Spill contained, cleaned-up at Woodfibre LNG site

SQUAMISH, BC – On Thursday, September 8, 2016, a spill occurred at the Woodfibre LNG site, which is located about seven kilometres southwest of downtown Squamish.

The spill happened during routine maintenance on the site’s industrial landfill, which contains historical wood waste from former pulp mill operations. A pipe connected to the landfill was being flushed with water, when it broke, spilling about 3,000 litres of wash water and leachate. The spill was primarily contained in a containment sump and quickly cleaned-up using a commercial vacuum truck that was onsite as part of the scheduled maintenance work.

The spill was reported to the BC Ministry of Environment and Emergency Management BC for further investigation.

“Fortunately, the majority of what was spilled was water,” said Jennifer Siddon, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Woodfibre LNG Limited, “but the spill does underscore the challenges of managing a 100-year-old industrial site.”

“We take this responsibility very seriously, including our obligation to be transparent if and when incidents happen at our site,” said Siddon.

A sample of the spilled wash water and leachate has been collected for further analysis.