Why You Need To Detonate Hazardous Chemicals From The U of A At Hawrelak Park – Edmonton | The Canadian News

Early in the morning of November 27, a convoy of Edmonton police, EMS and fire vehicles headed from the University of Alberta to Hawrelak Park with dangerous chemicals on board.

The Edmonton Police Service had issued a notice to residents that it was assisting with a planned and controlled transportation and disposal of chemicals from the U of A to Hawrelak Park and that residents could hear a “loud bang.”

That notice prompted residents to ask many questions.

“The park was identified as the closest place and large enough for them to work safely,” said Michelle Rooker, manager of inspections and technical services for Human Resources, Health, Safety and Environment at the U of A.

In an interview on Dec. 15 to explain what happened that day, Rooker said that once or twice a year, the University of A engages with the police to remove or detonate chemicals.

“Occasionally we come across chemicals that, either because of their age or other things that have happened, become unstable. So at that point, they don’t qualify for our regular waste streams, ”Rooker said.

The detonations are usually done on campus, but in this case, a large area was needed, Rooker said.

“This one, due to the volume and nature of the chemical, the Edmonton Police Service decided they needed a larger open space,” Rooker said. “(These chemicals) are used in various quantitative chemical analyzes, biomedical research in this case.”

Rooker said two knocks were heard during the Hawrelak Park detonation.

On a tour of the A University Oral Health Laboratory, Professor Dr. Maria Febbraio explained to Global News that hazardous chemicals have various classifications according to their hazard.

“As you can imagine, you are nervous because you are working with something dangerous, but you also realize that this is part of the investigation. You need it for research, ”Febbraio said.

According to federal, provincial and university regulations, chemicals used during university research must be disposed of in a certain way.

“We have to be very sure that we are not harming the community, because we are the community,” Febbraio said.