Public ice rinks in the Tri-Cities are safe with trained staff, well-maintained equipment, detectors to spot ammonia leaks and emergency procedures to deal with them, say local municipal parks and facilities managers.
The assurances come as Fernie deals with the tragic deaths of three workers who were killed Tuesday by a leak of anhydrous ammonia at the Fernie Memorial Arena.
The city of Coquitlam has strict protocols for dealing with ammonia to chill its ice and a rigorous maintenance and monitoring program to prevent and identify leaks of the toxic substance at its three arenas, says facilities manager Kevan Cornes.
Similarly, Port Moody has procedures in place as required by provincial safety authorities and staff have refrigeration operators certification, Ron Higo, general manager of community services told The Tri-City News in an email.
As well, the Port Moody Fire Rescue completed a review of the arena’s refrigeration system safeguards on Wednesday.
While the tragic Fernie incident is still under investigation and exactly what happened isn’t yet known, the local cities say their facilities have no history of ammonia leaks that would require emergency procedures and evacuations. But all are constantly maintaining and monitoring their systems.
In Port Coquitlam, which has a contractor to deal with its ammonia systems, safety procedures were updated in July and the PoCo Fire and Rescue will train in dealing with ammonia in October and November as part of its annual hazardous materials training, city spokesperson Pardeep Purewal said in an email.
The cities say they are aware of the outcome of the ammonia leak in Fernie and will follow any directives issued through sources such as WorkSafe BC, BC Safety Authority, the Recreation Facilities Association of BC and the BC Recreation & Parks Association.
Coquitlam’s Cornes told The Tri-City News that city facilities staff will be keeping abreast of the situation in Fernie and will be following any directives issued by WorkSafe BC.
“We have a tonne of protocols and checks and balances. We have staff 24/7 constantly monitoring the equipment when the plant is in operation, which for us is almost year round except for three or four weeks,” he said.
As well, he said the city has a computer monitoring system to detect ammonia gas in the air and evacuation procedures in place in the event of the leak — for both staff and the public.
Still, such leaks are rare, he said, and staff are well-trained to ensure a safe environment for workers and the community. “We haven’t had a leak here in many, many years and nothing like what Fernie has just gone though, and no leaks where people have been injured,” Cornes said. “We have the odd minor leak, which is something we can deal with and could be dealt with fairly easy by our own staff and contracted service.”
Port Moody’s Higo also said there is no history of ammonia leaks in that city.
According to WorkSafe BC, pure ammonia gas is a dangerous substance and can cause serious injury or even death. It has detailed requirements for handling the substance in its Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
Cornes said the city will be paying close attention to WorkSafeBC’s Fernie investigation and any regulation changes that are made as a result.
In the meantime, he said he is confident that any leaks, if they occur, would be caught and dealt with safely.
