Trans Mountain is committed to working with government and stakeholders to advance strategies that will minimize emissions, meet air quality regulations and minimize our environmental footprint. As part of this commitment, we developed a Fugitive Emissions Management Plan for Westridge Marine Terminal that will help minimize emissions and address the requirements outlined in NEB Condition 53.

Vapours are produced from oil as it is being loaded into the double-hulled tankers that call at Westridge. These vapours are collected, piped to a nearby vapour combustion unit on the shore and incinerated. In the future, the collected vapours will be recovered and returned to be loaded back as part of the cargo, thus removing the need to incinerate the vapours. As part of our Application to the NEB, we committed to test our vapour collection system to verify it is almost 100 per cent effective.

The innovative new vapour recovery system to control emissions and odours is an important element of the expansion of shipping operations at Westridge Marine Terminal and we are spending more than $20 million on the new system.

Instead of the vapours being incinerated, the new system will re-liquefy it and direct the produced liquids back into the loading tankers. This will have a big impact on reducing the amount of combustion products and the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the Westridge Marine Terminal, despite more active terminal operations. Sulphur compounds, which have the potential to cause odours, will also be dealt with and safely disposed of by the system. 

Read the full Fugitive Emissions Management Plan for Westridge Marine Terminal here.