20:22:03 EDT Sep 12, 2006
Canadian Press
FORT SASKATCHEWAN, Alta. (CP) – Residents northeast of Edmonton were told to stay indoors for nearly five hours Tuesday after toxic hydrogen sulphide leaked at Shell Canada’s (TSX:SHC) heavy oil upgrader.
It was the second leak at Shell’s Scotford plant in five days. Hydrogen sulphide started leaking from a valve in a hydrogen cracking unit at the plant around 10 a.m.
About 1,400 workers from the plant and surrounding chemical plants were evacuated to safe locations, said Shell spokesman Randy Provencal. There were no injuries, he added.
People in about 120 residences and businesses within a five-kilometre radius of the plant were also called and told to stay indoors until further notice, Provencal said.
The leaky unit had to be depressurized and during that time Shell sprayed the unit with water to keep it cool and prevent the hydrogen sulphide, which is highly flammable, from catching fire, he said.
“We did the off-site and on-site air monitoring throughout the incident and after the incident and there were no levels of concern detected off-site,” Provencal said.
Shell contained the leak around 3:30 p.m. and told residents it was OK to go outside again.
Davis Sheremata of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board said it’s not known how much gas escaped throughout the five hours.
Hydrogen sulphide, also called sour gas, smells like rotten eggs.
According to an Alberta government work safe site, the gas is extremely toxic and short-term exposure can cause irritation to the nose, throat, eyes and lungs, while higher concentrations can cause serious health complications and death.
Sheremata said the board is investigating Tuesday’s leak and another one that happened at a different part of the plant last Thursday.
No one was injured in that leak and no sour gas was found outside the plant, he said.
“There have been some concerns expressed to the EUB about the public notification that was done at that time and we’re looking into that,” Sheremata said.
“We had concerns from some people about the way they were notified and from some people that they may not have been notified at all.”
The board approved late last month an expansion of the upgrader to nearly double its capacity.
Provencal said last Thursday’s leak involved flaring of sulphur dioxide gas.
“We did do the shelter-in-place message with our neighbours last week as well, but the call-out wasn’t as successful as we would have hoped it to be, so this time around it did go very smoothly and those folks were communicated to in a timely fashion.”
Provencal apologized to Shell’s neighbours and said “this isn’t something that we want to see happen at our plant site.”
“But I don’t think this is reflective of our operational performance here at the plant site.
“The refinery’s been here for 23 years and the upgrader’s been here for almost four years and we do have a solid track record from an operational perspective and a safety perspective.”
He stressed the two leaks are unrelated.
Shell’s Scotford upgrader processes bitumen from the Alberta oilsands into synthetic crude oil.
It’s part of its Athabasca oilsands operation, which it owns along with Western Oil Sands (TSX:WTO) and Chevron Canada (NYSE:CVX).
In July, Shell announced plans to proceed with an expansion that could cost upwards of $12.8 billion to add an additional 100,000 barrels of daily capacity to the existing 160,000 barrel output.
© The Canadian Press, 2006
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
