Ammonia leak at Fernie, B.C., ice rink linked to aging equipment: report
VANCOUVER — Old equipment that continued to be used seven years after a maintenance contractor recommended replacing it caused an ammonia leak that killed three workers at an ice rink in British Columbia last October, says an organization that oversees the safe operation of refrigeration systems in the province.
Jeff Coleman, director of risk and safety knowledge for Technical Safety BC, said Wednesday the City of Fernie scheduled funding to replace a chilller system in 2013 but it was deferred to 2014 and subsequently deleted from budget plans.
He said ammonia was used to chill liquid at the Fernie Memorial Arena and traces of the gas were found in the liquid as early as the summer of 2017, indicating a leak within the chiller, but the equipment was put back into operation on Oct. 16, the day before the colourless gas leak killed three men.
Coleman said corrosion along a seam in one tube of the chiller had caused tiny hole, allowing pressurized ammonia to seep into the liquid, bursting the pipe and venting large amounts of the deadly gas.