'Corrosive waste' source of bad smell in Unity, Sask.

The Saskatchewan government has finished its investigation intostrong odours atthe town of Unity and says the problem was a load of liquid caustic waste at aprocessing facility.

Several residents said the incident in January left them feeling sick.

The investigation by the Ministry of Energy and Resources resulted in a report that came out last week.

The shipment was classified as a Transportation of Dangerous Goods Class 8 corrosive liquid, but according to thereport, it was not approved for disposal.

Shortly after 8:40 p.m., air quality monitors at the facility were triggered resulting in a temporary shut-down. The facility restarted several minutes later.

Residents of Unity reported odours to the Ministry of Environment just before 10 p.m. that same evening.

A few people took to the town's Facebook page that week, saying they experienced nausea and migraines due to the smell.

Substance released not permitted

The Tervita facility handles waste from the oil and gas industry. Although some types of hazardous materials are allowed at the facility, Class 8 corrosive liquid is not. The ministry has advised the company to cease accepting and processing this classification of waste.

Ben Weber, mayor of the town of Unity, said he was relieved to find the source and the cause of the odour and is happy the company was ordered to take corrective action.

Weber said the ministry came to town last week and presented the report to the R.M. and council. He said his main concern was based on the discomfort and illness the incident caused residents.

"As we understand it, there was somewhat of a lack of clarity, in the regulations as to what could and could not be handled," said Weber. "But the town of Unity is not in a position to determine what those waste materials are to be, that's the ministry.

"Our concern is, if you're going to bring something here and put it in the ground, we want to make sure that it's safe to do that and it doesn't pose any risk to us."

An analysis of the fluid found a mixture of gaseous petroleum hydrocarbons and sulfur-based compounds.

Based on two air samples, which were submitted to the Environment and Climate Change Canada analytical laboratory in Ottawa, no serious or long-term health effects are expected. The ministry said the concentrations of compounds detected were low and exposure was limited, but could have resulted in the short-term effects described by some residents of Unity.

Investigation includes conditions

As part of the report, Tervita must conduct and submit a third-party engineering assessment of its waste processing and disposal system with 90 days. It must analyze the current equipment and the facility's ability to process the different waste streams it takes in.

The ministry said it will also be amending Tervita's facility licence to clearly state the substances it can receive for processing. The company has been ordered to immediately notify the province if any release of gas activates the facility's emergency shutdown procedures.

A spokesperson for the company saidTervita"is reviewing the report released by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources and will be working with them on this matter."

The town of about 2,500 people, 170 km northwest of Saskatoon, is known for its involvement in the oil industry.

Weber said it's the first major incident of this kind in the area.

"We can express our concerns but we don't have any input into those types of facilities," he said.

"This review that's being undertaken should tell us a lot. I'm certainly interested in what that engineering firm would find out."