Metro Vancouver says stench from Burnaby refinery didn’t breach air quality limits

Metro Vancouver says an acrid odour that blanketed parts of the region on Sunday contained elevated contaminant levels, but didn’t breach pollution standards.

The regional federation of municipalities says it monitors emissions of particulates, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide from Burnaby’s Parkland fuel refinery, and air quality objectives for the contaminants weren’t exceeded.

However the air quality update says sulphur dioxide levels were higher than normal.

Metro Vancouver says there were “very few” complaints about odour related to the refinery on Monday, after receiving more than 100 from Vancouver and Burnaby residents on Sunday.

The refinery says it experienced an issue in one of its processing units on Sunday morning, resulting in the odour.

It says it informed Burnaby Fire Department and the RCMP, but no injuries were reported.