New propane storage facility approved for Munro Industrial Park

Plans for a new propane storage facility within Monro Industrial Park where given the go ahead by Swift Current City Council on Monday night.

Approval of the new facility was put on hold after safety concerns were raised by another local business. In an effort to ease concerns, Federated Co- op, who plans to put two 120,000 litre propane storage tanks on the property, presented a safety overview to council.

In the end their efforts were successful, as coun- cil voted to approve the project.

“It certainly gives us confidence, I think, in knowing all aspects of something like this,” Swift Current mayor Jerrod Schafer said.

The Co- op has operated a similar site on the west side of the city for years, but were forced to move because of increased expansion. Co-op officials said their options were limited because of the city’s industrial zoning regulations.

Swift Current city councilors had several questions about the safety of such a site, but in the end they said they were satisfied with the precautions being taken.

“These things are fairly highly regulated,” said Coun. Ryan Plewis after noting concerns about the possibility of uncontrolled releases of propane. “Federated Coop has a very good safety record with respect to those sorts of developments. That would be the main concern in my mind, a concern that has a very limited possibility of actually occurring.”

Plewis added that the Co- op has always maintained high safety stan- dards, and he expects this to continue at the new site.

“Federated Co- op has had a facility within this region in excess of 25 years and have operated that facility at a very high standard. So far as I know there’s never been any concern with their operation of things.”

The business opposing the development, Crutch’s Plumbing and Heating Ltd, still maintained some unease about being so close to the new development, but that didn’t stop the motion from carrying.

The motion was one of many strongly debated items at Monday’s meeting. The chambers were full with people wanting to speak to this and other items, which Plewis says is uncommon, but always welcome.

“Often times these public hearings occur without anybody attending and things are pretty straightforward,” he said with a chuckle. “In this case things were a little bit more exciting.”