Expired chemicals found at U of A were detonated 2 months after being found

Two big bangs that shook people living in central Edmonton last fall were the culmination of concerted efforts to figure out how to destroy bottles of expired, potentially explosive chemicals discovered two months earlier in a University of Alberta lab.

The Edmonton Police Service's bomb squad was called on to destroy bottles of peroxide-forming chemicals isopropyl ether and 1,4 dioxane during two detonations in Hawrelak Park on Nov. 27, 2021.

When expired, these chemicals crystallize and become unstable. The slightest disturbance can cause them to explode.

Emails among U of A staff suggest that the location of the chemicals and their instability made it complicated to devise a disposal plan. Once a plan was developed, it took several weeks to carry it out.

The chemicals' disposal required careful co-ordination between the university, Edmonton police and city officials. Police even consulted with the United States' Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"These consultations were done to ensure this advanced and controlled disposal was done in the safest manner possible, with no impacts to the residents, environment or wildlife," an Edmonton Police Service spokesperson said in an email.

Edmontonians first learned of the Saturday morning detonation in a middle-of-the-night advisory that city police posted on social media. It advised residents the park would be closed.

Chemicals found months earlier

But the expired chemicals had actually been found two months earlier, on Sept. 28, during a regular lab inspection conducted by university health, safety and environment staff, according to documents obtained by CBC News through a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) request.

The documents show inspectors found "numerous serious safety violations in the laboratory," including an expired four-litre bottle of isopropyl ether and other peroxide-forming chemicals in which explosive crystals had developed.

"This is a significant hazard that will require the assistance of external resources to dispose of safely," documents say.

Chemical disposal is a normal occurrence in all labs. The federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act classifies various substances and describes how to dispose of them properly.

The U of A's health, safety and environment team determines what is needed for each hazard, and how to minimize potential risk to the environment, staff and the public, university spokespersonJennifer Crosby said.

In this case, outside help was required, the spokesperson added.

Detonations, however, are rare, said Simon Trudel, a University of Calgary associate professor of chemistry and the department's associate head of health and safety.

"I've never seen the bomb squad come in at the University of Calgary in the 12 years I've been there, but I know it's happened in a few places in Canada," Trudel told CBC News.

Deficiencies in U of A lab: inspection report

According to the report from the September lab inspection, the lab had improper chemical storage, as well as four other deficiencies. These were not disclosed to CBC News due to privacy rules under the FOIP Act.

The lab also lacked "many of the core items" of health and safety required under the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act, the document says.

During the inspection, lab personnel were initially unaware of hazard assessments which are used to identify potential hazards, assess their risks and develop appropriate safety measures.

Inspectors eventually found hazard assessments dated 2018 that addressed lab experiments in "very general terms" and did not cover all of the hazards in the lab, the report says.

The U of A conducts regular inspections for hundreds of labs each year on an ongoing basis, Crosby said. But the university did not comment when asked how this particular lab's safety standards had become so poor.

In total, inspectors made 11 recommendations to improve lab safety. Those were not disclosed to CBC News due to FOIP privacy rules.

After the inspection, the lab was closed immediately. No teaching or research was allowed in it until the deficiencies were addressed, documents show.

The university says the area was marked and secured by health, safety and environment staff, and "individuals in the vicinity who required notice" were informed of the closure verbally and through signage placed on the doors of the lab.

However, others working in the building where the lab is located say they were not informed about why it was closed in September, said a researcher with knowledge of the situation. CBC News is not naming the researcher to protect them from potential backlash from their superiors.

"It was just kind of word-of-mouth," the researcher said. Only an orange sign taped to the lab's door warned people not to enter due to an explosion hazard.

"It made a lot of people nervous."

Before the chemicals were removed and destroyed on Saturday, Nov. 27, the university circulated a notice stating that certain buildings and facilities would be closed from 5 a.m. to noon.

The lab reopened in March after all health and safety recommendations were implemented, the spokesperson said.

The university refused to comment on whether any disciplinary action was taken, citing confidentiality.

Disposal date kept getting pushed back: emails

Peroxides explosive chemical compounds and peroxide-forming chemicals are among the most hazardous substances in a lab, posing a significant risk of injury and property damage, according to a U of A safety manual.

Peroxide-forming chemicals must be identified with a date of purchase and disposed of properly before they expire, the manual says.

Emails show U of A staff were quick to act on the inspectors' findings. Within two days of the inspection, staff were discussing the situation with Edmonton police and fire officials.

"Our goal is to remove the chemical as quickly as possible," said Philip Stack, the university's director of health, safety and environment, in an email dated Sept. 30, 2021.

"Depending on their [police and fire] assessment, the removal may involve evacuations of part of the building or the entire building when the removal takes place, therefore a great deal of co-ordination is required."

On Oct. 4, 2021, members of the EPS bomb squad assessed the chemicals, their location and options for safe disposal, emails show.

Police later informed the university that the goal would be to dispose of the chemicals on a Sunday, possibly Oct. 24.

But the date kept getting pushed back.

"They [police] are in a bit of the same holding pattern we are in right now as well," said Michelle Rooker, the university's manager of inspections and technical services, in an email dated Oct. 27.

An email to the university dated Nov. 19 stated that the disposal could go ahead. But it was pushed back another week, to Nov. 27, because there was too much preparatory work left to do.

"Public safety and the safety of all workers involved in the detonation were the city's highest priorities," a city spokesperson told CBC News in an emailed statement. "As such, we take careful steps to consider and address risks. That can involve multiple individuals and teams within the city organization."

City environmental impact specialists, as well as river valley and horticultural facilities staff were consulted by police to "determine the fate of the byproducts" of the detonation, the spokesperson said.

The city's emergency operations centre, which was on standby in case the detonation went awry, developed a brief about the detonation, the spokesperson said.

Police also required help from the city to close Hawrelak Park, an EPS spokesperson told CBC News.

"We are pleased that this detonation proceeded safely," the city said.

The U of A does chemical disposals once or twice a year from its North campus; some of those disposals involve third parties, Crosby said.

CBC News asked several other Canadian research-intensive universities about their experience with detonating dangerous chemicals. The Universit de Montral has not done any detonations, though it has had chemicals picked up by outside agencies three times in the past 30 years once every 10 years.

The University of British Columbia last conducted a detonation in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Meanwhile, at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., off-campus detonations carried out by a third-party are "quite common" and have "been the practice" for over 20 years, a spokesperson said. Its most recent disposal of potential explosives had occurred last September.