadianOxy plant to discuss the program.

The North Shore’s major players

THE FOLLOWING is a brief overview of the major
chemical industry players on the North Shore:

e Albright & Wilson Americas,
100 Forester 8t., North Vancouver

Managed by Brian Smyth, who
is also the B.C. regional chairman
of the Canadian Chemical Pro-
ducers’ Association. Employs
more than 50 people.

Produces sodium chlorate, a
substance used in the pulp
bleaching process. Over the last
four years, the company has spent
close to $80 million to upgrade
and expand facilities.

Said Sinvth, “We're expanding
the size of the plant because there
is a tremendous reqttirement in the
pulp and paper industry for the
product. We're also shutting down
some of the old plant which has

been around for 30-somne years.
So there’s a tremendous en-
vironmental improvement. And

part of that ties in with responsi-
ble care.’*

Last year the plant produced
about 72,000 metric tonnes of so-
dium chlorate. ‘‘Basically you
take salu and water and tremen-
dous amounts of electricity and
you produce sodium chlorate and
hydrogen gas. Some of the gas is
vented. Some of the gas is burned
ina boiler.’’ Smyth said.

The product is transported
primarily by barge, but alse ty
rail and truck. The mirket is in
Alberta, B.C. and south of the
border.

Ageess to rail, water and power
make North Vancouver a gcod
location for the operation.

*Dow Canada West Coast
Distribution Centre, 1545 Bay St.,
North Vancouver

Managed by Ed Ginn. who is
also B.C. regional chairman of the
Transcaer (Transportation Com-
munity Awareness and Emergency
Response) committee of the Ca-
nadian Chemical Producers’
Association.

The distribution centre employs
five Dow employees and up to 20
longsharemen.,

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

It receives product by rail from a
Dow Chemical operation based in
Alberta. Chemicals are then ship-
ped to Pacific Rim countries, A
small amount (about 5%) of
caustic soda is shipped to B.C.
pulp mills.

Last year the facility handled as
much as 900,000 tonnes of chemi-
cals, including ethylene glycol,
ethylene dichloride. About 60% of
the volume is caustic soda.

Said Ginn, “The ethylene glycol
is used in the clothing industry, it
comes back as polyester fabric.
Ethylene dichloride goes into the
vinyl industry and comes back as
PVC, rainware.”’

Port access brought the centre
to North Vancouver in 1980.

“Because it’s a fairly recent
plant it was built with a Jot of en-
vironmental considerations. We
have considered more storage
area, but the land is just not
available, so our terminal has a
fot of through-put,’* Ginn added,
*CanadianOvy, 100 Amherst
Avenue, North Vancouver

Managed by Brian Thornton;
employs more than 170 people.

In 1990, u produced 143,000
metric tonnes of chlorine and
about 160,000 tonnes of caustic
soda through the Chior-Alakali
process.

Said Thornton, “1's very simi-
lar to AGW’s (Albright & Wilson)
— you take salt, you take water,
huge amounts of electricity and
you pass the current through 2 cell
and out comes your chlorine,
caustic soda and hydrogen gases
as well, Because the process is
slightly different than A&W's,
you get two dilferent prodiucts."*

The plant also produces
mutriatic acid.
Said Thornton, “You take

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chlorine and hydrogen and mix
the two and you end up with hy.
drockloric (muriatic) acid. [t's us-
ed from everything to cleaning
swimming poois to pickling steel
(removing rust from it).”"
CanadianOxy located in North
Vancouver for access to a skilled
labor force and ready road, water
and rail transportation.
eee KE
Hazardous poods placed,
delivered, or interchanged by CN
Rail in 1990 at its Greater Van-
couver Terminai (an asea_ stret-
ching from Thornton Yard in
Surrey to the North Shore:
© caustic soda — 5,843 cars
¢ ethylene dichloride — 2,922 cars
© methanol — 496 cars
According to a CN Rail official,
a “high percentage’ of the cars
would travel North Shore cuils.
The most significant quantities
of hazardous goods moved locally
by B.C. Railin 1990:
*liquified petroleum gases —
tL, EPE cars
*® methanol — 400 cars
© caustic soda — 375 cars,

Index

E Automotives ........ 31
@§ Classified Ads 2.2... 40
H Ecotnfo ... 20.0.2... 20
BM Home & Garden..... 13
& Kids Sulf.......... 22

@ What's Going On ....35

Weather

Saturday & Sunday. cloudy
with sunny periods. Highs
20°C, laws 10°C.

Second Ciass Asgistratica Number 3885