VANCOUVER — An industrial accident at Burnaby’s Parkland refinery last Sunday morning led to the emission of hazardous gases that caused nine workers to seek medical help, according to a WorkSafeBC inspection report.
“On Jan. 21, 2024, at 08:00 hours, an incident occurred that resulted in the release of smoke from the Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit at the Burnaby refinery,” the report read.
“The employer representative reported that nine workers reported to first aid. Because this incident resulted in injuries to several workers that required first aid, it would qualify as a major release of a hazardous substance.”
However, according to the report, it wasn’t until 7:05 p.m. (almost 12 hours after the incident) that Parkland officials notified WorkSafeBC
“This is in contravention of the Workers’ Compensation Act Section 68 (1)(c). An employer must immediately notify the board of the occurrence of any accident that involved the major release of a hazardous substance,” the report read.
WorkSafeBC has given Parkland until Feb. 20 to submit a full incident investigation report.
Parkland’s director of technical services, Kevin Farrow, told Postmedia News that a pipe containing catalyst had become blocked within the cracking unit as workers were trying to restart the facility after it had been shut down due to cold weather.
This led to combustion and an uncontrolled release of gases, which were then blown across northern Vancouver and parts of Burnaby.
The chemical composition of the gas is still unknown but led to hundreds of reports from citizens, some of whom reported being made sick by the gas.
