Foul stench could return as Burnaby refinery conducts restart ‘procedure’

Parkland Corp. said residents may notice elevated levels of smoke, odours and particulate matter coming from the refinery.

Metro Vancouver residents could face another blast of foul odour on Thursday related to the region’s only major fuel refinery.

In a statement Wednesday, Parkland Corp. said it would be conducting a “controlled and necessary operational procedure” as the first step in work to restart its Burnaby refinery.

That update came hours after it said had temporarily shut fuel processing down at the facility, after pausing work during January’s cold snap, then running into a problem on Jan. 21 when it tried to restart.

That problem resulted in a foul stench that as smelled across the region and the deployment of firefighters to the facility to monitor the incident.

The company said Wednesday that its “procedure” would last multiple days, and that the public may notice “increased odour, flaring and visible smoke.”

Metro Vancouver has issued an air quality bulletin for the region’s northeast and northwest, and said it would be monitoring the refinery closely.

“Metro Vancouver is responsible for issuing air emissions permits within the region, and assessing whether our requirements and bylaws are being met,” it said.

“Environmental Regulation and Enforcement officers will continue to monitor and assess the air emissions and potential impacts of the refinery operation that is planned for the coming days.”