Wednesday ammonia incident at Recreation Centre requires more info for public

See update below:

The City of Prince Rupert did a very good job of alerting the public to Wednesday's report of an ammonia leak at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, providing quick and extensive information as to the nature of the incident as they knew at the time and the steps that they had taken to address the situation.

Making use of many of their social media resources, from Facebook to the new City of Prince Rupert application they provided for a good flow of information during a hectic and potentially dangerous period of time for emergency responders.

Adding a notice to the city website might have also been beneficial for the community, something which was neglected in Wednesday's flow of information.

Likewise, the mayor's online portal, which is a popular destination for Prince Rupert residents did not have any mention of the incident as it was taking place.

The events played out shortly after 4:30 with the entire complex evacuated after the report of the leak, with RCMP members blocking access roads to the facility and Fire/Rescue and ambulance personnel responding to the scene for further investigation.

Fortunately only two people required any medical attention related to the Wednesday incident, taken to Prince Rupert Regional Hospital and released later in the evening.

Thanks to the work of all of the city's emergency responders and civic centre staff, by the evening hours the all clear had been sounded and the Civic Centre was set to resume its regular schedule of events today.

And while its gratifying to learn that the recent incident has been resolved, to further reassure residents that use the facility and in particular parents who are sending their children to the facility for summer camps, there is a need for a bit more detail from civic officials as to the nature of Wednesday's evacuation and the incident which sparked it.

Yesterday's alert called to mind the tragic events of Fernie of last year, which claimed the lives of three workers at the arena in that community and left that city in mourning.

Providing a report for the public in a timely fashion should be a required part of the City's information process, outlining how the incident took place and what steps have been taken to ensure that measures have been taken to reduce the chance of a similar situation developing again.

Update:

Shortly after 10:30 Thursday morning, the City of Prince Rupert provided this update to the public on the incident.

The key points of their communication included:

This incident remains under investigation by both Prince Rupert Fire Rescue and Worksafe BC. The event involved a high pressure release of ammonia from a lone tank external to the Recreation facility, which has now released 100% of the ammonia into the atmosphere with no environmental impact. 

 Prince Rupert Fire Rescue conducted several walk throughs of Recreation facilities with an ammonia detector over the course of the response, and did not detect any ammonia in the building. Crews stayed on site to ensure there was no additional risk to the public. Proper storage procedures were checked for all remaining ammonia on site, which is stored as per applicable regulations in an isolated area of the facility and used for the arena. Our facility is inspected regularly in accordance with Worksafe BC regulations. 

During the event, the ammonia alarm system was triggered and alerted remaining patrons and staff to exit the building. This alarm system remains in effect. Based on these conditions, it was determined that recreation programming will continue today. Any questions from citizens should be directed to the City to ensure that accurate information is communicated.

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