OHS officials investigating after 'near-miss' incident at Come By Chance refinery

Newfoundland and Labrador's workplace safety watchdog is confirming that officers have been deployed to the Come By Chance refinery following an incident on Tuesday at the Placentia Bay facility.

Braya Renewable Fuelssaid in a statement to CBC News that an internal review is underway after a worker drilled a test hole in a "repurposed linethat has been in nitrogen service for several months."

Nitrogen is often used in the oil and gas industry to prevent fire and explosion hazards. One of the uses is to flush pipelines and tanks.

A statement attributed to refinery manager Paul Burton said the line was tested after the drilling.

"There was a small amount of hydrocarbon gas initially detected inside the pipe," said Burton's statement.

But testing outside the pipe "showed no leakage of hydrocarbons."

Burton said the line was not in service or under pressure at the time of the incident.

"This particular task has been paused while an internal analysis is completed and shared with our employees and OHS.The safety and security of workers at the site remains our utmost priority."

The occupational health and safety division of Digital Government and Service N.L. confirmed in a statement to CBC News on Thursday that it'saware of a "near-miss incident" at the refinery.

The department has not issued a stop work order, and no further details are being released because the investigation is ongoing, the statement reads.

• Ottawa spending $86M on Come By Chance refinery's conversion to biofuels

Glen Nolan, the president of United Steelworkers Local 9316, which represents hundreds of workers at the site, saidhe's looking into the situationbut is unable to comment because of the ongoing investigation.

It's the latest safety-related incident at the refinery, which had a capacity of 130,000 barrels of oil per day before it closed in 2020during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Mounties launched criminal negligence probe months after fatal Come By Chance refinery blast

On Sept. 2, 2022, a flash fire at the refinery seriously injured eight workers. One of those workers, Shawn Peddle, 47, died in hospital six weeks later.

That explosion remains under investigation.CBC News has learned from court documents that the RCMPlaunched a criminal probe in Januaryinto possible charges of criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

In late 2021, U.S.-based private equity firm Cresta Fund Management picked up a majority stake at the refinery and announced plans to switch it from fossil fuels to biofuels, renaming it Braya Renewable Fuels in the process. That work is continuing.

In late May, during a government funding announcement,the company reported that more than 1,000-pluspeople were working on the conversion project.

Construction is scheduled to becompleted by the end of this year. Production is expected to commence in early 2024, with more than 200 permanent jobs.

The company's goal is to produce more than 18,000 barrels per day of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel from plant-based waste oils and animal fats.

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