Ammonia leak at Port Coquitlam chicken processing plant
Posted October 24, 2017 9:49 am.
Last Updated October 24, 2017 3:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – Another ammonia leak has been reported in BC, this time at a Port Coquitlam chicken processing plant that has previously been fined over a similar incident.
Workers at a Lilydale plant on Kingsway were ordered out of the plant in a brief evacuation.
“It was small in nature and confined to an area, so they just had a contractor working on it by the time we got there,” says Fire Chief Nick Delmonico
An initial incident report says it is a small leak and everyone safely got out of the facility. The leak is said to have been caused by a failed valve seal.
“There were minor amounts of ammonia… detected by our crews, but it was not life-threatening in any fashion and it had been plugged by the time we got there. So, we were actually only on scene for about 10 or 15 minutes,” says Delmonico.
Emergency Management BC, the Ministry of Environment, Port Coquitlam Fire and WorkSafeBC have been notified.
A statement from Sofina Foods, the parent company to Lilydale, says the health and safety of employees is of the highest priority.
“We took immediate action to contain the ammonia release within the plant as well as notified relevant authorities. As a precautionary measure, employees were also evacuated. The leak did not cause any risks to employees or the community. The incident has been resolved and activities at the plant have resumed.”
Almost three years ago to the date, the same meat processing plant was cleared out and two workers were sent to the hospital because of an ammonia leak. After an investigation, WorkSafeBC found Sofina Foods did not take the proper precautions, and fined the company $75,000.
Last week, three people died after an ammonia leak at an arena in Fernie. That incident prompted a local state of emergency and evacuation order.
