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Shell Canada Says Leak at Scotford Upgrader Under Control, Units Shut Down

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 November 2007, 12:00 CST

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

FORT SASKATCHEWAN, Alta. - Shell Canada says the leak at its Scotford heavy-oil upgrader is fully under control and all affected units were safely shut down after a fire Monday.

About 3,000 workers were sent home from the upgrader northeast of Edmonton after the fire released hydrogen and sour gas.

It was the second incident involving sour gas at a Shell facility. Earlier in the day, the highly toxic and flammable gas leaked from a Shell pipeline in southwestern Alberta, forcing 10 people from their homes.

"We regret any concern this incident caused our employees and neighbours," upgrader general manager Peter St. George said in a release about the Scotford incident. "We appreciated the quick and professional response by our employees and the Strathcona County fire department."

Monday's incident began at about 4 p.m. when a leak occurred in one of two residue hydro-conversion units at the upgrader. Vapour ignited and the fire was later extinguished by emergency responders. There were no injuries.

"Odours were reported, but no offsite emissions above ambient air-quality guidelines were measured," the company said. "Regulatory authorities monitored Shell's response throughout the incident."

The Shell Scotford chemical plant and the upgrader expansion construction site are to resume normal operations Tuesday, while the refinery remains in operation at reduced rates.

An investigation has begun and Shell said it is working with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and other regulatory agencies.

The upgrader is part of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, a joint venture among Shell Canada Energy, Marathon Oil Sands LP and Chevron Canada.

The Scotford unit refines bitumen from Alberta's tarsands into lighter crude oil.

Alberta Environment spokesperson Cheryl Robb said Monday that department officials would continue to monitor the situation to make sure there was no threat to the public.

In the other incident, 10 people were evacuated from their rural homes near the community of Beaver Mines in southwestern Alberta when Shell's pipeline leaked hydrogen sulphide.

Shell spokesman Larry Lalonde said the leak, west of Pincher Creek, was shut down very quickly and that all the people were allowed to return to their homes late Monday.

The Alberta utilities board says the Shell Scotford upgrader was the site of two sour gas incidents in September 2006. In one of the incidents, a cloud of sour gas caught fire inside the upgrader, but did not escape from the facility.

Source: Canadian Press

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