A minor release of powdered lime on the Exshaw Lafarge cement plant property worried the local school board enough to keep students indoors on Tuesday (Nov. 18) as a precautionary measure while workers wiped down outdoor playground equipment where students play.
As of Wednesday (Nov. 19) Lafarge doesn’t believe any lime dust left its property, nor have there been any reports of lime dust in the adjacent hamlet, but as a precautionary measure, approximately 150 Exshaw School students were kept in during recess on Tuesday while workers evaluated the situation at the request of the Canadian Rockies Public Schools Health and Safety Officer. Classes at the school continued as normal.
The lime dust resembles a white powder and, according to the Graymont Material Safety Data Sheet, it can cause severe irritation to the skin, throat and eyes. The powdered lime used by the cement plant is to control sulfur emissions.
Michelle Gurney, spokesperson at Lafarge, said in an email that, while taking a delivery on Tuesday morning, a truck driver and Lafarge production operator noticed “dust coming out of the ground level overflow vent,” which sparked delivery flow to immediately be shut off. The reason the tank over-filled was a “density issue.
“Unfortunately, since July, we’ve had three incidents that have had an impact on the community. This is not acceptable to our neighbours and it’s certainly not acceptable to us,” Gurney said.
“We will further update our processes and procedures based on this experience.”
She added the ground overflow vent was added to the facility in June.
On July 18, powdered lime sprinkled Exshaw after a lime-offloading incident when a silo was filled too quickly, and on Oct. 18, 40 litres of hydraulic oil sprayed across the hamlet during a contractor’s crane-erecting mishap.
“(Tuesday’s) learnings means we need to do more to ensure material that leaves the silo at the ground level is further mitigated,” Gurney said. “We know these type of events cause fear and reduce the trust folks have in our operations. That concerns us.
“At every opportunity, when there is a community impact from our operations we will share information as we have it available ... We want to be a good neighbour and are willing to do the work to achieve this over the long term.”
Lafarge notified provincial regulator Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) who sent staff members on Tuesday to investigate the incident.
“We are aware of the recent incident … at this point there is nothing to indicate that the events pose any risk to residents,” said Jamie Hanlon, ESRD public affairs officer.
Hanlon added the ESRD are continuing to work with Lafarge on the development of a fugitive dust plant, as it’s become “an ongoing issue.” Talks are underway between ESRD in Calgary and Lafarge representatives.
The Exshaw plant is currently under a $400 million plus modernization, which includes the construction of a new kiln line. The estimated date of completion is June 2015.
Lafarge is asking members of the public to contact them at 403-431-0759 if white dust that is believed to be lime is discovered so it can be investigated.
