NEIGHBOUR NEWS - Imperial Oil

From the Manager
Neighbour News interviews refinery manager Janet Matsushita to get the answers to the
community’s most frequently asked questions about the refinery.
“We’re investing
in our future and
the air quality
of the local
community.”
How to reach us
Please contact us immediately
if you notice any unusual
odours, sights or sounds
that might be related to
the refinery. During normal
business hours, please
call the switchboard at
(902) 420-7200. After hours,
call the main gate at
(902) 420-7287. Callers are
asked to leave their name,
address and phone number.
Unlike other refineries, your neighbours are
literally across the street from your operations.
What do you do differently to stay abreast of
their concerns?
JM: Our neighbours are important to us. We run
annual community meetings to support an open
line of communication with our neighbours.
We also employ a telephone notification system
called City Watch so that we can respond quickly
to items – such as the sounding of an alarm – that
may be of concern to the community. To register
for City Watch, please call Dorothy at 420-7222.
What are you doing to improve the appearance
of the refinery?
JM: We invest to improve the aesthetics of our
refinery site. Those who take the classic waterfront
tour from Halifax can see that in the last four years
we have removed and painted tanks and one of
our spheres, and have put up a new privacy fence.
It’s important to us and our neighbours that we
maintain our facilities. We continually assess
and build these projects into our plans.
How is the site reducing its air emissions?
JM: We’re investing in our future and the air
quality of the local community. We’ve recently
undertaken a multi-million dollar investment
into a new sour water stripper unit and sulphur
plant. The new facilities will further increase the
refinery’s recovery of sulphur and reduce emissions
of sulphur dioxide by 25 percent versus 2001.
We will begin construction this year, with an
expectation to complete the project by 2010.
Has Imperial made any other investments
into the refinery?
JM: We made another
multi-million dollar
investment last year
in a new vacuum
furnace with lownitrogen
oxide burners.
The dividends for the environment here are great.
The new furnace consumes less energy and,
in turn, that reduces our greenhouse gas emissions,
which all add up to a smaller environmental
footprint. Finally, it’s been designed for greater
reliability and reduced maintenance requirements.
How important is environmental protection?
JM: We follow a disciplined environmental planning
and training program that has been in place for
almost 10 years now. There are three key objectives:
proactive incident prevention; continuous
improvement and reduction of our environmental
footprint; and, of course, full regulatory compliance.
The discipline we adhere to goes far beyond merely
meeting regulatory compliance. The environmental
business plan that we are implementing this year
addresses all three objectives.
What is the site doing to improve reliability
and reduce flaring?
JM: Over the last three
years we have improved
our reliability by more
than 50 percent in terms of
reducing unplanned events,
downtime and its associated
flaring. We are implementing a corporate program
called Global Reliability Systems. It’s a proactive
system with strict quality guidelines that follows
the philosophy: design it right, maintain it
right, and operate it right. In 2008, there was a
significant reduction in unplanned downtimes.
What do you attribute to the
refinery’s strong safety record?
JM: The Loss Prevention System
uses behaviour-based tools and
techniques to reduce “at risk”
behaviour that can result in
safety incidents. Contractors
and employees are trained to proactively identify
and measure potential hazards on site and provide
immediate feedback to co-workers to reinforce
correct safety practices. Our improved safety
performance has influenced other sites within
Imperial to pick up the program.
What it means when you hear our alarms
The Dartmouth refinery’s emergency warning system consists of a series of air horn alarms to alert site personnel of potential emergencies. Refinery alarms are
tested every Thursday at 4:00 p.m. Also, at the conclusion of any real emergency, a long solid horn blast is issued to signal an “all clear.” Neighbours are asked to
tune to a local radio station for information when they hear the alarms outside of the testing period. A call from police, or an alert on radio or television, will warn
you if an emergency can affect you.
What‘s new online
For more in-depth information on our performance, visit our full Corporate
Citizenship Report and our online Report to Neighbours at www.imperialoil.ca.
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