Heartland 101 April 2017: Heartland Gears up for Turnaround Season

[cs_section id=”” class=” ” style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ” visibility=”” parallax=”false”][cs_row id=”” class=” ” style=”margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; ” visibility=”” inner_container=”false” marginless_columns=”false” bg_color=””][cs_column id=”” class=”” style=”padding: 0px; ” bg_color=”” fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″][cs_text id=”” class=”” style=”” text_align=””]Warmer temperatures naturally spark spring fever. With that, comes plans of clean up, maintenance, new projects, and outside activities.

Facilities in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland also take advantage of spring weather. For many companies, spring signals the start of turnaround season and the continuation of construction projects.

Maintenance is a must

Just like your vehicle and home, industrial facilities require regular maintenance to keep them operating safely and efficiently. Companies schedule turnarounds to decrease or stop production so that certain maintenance tasks can be completed. Depending on the facility, a turnaround can last as short as a few days, or up to a month or longer.

The work completed during a turnaround involves equipment inspections and, if necessary, repairs, replacements, and technology upgrades. Particularly on older facilities, new technology can improve an operation’s environmental performance and help increase productivity.

Impact of industrial activity

Construction and turnarounds generate additional local spending on goods and services. They also create employment, as extra manpower is required to complete these projects. This added manpower may result in a noticeable increase in traffic on local highways. Turnarounds may also generate additional noise or visible activity as maintenance work is completed.

Curious about what you see, hear or smell?

Many companies use the UPDATEline to keep the community informed about turnaround and construction activities. Call the UPDATEline at 1.866.653.9959 to access pre-recorded messages about industry activity 24 hours a day.

Notable turnarounds and construction

Construction activities at North West Redwater Partnership’s Sturgeon Refinery site will be ongoing throughout 2017. Companies with planned turnarounds this year include:

Spring (Mar/Apr/May)

• Evonik
• Pembina (Inter Pipeline)
• Oerlikon Metco

Summer (Jun/Jul/mid-Aug)

• Keyera Corp.
• Oerlikon Metco
• Sherritt International
• Umicore Canada

Fall (Late-Aug/Sep/Oct)

• Air Liquide Canada
• Agrium Redwater
• Chemtrade Logistics

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