Business owner advocates for safe chemical storage
Not one to take no for answer where the needs of his tenants are concerned, Eric Bell of Northern Legendary Construction went before Fort St. John City Council on May 8, to plead his case for a zoning change.
Last month, his application for a zoning change, from M1 (light industrial) to M2 (heavy industrial) was rejected by Council. He made the request on behalf of his tenants, Baker Hughes, who would like to upgrade their chemical storage to a safer method than what they currently use. To do that, they would need to construct a number of large storage tanks on the property, which is not currently allowed in the M1 Zoning.
“Baker Hughes is an oil and gas service business, but they do more than oilfield sales,” said Bell. “They sell chemicals, and they would like to be able to store them safely. The zoning that says you can’t have a tank farm, prohibits them from storing the product that they sell in tanks.”
Currently, Bell said Baker Hughes is storing their chemicals in what he characterised as big tupperware containers. The 1,000L cubes with a metal cage around them, are made of single-wall non-puncture-resistant plastic. Baker Hughes, according to Bell, has these containers stored on pallets, stacked up, on forklifts.
“To improve the safety for our employees, organisation, and local environment we are looking to install engineered storage and containment,” Baker Hughes District Manager Jacob Braun stated in a letter provided to Council. “The ability to utilize engineered safe storage will greatly reduce the risk of personal exposure and potential for spill by reducing the overall volume of packages handled and requiring to be stored onsite.”
The constuction of engineered tanks will allow for the reduction of between 15-40 units of the plastic cubes presently in use, per storage tank. This equals a 97.5 per cent reduction in risk of exposure and accidental release.
“If we can’t change the zoning, could we change, or add to the vocabulary of the M1 zoning to allow safe storage tanks?” asked Bell. “It seems like the best solution, rather than move (Baker Hughes) to Heavy Industrial and then apply for rezoning there to operate their business. It could become a multipurpose zoning.”
“Baker Hughes is not looking to become a refinery. They’re looking to store tank on the property, that will be able to safely store and dispense chemicals that are essential to the oil and gas industry,” Bell said.
Although an application for a zoning change can only be made to the City once every 12 months – if it has been before Council and rejected – the Councillor Trevor Bolin noted that what Bell was suggesting is actually a zoning amendment, which is different from a zoning change. Chief Administration Officer, Milo MacDonald added that there’s no reason not to proceed right away, with an application for a Zoning Amendment.