Burnaby's Chevron refinery had a gasoline leak early last Thursday morning.
Chevron spokesperson Ray Lord told the Burnaby NOW that it was a rare event and that the leaked gasoline was contained in the refinery's catchment basin.
"We had a minor incident occur here at the plant (Thursday) morning, at about 4 a.m. We were transferring gasoline to a barge here at the refinery. In the course of that transfer, from tank to barge, a loss to containment occurred, meaning some gasoline was lost in the course of that transfer," Lord said.
Chevron was immediately aware of the leak and stopped the transfer. The spill occurred away from the water, near a tank on the refinery's property, and the gasoline was contained in an impounding basin system.
"It's a catch basin that's lined with sort of a rubberized lining. The gasoline down there - was immediately recovered using the vacuum truck," Lord said.
The material was then taken to the refinery's treatment system.
Chevron staff estimated that 4,100 litres or 26 barrels of gas leaked. The leak was caused by a loose pipe flange that has since been repaired.
According to Lord, no one was hurt and there was no environmental impact or odour complaints, but the transfer had to be stopped until they fixed the problem. Chevron contacted Metro Vancouver in case of odour complaints.
Chevron's North Burnaby refinery has been around since 1935. The refinery has been dealing with an ongoing oil seep on its north slope since May 2010. A mix of gas, diesel and crude oil has been seeping outside of the refinery's property due to underground contamination. Chevron has been working to clean up the seep and prevent more material from migrating offsite.
