Councillor demands review of fuel plant explosion

Winnipeg city Coun. Dan Vandal is demanding to know why the city wasn't aware a business that caught firewas storing explosivebiofuel.

Fuel tanks at Speedway International, a plant that produces racing methanol,exploded on Oct. 1 and created a fireballthat could be seen for kilometres.

Company officials and fire officials are at odds over theincident. On Tuesday, fire official saidSpeedway didn't have an inspection or permit to manufacture biodiesel, but the company insistsit followed proper procedures.

Deputy fire chief Bill Clark said firefighters had no idea of what they were dealing with when they arrived at theplant in the St. Boniface industrial park.

Clark said the only permit on the city records for Speedway was an occupancy permit issued in 1998, when the company was manufacturing windshield washing fluid.

Vandal, who represents the St. Boniface area, said the province should have made sure Speedway had all the proper documents after the company went through environmental hearings.

"I don't understand how Manitoba Conservation can have an environmental hearing, award an environmental licence to manufacture biodeisel to a private companyhow that's not communicated to the city," he said.

He also wondered why the city annually inspects seniors homes for fire hazards and not industry.

"I don't know why we can't apply the same standard to heavy industries as we do to seniors' blocks all over the city of Winnipeg. There's lots of room for improvement here,"Vandal said, adding hewants a review of the entire Speedway incident.