FCL still owes city for damage from 2020 hydrocarbon spill

Two years after a hydrocarbon spill from the Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) damaged the City of Regina's wastewater treatment plant, the bill for damages remains unpaid as the issue remains tied up in insurance.

A spokesman for Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) said the company continues to work with their insurers and city administration on the process.

“We are hoping that it will be resolved shortly,” Brad Delorey said in an interview Thursday.

The spill occurred in May 2020. In June 2020, the city said it would be looking to recoup any of its expenses after contaminants got into Wascana Creek.

At an executive committee in November 2021, members approved a report recommending the city enter into a land deal to sell a portion of city-owned land to FCL to build a new biodiesel plant.

At the time, Coun. Andrew Stevens (Ward 3) voiced concerns about the unpaid bill and said when the matter came before council, he'd be prepared to propose a condition on the deal that the city receive the money owed before it sold the land to FCL.

On Nov. 10, 2021, council approved a one-year option to purchase city-owned lands owned for FCL. Council met in camera for a short period to get an update from administration on the unpaid bill as well as receive confidential legal advice. When council returned, they voted on the option to purchase with no further discussion. Stevens and Coun. Dan Leblanc voted against the motion and all other members of council voted in favour.

Then on Jan. 17, 2022, FCL announced intentions to move forward with development of an Integrated Agriculture Complex, including the construction of a 15,000 barrel per day hydrogenated renewable diesel plant, “utilisation and storage technology, a feedstock pre-treatment unit” and a canola crush plant. With the configuration of the current land included in the purchase option a barrier to the project as a whole, FCL came to council again Wednesday asking to extend the original option to purchase additional lands.

Stevens raised concerns yet again about the unpaid bill.

“Utility ratepayers have been required to shoulder that cost until such time as this matter has been

There must be regulations and there must be accountability.

resolved,” he said.

“I recognize that these are two different issues on the surface ... but I would argue that it's actually quite integral,” Stevens continued. “We are going to see a massive expansion of industrial refining capacity in the north. There must be regulations and there must be accountability and there must be consequences through various means when those rules have been broken.”

Stevens made a motion to table the deal until the costs associated with the spill had been recouped. The motion was defeated with a 7-3 vote.

Delorey couldn't provide any more specifics Thursday regarding the expected timeline for payment, nor the amount of the bill it received from the city.

According to an emailed statement from the City of Regina in June 2020, the Water Security Agency and the Ministry of Environment have indicated “there was low risk to the environment and downstream users.”

In November, the city said the cleanup had been completed and it was in the process of recovering costs from “the entity responsible for the spill.”