Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Assessing the risks related to the project
affected by sensations or burns of varying degrees, according to the distance and
length of exposure. For example, after 40 seconds, a person who is exposed to a
5-kW/m 2 thermal radiation 1 level can suffer second-degree burns. When selecting
sites for industrial facilities that could be the source of fires, this is the level of
radiation used to delimit the area where individuals could suffer serious injuries 2 . A
13-kW/m 2 thermal radiation can result in death after 30 seconds of exposure.
According to the proponent, the exclusion area calculations are based on the
Canadian (CSA 3 Z276-01 4 ) and US (NFPA 5 59A-01) standards, which use the
5-kW/m 2 threshold value as exposure criterion for the public, in addition to the
37.5-kW/m 2 threshold value in regard to the integrity of exposed structures. The BS
EN 1473 European standard of 1997 takes into account various thermal radiation
thresholds which exclude solar thermal radiation. Outside of property limits within
urban areas, the standard uses the 5-kW/m 2 threshold to establish exclusion areas for
project implementations.
According to the proponent and Natural Resources Canada the CSA Z276-01
standard is currently under review, and the new version slated to be published in June
of 2007. According to the proponent, this review will take into account, among other
things, the review done in 2006 of the NFPA 59A-01 US standard. Moreover, he
believed that this new version will not result in any changes to the exclusion area
definition. Lastly, he specified that the final terminal engineering would be made
according to the standards in force at the time.
However, for Mannan et al 6 , the exposure criteria used in the current approach do not
take sufficiently into account more vulnerable individuals (children, the elderly or
individuals with a mobility impairment), and do not provide a large enough margin to
take into account the consequences of the surprise effect which could prolong the
reaction time of some individuals, thereby hampering their ability to look for and find
shelter in time 7 . They also referred to the recommendation of the Society of Fire
1. Solar radiation in the month of June is evaluated at about 1 kW/m 2 at noontime (Mr. François Desbiens, DT26,
p. 64).
2. 49-CFR-193, Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities; Federal Safety Standards [3] and NFPA-59A, Production, Storage
and Handling of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) [4]; 49-CFR-193 Standard is the U.S. federal government
regulation, whereas NFPA-59A is an industry consensus standard; EN 1473 for Europe.
3. Canadian Standards Association.
4. Canadian Standards Association, Z276-01, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) – Production, Storage, and Handling,
2001, 78 p.
5. National Fire Protection Association.
6. Sam Mannan, Jane Y. Wang and Harry H. West, “LNG Safety – An Update on Recent Issues”, LNG Review,
2005 [On-line: www.touchoilandgas.com/safety-update-recent-issues-2469-1.html].
7. Aspect covered by several briefs: Agences de santé et des services sociaux de la Chaudière-Appalaches et de
la Capitale-Nationale, DM602A, p. 55; Mr. Gaétan Paradis, DM590, p. 4 to 8.
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