ARLANXEO personnel and partner agencies were put to the test during a simulated hydrochloric leak on Wednesday as part of an annual emergency response exercise organized by Bluewater Association for Safety, Environment and Sustainability (BASES).
The butyl production exercise was livestreamed to ARLANXEO's auditorium at the Vidal Street site, where community members and industry representatives watched.
ARLANXEO President and Site Manager Peter West said the simulation was designed as a second worst-case scenario.
"We've created this scenario to test our capability and look at our procedures and make sure that our readiness is where it should be, that our assets are working the way they're supposed to," West said. "So we're really looking forward to being able to do that with BASES members and have critical feedback to improve our systems."
In the case of an actual emergency, Vidal Street would be closed to traffic and the Sarnia Police Service would issue a shelter in place (both of which did not happen as part of the exercise).
During the simulation, crews had to identify the leak, check the fire valve, conduct fence line air monitoring, take note of the wind direction, and create a "water curtain" to prevent the chemical from moving past the site.
If these measures were not effective, ARLANXEO would call for mutual aid. Company representatives also said different codes would be issued during this process and a holding statement would be provided for community members to know when there has been an issue.
The simulation was condensed into one-hour, but West noted overall, the process would likely take several hours depending on the issue. The simulation was also designed to include multiple different failures.
A full debriefing was scheduled to take place after the simulated exercise.
"We do have other BASES members here to help us audit our systems and to compare them with theirs and make sure we're meeting a standard that is required in the community -- and expected by the community," West said.
He said one goal they wanted to achieve through the simulated exercise was to develop confidence with the community.
"So that the community understands that we have the capability to respond, but also to test the emergency systems that are in place in other places," West said. "For instance, with Aamjiwnaang First Nation, who are our close neighbours to the south. We want to make sure that our systems are working properly, that their systems are working properly, and that we take the opportunity to really understand if there are gaps and how to fix them before we have an incident."
Aside from air monitoring measures, the company also noted on-site tools to treat water that may become contaminated.
Wednesday's event was held as part of Emergency Preparedness Week. This year's national theme was "Be prepared. Know Your Risk."
While the emergency response simulation is held once per year, BASES General Manager Jason Vaillant said members also get together multiple times throughout the year for training purposes.
Each year, a different BASES member is chosen to host the simulation.
A notification was issued through the Sarnia-Lambton Alerts System prior to Wednesday's exercise to notify community members of increased activity in the area of Churchill Line and Highway 40.