After approximately 80 liters of sulphuric acid was spilled on April 10 and May 23, Teck Trail Operations suspended Westcan Bulk Transport. The suspension took place immediately following the second spill. Catherine Adair, Communications Leader for Teck Trail, stated the company is working closely with the owner of the spilled product, International Raw Materials Ltd., to review its transport arrangements.
Tim Mahoney, the Vice President of IRM, said “IRM has contracted an alternative trucking company, Trimac Transportation, to conduct trucking of sulphuric acid from the production point. We have also positioned our own staff to supervise these operations directly to coordinate the transition and ensure the highest safety standards are met….We have reduced this by approximately 50% and are shipping higher volumes via railcar from the Trail production site for the time being. We are working with all stakeholders to ensure the safe and proper handling and distribution of the sulphuric acid produced in Trail.”
Following the Westcan suspension, the company released the following statement regarding the spill. “The release was quickly identified and our incident response team secured the area to assess the incident and begin the cleanup process, with the assistance of the Teck Emergency Response Team. We can confirm that there was no waterway or groundwater contamination as a result of the release and do not expect there to be any long-term health, safety or environmental impacts.”
