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BackStatement Regarding False Emergency Notification for the North Vancouver Chemtrade Facility on November 1, 2023
On November 1, 2023, Chemtrade North Vancouver conducted its annual internal emergency response exercise, focusing on a chemical release scenario at its facility in North Vancouver, located in British Columbia, Canada, during which, a false emergency alert was sent in error to local emergency response organizations.
As part of the internal safety exercise, an emergency alert was to be sent as part of the scenario, and unfortunately, the alert was sent to external recipients without proper labeling that the alert was part of an emergency drill, and not an actual incident at the facility. As a result, local emergency response organizations began to respond to what was believed to be an actual incident.
To be clear, there has not been a chemical release at the North Vancouver facility, and there is no risk to the community or surrounding area.
The error was quickly identified, and a second alert was issued clarifying that there was no accidental release. Chemtrade notified North Shore Emergency Management and confirmed that the alert was sent in error.
Chemtrade is focusing on notifying local stakeholders, First Nations, and the community to provide clarification that this was an unfortunate miscommunication as part of an annual emergency response drill, and there is no risk to the community.
Chemtrade would like to apologize to the local community for the error and thank North Shore Emergency Management for their quick response and professionalism in handling the response.
Please contact Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Amy Jonsson at 236-808-7851, or ajonsson@chemtradelogistics.com for any additional questions.