Baie-d’Urfé is commissioning a study into the safety of chemical company StyroChem’s storage practices after one citizen who lives across the highway from the plant voiced his concerns that the company had approached the town council about the possible increase in the delivery of Polystyrene — a substance used to make such products as packing pellets and coffee cups.
StyroChem has been in Baie-d’Urfé for 30 years without incident,” Mayor Maria Tutino said. But I’m a firm believer in people being aware of what is in their backyard, so we will commission a study that will look at the company’s safety practices.
“To be clear, though, the new town council has yet to receive a formal request from the company to increase its capacity.”
The concerned citizen, Jean-Pierre Themens, has been living in Baie-d’Urfé since 1966. When the company set up shop in 1984, he didn’t pay much attention.
But over the years, he’s learned more about Polystyrene. It is considered highly flammable and Themens is concerned that if the amount of Polystyrene arriving at the plant increases, the security of citizens will be compromised.
StyroChem president Glenn Wredenhagen said he had heard the town was considering commissioning a study, but had not been contacted about it directly. He said he welcomes the study.
“We are an open book here,” Wredenhagen said. “We follow every rule and regulation out there.”
Wredenhagen said SyroChem is not seeking to expand its storage facilities.
What they are hoping to do is increase the overall number of rail cars making deliveries of Polystyrene to the plant and to have the arrivals and off-loading done, whenever possible, during the day and at a steady pace.
Tutino said that in today’s world, the town would not approve a chemical plant being built in its industrial zone, but that StyroChem has acquired rights to its current production capacity.
“It is a leader in its field and there is nothing to indicate that they aren’t taking the utmost care,” Tutino said. “But in the wake of Lac-Mégantic, even if the company has acquired rights and a stellar record, the town must take every measure necessary to ensure the security of the citizens.”
Themens worries the proximity of the plant might have a negative impact on the value of his property.
“I’d have to be honest if someone wanted to buy my house,” Themens said. “I’d have to tell them they are in the evacuation zone.”
Themens said he doesn’t want the plant to shut down. He just wants to be reassured that proper security measures are being practised.
StyroChem approached the previous council in May 2013 to ask how receptive it would be to making the necessary zoning changes to allow for more rail cars to make deliveries.
The council told the company it would only entertain the possibility if CP Rail and provincial and federal government experts deemed the proposed project safe.
CP and the two governments told StyroChem they would not review the proposed increase in railcar activity until the town gave its approval.
“It’s a Catch-22 situation,” Tutino said. “We are going ahead with this independent study to make sure everything is safely stored, safely used and to study if anything at the plant could be done more safely.”
kgreenaway@montrealgazette.com