Halliburton explosives assembly plan thwarted by municipal committee

A plan by U.S. oil and gas giant Halliburton to begin assembling explosive devices at its storage facility near Walton, N.S., has been at least temporarily thwarted.

The planning advisory committee of the Municipality of the District of West Hants voted July 18 to reject an application from the company to rezone land to allow explosives assembly.

"What happens if one of these buildings does fail?" said the council's warden, Abraham Zebian. "The likelihood of it happening is very small, but still, it's a possibility and that weighed on my decision, anyway."

Halliburton already has an explosives storage facility at the site on Dresser Minerals Road, located in a relatively isolated area about two kilometres down a dirt and gravel road.

The explosives, which are stored in buildings that are specially designed to help contain explosions, would be used to perforate steel pipes to allow oil and gas to flow in and to help remove pipes from wells when production ends.

The company has said the materials would be trucked to Nova Scotia from Texas and will be stored at the facility until they are needed at other locations in Eastern Canada.

Municipal staff deemed the application to be consistent with the municipal planning strategy and within the criteria for a land-use bylaw amendment.

But the planning committee voted 5-2 to reject the application.

Zebian said his safety concern was heightened when he learned there is at least one resident who lives in close proximity to the site.

"The application was positively recommended to us based on it being in a remote area that's not densely populated. But a resident is a resident is a resident, regardless of where you are located, whether it's densely or not. Nobody is valued over anybody else."

Halliburton now has the option to appeal the committee's decision to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

In a statement, a company spokesperson said Halliburton is "disappointed with the vote," but the decision "does not stop the permitting process."

"We look forward to further engaging with the council and members of the community," the statement said.

Coun. Rob Zwicker said he, too, was disappointed with the decision.

He voted to support the proposal because it could bring economic development to the region.

"I would very much like to support industry wherever possible, provided it's safe and prudent," he said. "I just hope this isn't a signal that West Hants isn't open for business because nothing could be further from the truth."

Zwicker said the company has satisfied his curiosity about the safety of the proposed operation.

"Clearly you don't want bombs blowing off down the shore. But, you know, it's a heavily regulated industry, from a federal level. So I'm confident that they would maintain that compliance."

The councillor for the area where the facility is located, Rupert Jannasch, voted against the rezoning application, saying the company has not been clear enough about the scale of the operation. He said Halliburton has said the project will employ three to six people, but has also said they would only be working two or three days per year.

"There is a possibility that the project could be much bigger in a few years' time than what is being suggested at this time. And because of that, then you have to … use a different yardstick when you're trying to evaluate whether it fits the planning strategy."

Concerns about fracking, transportation

Both Jannasch and Zebian said they've heard concerns from residents about whether the explosives could be used for fracking in the future.

Nova Scotia still has a moratorium on fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, a process where water, sand and chemicals are injected into rock to release oil and gas.

People have also expressed concern about safety as the explosives are transported, Jannasch said.

"Every time a Halliburton truck drives through Walton, the fire chief gets bombarded with calls. They want to know what's going on."