The volume of sulphuric acid being shipped out of Teck Trail is less than it was this time last year, or prior to the first spill on the highway that runs through the city.
There’s a new transport carrier with designated trailers, and the product purchaser IRM (International Raw Materials) has taken the reins of operations beginning at the plant and ending at the Waneta railcars.
“IRM is directly operating the Waneta-based transload station,” began IRM spokesperson Carrie Gaines. “We have hired local operators and positioned managers at the site to oversee day-to-day business.”
Trucking responsibilities have been contracted with Trimac Transportation, Gaines said.
“(They) have extensive experience in Trail operating with Teck, and an exemplary safety record,” she explained. “Trimac secured four new acid trailers to service this line of business, designed and built specifically for the project.”
The company averages approximately 100 railcars per month of shipments from the Waneta site, which equates to roughly 10,000 metric tons per month.
“We have managed a gradual and controlled ramp up of trucking from Teck to the transload site and, to date, are still operating conservatively below site capacity,” Gaines said. “Historically, we shipped up to 13,000 or 14,000 metric tons per month through this facility.”
She says there have been no incidents operating between the Teck facility and the Waneta- based transload facility since last September, when a small amount of acid was leaked during an off-load.
Read more: IRM reports small acid leak at Waneta
Gaines declined to comment on the pending lawsuit filed by ICBC.
IRM is an American company that markets and distributes sulphuric acid manufactured at the Trail smelter.
The commercial grade product is produced in Trail, and distributed throughout western and mid-western North America. IRM describes the operations as, “The quality and reliability of acid supply from Trail, B.C. are among the best in the industry.”
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