Ammonia: How risky is the gas that creates winter fun?

Hockey, figure skating and curling season is upon us, and thousands of peoplewill be heading to ice rinks to enjoy winter sports over the comingmonths.

For the most part, the ice in those rinks is madethanks to ammonia, a compoundcommonly used in mechanical refrigeration systems.

A leak can be deadly. That's whattook the lives of three men at a hockey arena in Fernie, B.C. in mid-October.

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Steve Beckwith has been working around ammonia for more than 40 years. Heis currently the manager of building operations for the biggest rink in the province, Mile One Centre.

"For me, I feel quite safe," saidBeckwith.

According to Service NL, which oversees Occupational Health and Safety, ammonia exposurein excess of the allowable limit (25 parts per million orppm) can cause headaches, coughing and difficulty breathing.

Prolonged exposure to high concentrationscan lead to pulmonary edema an accumulation of fluid in the lungswhich can be fatal.

Ammonia in the ice rinks

7 years ago

Duration 1:19

Most ice rinks in N.L. use ammonia in their refrigeration systems

All the rinks in N.L. fall under Occupational Health and Safety Act regulations, which require annual inspections of compressors and other refrigeration equipment.

"Every five years, we have to change out our safety valves. That is a requirement by law," said Beckwith.

Beckwith can't speak for every rink in the province, but he said they are governed by the same regulations, andeven a small amount of ammonia in the compressor room should tripthe emergency response system.

"Once it hits 25 ppm, an exhaust fan will come on. It will start exhausting any ammonia fumes out of the building immediately," saidBeckwith. "I'm here now seven years. I've yet to smell ammonia out in the corridor."

However, Beckwith saidsmall leaks area normal part of operations.

"The operator has to, once a week, go in and drain so much of the oil off. So the minute he drains it, the ammonia is contained in the oil. That's enough that the alarms will go off, the light will flash," he said.

Even with the safeguards, it's clear there is a risk.

51 of the 60ice rinks in Newfoundland and Labradoruse ammonia as the coolant in their refrigeration systems. The remaining nineuse another gas, Freon, which is considered a safer compound.

Ammonia versus Freon

"Ammonia is very hazardous," saidDon Byrne, deputy fire chief for the St. John's Regional Fire Department.

But, because of regular inspections, Byrne doesn't think the public has much to be concerned about.

"If you go to any of the arenas around here, and look at the housekeeping around those arenas, you'll see that most of these are very well kept, and that extends right into the maintenance of their equipment," saidByrne.

Byrne saidthat while ammonia is more of a risk to life thanFreon, an ammonia leak can giveitself away because of its pungent smell.Freonis odourless.

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And whileFreonis safer than ammonia, it can still affect your respiratory system.

"Every gas has a lethal dosage," said Byrne.

Byrne said Freonis a more expensive coolantthan ammonia, andit damages the environment.

"That's whyFreonisn't utilized as much as ammonia. Ammonia doesn't cause any problem to the ozone layer."

"One of the reasons we use ammonia is because it is one of the best refrigerants you can use because of efficiency," saidKen Baker, chief engineer at Mile One.

"So that means a lower cost to run, plus a lower cost of installation at the beginning."

Evacuation plans in place

Beckwith saidthat if there was a catastrophic failure of the system a leak of 250 ppm of ammonia or greateremergency responsewould snap into place, and the compressor room has inner and outer doors toseal in the gas.

"If [the engineer]hasn't identified the root cause of the leak and he is unable to isolate it, security, the ushers, all our staff, all of our people have been trained in emergency preparednessand evacuation plans," he said.

"We have a comprehensive evacuation planhere at Mile One Centre, " addedTammy White, safety coordinator.

"Should the need ever arise,Mile One Centre would evacuate in minutes."

Occupational Health and Safety does not require an emergency response plan for Freon because it is seen as much less hazardous that ammonia.