Newsletter

Welcome!

Upcoming Event: Visit our Booth at the Fort Saskatchewan Trade Show

April 29 – May 1 at the Dow Centennial Centre

Life in the Heartland is once again taking part in Fort Saskatchewan’s annual trade show. Drop by booths #163 and 164 in the Agrium Soccer Field to learn about the information and resources we provide for residents in and around Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Representatives from our partner organizations will be on hand to answer your questions about transportation, future industrial development, environment, safety, and much more. We hope to see you there!

For Trade Show hours and additional information, visit: www.fortsaskchamber.com.

 

North West Bitumen Refinery Project Propels Forward

This past February, a one-of-a-kind bitumen refinery got the green light it’s been eagerly waiting on for more than two years. North West Upgrading Inc. (NWU) became an equal partner with a large independent oil and gas producer in the newly-formed North West Redwater Partnership (NWRP). That Partnership and the Government of Alberta signed on the dotted line and completed successful negotiations for the Bitumen Royalty in Kind Program. As engineering is completed and shovels hit dirt at the project site in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, the world’s first bitumen refinery to incorporate gasification and a carbon capture and storage solution becomes a reality.

The newly-created Partnership will acquire all of NWU’s project staff and project assets, and will construct, own and operate the bitumen refinery. The next six months at the Partnership’s office in Calgary and site near Redwater will be a beehive of activity. Completing detailed engineering and securing financing for the project are at the top of the to-do list. Once the project is sanctioned (expected before the end of 2011), construction activity will begin ramping up in 2012. Much of the site preparation has already occurred and is ready for the installation of underground utilities. By 2014, phase one of the refinery is expected to be complete, and the folks at the Partnership will be eyeing up plans for phase two.

The numbers for the project are bursting with opportunity: $4.6 billion expected contribution to Alberta’s economy; 8000 jobs for phase one; 1.27 million tonnes per year of captured CO2; and 30% higher fuel efficiency provided by the Partnership’s Clean Performance Diesel. All of this is generated from a single facility that upgrades and refines 50,000 bpd of bitumen in one step, significantly reducing the environmental footprint compared to an upgrader sending products to a separate refinery for further processing.

A very important part of the project announcement was the deal the provincial and federal governments completed with Enhance Energy to create a carbon capture and storage (CCS) system within the Heartland. This will initially utilize CO2 from the Partnership and Agrium operations, but has room to accept new and future emission sources. It will be the world’s largest CCS project and an incredibly important development in environmental infrastructure for the Heartland region.

It is exciting that an Alberta-based collaboration is maximizing the value of Alberta’s natural resources, led by a team who lives in Alberta and believes in creating employment, economic, and industrial growth opportunities spanning generations of Albertans.

 

Synergy Alberta

Life in the Heartland recently became a member of Synergy Alberta, a non-profit organization that helps engage communities in areas where resource development occurs. Like Life in the Heartland, Synergy Alberta is made up of groups and associations working collectively to provide information, mutual learning, skill development, facilitation, and resources for Albertans.

By collaborating with fellow Synergy Alberta members, Life in the Heartland hopes to learn new ideas and innovative solutions to improve communication with area residents. Many groups share the important goal of informing and educating local stakeholders about industrial development. Taking advantage of each other’s best practices can help Life in the Heartland achieve this goal.

Life in the Heartland participated in Synergy Alberta’s annual conference held last fall in Red Deer. Pamela Bunnin, Vice-Chair for Life in the Heartland, represented our organization by setting up an exhibitor booth and attending workshop sessions. These sessions touched on areas of interest such as air quality, emergency response, pipelines, land negotiations, and regulatory information provided to land owners from both provincial and federal levels. “I was extremely happy with the amount of interest in Life in the Heartland and our resident communication initiatives in the Heartland Region,” said Pamela Bunnin.

Life in the Heartland continues to be involved with Synergy Alberta as an active member and plans to participate again in the 2011 Synergy Alberta Conference in Red Deer this upcoming October.

For more information on Synergy Alberta, visit www.synergyalberta.ca.

 

Northeast Region CAER celebrates 20th anniversary

For 20 years, Northeast Region Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER) members  have worked together to share best practices in emergency response management, conduct routine training exercises and work toward a safer, more informed community through its community awareness initiatives. Since 1991, the group has promoted that everyone has a role in safety – industry, municipal fire departments and the public. A prepared community is one who understands risks in its area, and the safety precautions to take in an emergency.

