According to a 2014 news story by CBC, Irving Oil’s oil-by-rail terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, has seen increasing air quality problems since it started up in 2012. Complaints from neighbors about smells have surged; they describe the odors as powerful enough to “burn your eyes” and “horrendous” like “very pungent rotten eggs.”
According to a 2015 Bangor Daily News story, the vapor recovery equipment at the Irving terminal was shut down 37 percent of the time between December 2012 and March 2015, because of near-constant mechanical problems. The story also said that the oil terminal emitted 265 tons of volatile organic compounds in 2014.
The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council will conduct a public hearing on the air pollution permit for the proposed Tesoro-Savage oil terminal, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., June 7 at Clark College in Gaiser Hall.
Ask EFSEC if they can assure that the pollution abatement equipment will work and that the inspectors will take prompt action if it doesn’t.
