Irving Oil not charged after refinery problems

Irving Oil Ltd. will not be charged in connection with three incidents at its refinery last summer that left some homes in east Saint John covered in a grey, gritty dust.

Jennifer Graham, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environment, said the investigation into the release of catalyst has finished.

The department's spokeswoman said the investigation showed the release didn't have any environmental implications and it didn't violate any of the refinery's operating conditions.

"The incident that occurred would be considered sort of an upset that the company couldn't control," Graham said.

"Sometimes there are unforeseen mechanical failures that can happen and that was the case here. And after the fact, there are adjustments that can be made to prevent that from happening again. So those adjustments have been made to our understanding."

Catalyst is a clay-based material used in a processing unit at the Saint John-based oil refinery.

The catalyst was released on Aug. 17 after a malfunction shut the unit down. Two other malfunctions happened on Aug. 19 and Aug. 21 when the refinery tried to re-start the unit.

Graham said nearly 29 tonnes of particulate matter was released.

Gordon Dalzell, a clean air activist in Saint John, said the case illustrates problems with the Department of Environment's ability to enforce air quality rules.

Dalzell said the environment department needs better tools to hold industrial polluters accountable.

He said air quality monitoring, and legislation, should be strengthened.

"Quite frankly, this was a very significant event covering a very wide population area from a material that had no business being in the environment and in the ambient air that people were breathing," Dalzell said.

"I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed that they couldn't proceed [with charges]. Sometimes you wonder if the enforcement branch needs to get a new job description."