Safety & Emergency Preparedness in the Heartland

Results from the 2010 Life in the Heartland survey show high resident satisfaction rating for safety and emergency response in the region. For industries in the Heartland, commitment to facility safety and overall emergency response planning are ongoing activities that begin during construction and remain throughout daily operations.

Industrial plants are engineered, designed and built to ensure process safety.  Computerized control systems, along with containment and automated safety systems provide inherent levels of process protection. Highly trained employees monitor processes, and can quickly investigate any unusual circumstances or respond to incidents at their sites.  Local industries and municipal emergency services work together closely through the local mutual aid emergency response organization, Northeast Region CAER.

Shelter-in-Place

In our region, there is potential for an airborne release of a hazardous substance at an industrial site or in a transportation-related incident such as a train derailment, truck roll over or pipeline break. Shelter-in-Place is the recommended community first response to this type of emergency. Shelter-in-Place protects people from exposure to peak chemical concentrations in the air until they can be dispersed by wind and weather conditions.

Northeast Region CAER actively promotes Shelter-in-Place, which includes these steps:

1. Take family members and household pets inside. Turn on local radio/TV.

2. Close all doors, windows and openings.

3. Shut off ventilation systems that draw outdoor air inside.

4. Listen to radio or TV for further instructions.

Know what to do. Learn more about Shelter in Place at www.nrcaer.com. For current information on industry activity, call the UPDATEline 1-866-653-9959.

 

NCIA celebrates 30 years serving communities in Alberta's Industrial Heartland

 

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Northeast Capital Industrial Association (NCIA) working with industry and community members in Alberta's Industrial Heartland. In 1981, the association began as a non-profit organization called the Fort Saskatchewan Regional Industrial Association (FSRIA), whose aim was to encourage economic stability and commercial growth in Fort Saskatchewan.  At that time, FSRIA had only six members. Since then, the association has built that membership base to now include 25 industrial partners spanning four municipalities.

From those humble beginnings as the FSRIA through to its transformation into the NCIA in 2001, the association has built a legacy as a respectful champion of collaboration between industry, government and the community in support of sustainable industrial growth and the reduction of associated environmental impacts. Over the course of its existence, NCIA has developed a number of progressive strategies for addressing issues related to industrial development and activity—including those pertaining to water, air, land use, safety and noise. For 50 years, community residents in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland have co-existed with industry, and NCIA will remain committed in helping industry and community members to reach shared aims and find areas of consensus in support of their co-existence into the future.  

Some of the association’s most prominent milestones over the past 30 years are highlighted below.

Date	Milestones
1981	The Fort Saskatchewan Regional Industrial Association (FSRIA) was formed as a non-profit organization to foster economic stability and encourage commercial growth within the Fort Saskatchewan area—a recognized industrial center in Alberta.  FSRIA started with 6 members, and today has grown to 25 members in four municipalities.
1988	Working with the provincial government on Industrial Property Taxation, FSRIA successfully demonstrated that the application of education taxes on top of the Machinery & Equipment taxes was not competitive with other jurisdictions in Canada.  As a result of this work, and a commitment on the part of industry to invest an additional $20 billion in new plants, the government agreed to phase out education taxes from the Machinery & Equipment taxes paid by industry beginning in 1996 over a five-year period.  With the industrial investment commitment achieved in 1997, education taxes were eliminated from the Machinery and Equipment taxes paid by industry in the 1998 tax year.  The reduction in education taxes paid by industry was more than offset by increased taxes paid from the increased investment in the province.
1991	Northeast Region Community Awareness and Emergency Response (formerly a subcommittee of FSRIA) was formed as a non-profit organization to continuously strengthen an integrated emergency response capability in the region and to develop a cooperative community awareness program.
1996	The FSRIA Business and Economics Committee advanced the concept of a collaborative approach to industrial growth between industry and the four host municipalities.  This resulted in the formal launch of Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association in 1998.
2000	In the late 1990's, a few industrial members provided some ‘seed’ monies to get Fort Air Partnership (FAP) launched.  In 2000, all members of the industrial association provided ongoing support to the Fort Air Partnership.
2001	The Fort Saskatchewan Regional Industrial Association changed to the Northeast Capital Industrial Association (NCIA), a non-profit co-operative that seeks to understand, and reduce the environmental impacts of member industries through collaborative efforts with the community and all levels of government to support sustainable industrial growth.
2003	NCIA partnered with the Northeast Community Awareness and Emergency Response group to launch a new Community Notification System, the first of its kind in Canada, featuring an UPDATEline and a Call-Out system.
2011	The Northeast Capital Industrial Association celebrates 30 years in your community.