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Mayor MacDonald tours AltaGas facility

On Oct. 2, the company gave Mayor Dave MacDonald and his CAO Bob Payette a tour of the facility
23041princerupertwebLefttoright-FerndaleOperationsManager-GaryMcSpadden-Mayor-DaveMacDonald-CAO-BobPayette-AltaGasStakeholderRelationsAdvisor-JenniferOsmar.Contributed
L-R: AltaGas Ferndale operations manager Gary McSpadden

The proposed propane export terminal on Ridley Island may soon be built and the mayor of Port Edward was given a peak of what it may look like during a recent visit to AltaGas’ propane terminal in Ferndale, Washington.

On Oct. 2, the company gave Mayor Dave MacDonald and his CAO Bob Payette a tour of the facility. The mayor stated in council on Oct. 11 that he was impressed that the burners were not very high off the ground and the pilot light wasn’t always on. There will only be one tank on the Ridley Island site as opposed to two in Ferndale. “It was good to hear some of that stuff,” the mayor said. “It was a clean site.”

While they were on the site, the workers were offloading the propane, which is mostly transported by truck. The proposed facility on the North Coast would use mainly rail transport.

“AltaGas was pleased to provide a tour of the Ferndale terminal operated by AltaGas near Ferndale, Washington,” said Dan Woznow, vice president of energy exports at AltaGas.  “The tour provided a first-hand opportunity for the Mayor and CAO to see a LPG export terminal that will be similar to the one AltaGas is proposing to build on Ridley Island.”

The Port Edward mayor has also travelled to Malaysia to see Petronas’ LNG operations. He was surprised he was able to drive everywhere they went on the tour in Washington as opposed to what he experienced in Malaysia where he had to walk the area.

“Overall, it was a good visit and it was only an hour at the most out of Vancouver,” he said.

Councillor James Brown asked about the noise level. There was one place full of fans for the cooling process and the mayor was told they would be using newer fans but “if you were here out to the end of our lot you couldn’t hear it. It’s just when you’re driving by,” the mayor responded. No odd smells either.

They were very receptive to our visit, the mayor said.