Corner Brook Civic Centre reopens after ammonia leak

The Corner Brook Civic Centre reopened Friday morning, after an ammonia leak the night before caused an evacuation.

Corner Brook Mayor Jim Parsons says it was important to "make sure we did this the right way."

Ammonia leaks in small amounts aren't unusual, Parsons said, and staff will go in and monitor. But if it gets too high, it poses a threat to anyone in the building.

Parsons said there's still no word on what caused the leak, but all systems operated as they should have, and the highest levels of ammonia were contained to the maintenance room.

A technician will be coming in from St. John's later on Friday to double-check the system.

"If it's not already fixed, we will have really good reassurance that it is repaired correctly by end of day," Parsons said.

"Safety is priority, for sure."

Hazmat crews remained on scene until around midnight, to ensure safety. Ammonia is highly toxic, although its use is widespread in refrigeration systems like those used at ice rinks.

Rinks cleared out

The leak disrupted normal Civic Centre activities around 6 p.m. Thursday.

Minor hockey players, their parents, and other people were forced out of the arena as firefighters responded to the leak.

Parsons said the general manager of the rink cleared people out as soon as the alarm started going off.

"The alarm seems to have functioned as it should have and alerted staff to the problem," Parsons said.

The rink remained shut down while the fire department and technicians investigated.

The mayor said when he heard of the leak, he was reminded of a previous fatal incident out west. Three workers were killed in Fernie, B.C., in 2017 when they were working to fix a leak in the local arena.

"After that time, we re-checked our systems here," Parsons said. "I was actually on site when our hazmat team did a training exercise recently, to make sure we were prepared in case of such an incident, and it seems to be working as it should."

Parsons said the cooling plant has an alarm and will automatically vent itself when ammonia is detected in the air. That prevented ammonia from seeping out into the main section of the arena, he said.

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