Tower falls at Imperial Oil site in Sarnia, ‘high flaring’ seen from the site: company statement

UPDATE: April 3 — The tower collapse at Imperial Oil’s site in Sarnia did not result in any uncontrolled releases into the air of any products at any time, according to Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. Ministry staff determined this by using handheld monitoring equipment, which did not detect any volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide or odours downwind of the company. They also found no sheen along the St. Clair River.

The sirens at Imperial Oil’s facility in Sarnia were activated after a tower fell there, and “high flaring” could be seen from the site on Tuesday night, said a statement posted to Facebook.

All workers were accounted for after the tower fell, triggering a “CVECO Code 6” — an alert suggesting that “full traffic control is requested in designated areas.”

WATCH: Oct. 19, 2017 — Cellphone video shows extreme flaring at Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia in Feb. 2017

1:45 Cellphone video shows extreme flaring at Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia in Feb. 2017

Imperial activated an incident command centre and said it’s working with local authorities.

Emergency personnel were spraying water on the structure and community members were notified that they could see “high flaring” from the site.

READ MORE: No charges for Imperial Oil despite Sarnia residents fearing the plant ‘was going to blow up’

“This measure is part of our emergency response processes,” the Facebook statement said.

“We have initiated air monitoring as a precaution.”

In a statement, Sarnia police said the Sarnia Primary Control Group and the Aamjiwnaang First nation are together monitoring the situation at Imperial Oil.

Police said a tower collapsed inside the plant along the west side of Vidal Street South.

There was no emergency offsite impact, they added. Police also warned of increased controlled flaring at the site.