EVOLUTION

PETRO PROFILES
TECHNICAL EXPERT
Robyn McMullen speaks “refinery”
in talks with government
Robyn McMullen has been working steadily for
the past few years to support the Saint John Irving Oil
refinery’s relationship with governments and communities.
She has seen positive change in her varied career
and is confident that her efforts are making a difference.
“I’m seeing that communities and governments
are asking the industry to take increasingly more
responsibility to eliminate environmental problems,”
says McMullen. “It’s a positive step that Irving Oil
supports wholeheartedly.”
McMullen is a native of New Brunswick who worked
for seven years in Alberta as a process engineer
with Suncor Energy. She specialized in areas such
as hydro-desulfurization (a process that removes
sulfur and other impurities from crude and petroleum
feedstocks) and hydrogen production. McMullen
returned to Saint John in 2002 to work with Irving Oil,
again as a process engineer, where she worked in
sulfur recovery and hydrocracking processes.
Following her second maternity leave, she was
looking for a change.
McMullen moved to the environmental group because
she believed she could add value to conversations
taking place about issues such as environmental
regulations, permits and compliance. Today, McMullen
is Manager of Environment and Community Relations
for the Saint John refinery.
“I had the technical experience to understand our
processes and felt I could do a good job of communicating
that to government.” McMullen says
environmental regulations as they apply to refinery
operations are deeply complex and negotiations
require the expertise of a technical person who is
also an adept communicator. “I think I enhance the
technical discussion.”
‘‘Communities and governments
are asking the industry to take
increasingly more responsibility to
eliminate environmental problems.”
canadianfuels.ca
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