Gas discharge costs sulphur maker $280K

Sulphur fertilizer maker Tiger Industries has been fined $280,000 for a toxic gas release at its former Calgary manufacturing plant, the provincial environment department said Thursday.

The company pled guilty Tuesday to a provincial charge of releasing a substance that causes or may cause an adverse effect — in this case, sulphur dioxide, which the province found to have been released unexpectedly by a chemical reaction during a fertilizer blending run in January 2005.

Colourless and corrosive, sulphur dioxide gas forms during burning of fuels containing sulphur, such as coal and oil, during metal smelting and other industrial processes.

The plant, which has since been sold, was operating under a permit that required it to use “degassed” sulphur in its production, the province said.

In this case, the company blended un-degassed sulphur with a copper micronutrient that was later found to contain an impurity which caused a surprise chemical reaction, producing “significant quantities” of the gas, the province said.

The release of the gas at the Foothills Industrial Park site led to a “large response” by city and provincial workers. City emergency personnel reported adverse effects and “reduced lung function” from exposure to the gas, the Alberta government release said.

Tiger, which after the incident put new procedures in place to make sure ingredients were safely compatible and only degassed sulphur would be used in processing, must pay the fine by Feb. 29, 2008.