A chemical mix-up that blew part of the roof off a water treatment plant Wednesday is raising questions about safety and security at regional facilities.
The explosion occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday at 20 Greenbrook Drive.
On Wednesday night, the delivery man arrived at the facility and began pumping chemicals outside. The employee was delivering ammonium sulfate, when he somehow mixed it with sodium hypocholorite, or pool chlorine. The mix-up resulted in the explosion.
“We don't believe there's any nefarious activity or intention to deceive in his actions,” says Neil Dodson, President of Nachurs Alpine Solutions.
Nachurs alpine is a subcontractor for Canada Colours and Chemicals. They aren’t saying anything about how the mix-up happened, or if all the safety measures were working.
“I can't honestly tell you whether they were all in place or all not in place,” says Dodson.
"Greenbrook water treatment plant is physically checked by staff regularly and the plant is continuously monitored by our SCADA system on a real time basis," says a statement sent on behalf of Nancy Kodousek, Director of Water Services for Waterloo Region.
Scada refers to a system of remote supervision.
The investigation into the plant’s safety measures continues.
