Deseronto arena reopens following ammonia leak

The Deseronto Community Recreation Centre which houses the town’s hockey arena has reopened following an ammonia leak.

The arena was closed on Tuesday after a leak was discovered in the arena’s compressor system by recreation co-ordinator Matt Gartland. He says the leak happened at the same time the facility’s ventilation failed. As a result, moderate levels of ammonia gas were found inside the compressor room.

“We do checks every two hours. At that time, no one had been in the room, so the numbers had risen a lot higher than they should have.”

Ammonia is commonly used in refrigeration systems found in ice rinks. It can turn into a toxic gas if released into the air –which is what happened at the Deseronto arena due to a small leak in the system.

Gartland says the ammonia was contained to the compressor room and there was no risk to the immediate public.
The problem was however reported to the town’s chief administrative officer, and council voted that same day to close the arena.

Deseronto’s deputy mayor, Dan Johnston, says the community’s safety was top of mind.

“We knew that we had an issue and that we would air on the side of caution. We knew the Ministry of Labour was coming in the next day and we thought we might as well talk to those who know best and we brought in a compressor company to verify.”

This ammonia leak comes on the heels of the deadly leak that happened in Fernie B.C., where three people lost their lives. Gartland said that incident was top of mind while dealing with the leak.

“We just wanted to make sure that the problem was rectified before we opened the doors again. In light of what has happened in Fernie, this is kind of a new thing around here as well, right.”

The arena reopened Thursday afternoon after both the compressor and ventilation system were repaired. Deputy mayor Johnston says council will debrief how the situation was handled and dealt with in an upcoming council meeting.