Shell Canada is taking steps to benefit the environment through improvements at its local sites.
St. Clair Township Council was updated at a recent meeting on five projects currently underway in Corunna.
Emerging Regulations Specialist Mike Parkhouse said the first four involve work at the tank farm.
He said bio-naphtha is being introduced into two pre-existing tanks.
"Bio-naphtha comes from a renewable source, so from vegetable oil, essentially what you have in your home," Parkhouse said. "So, not a huge change, but it does represent a change at our facility. So, we're going to be retrofitting the two tanks that are currently there right now, and we're going to be railing in up to one rail car a month of bio-naphtha."
That project is scheduled for completion in mid to late 2026.
"The focus of this is to reduce the carbon intensity of gasoline that is emitted from vehicles," he said. "Just by adding one per cent [of bio-naphtha], it probably will take approximately 13,000 cars off the road."
A nitrogen blanket will be placed on the tank to help suppress any odours generated from the organic material.
A new steel geodesic (pontoon) roof will be installed on one of Shell's main crude tanks, reducing emissions by about 7.5 per cent. That job is scheduled to start in early 2026 and be completed in 2027.
Bio-feedstock will also be introduced into another pre-existing tank by 2027.
"We put raw material into our Catalytic Cracking Unit to make gas and diesel," Parkhouse said. "So, we'll offset the petroleum based input by up to 10 per cent with bio-based materials. So, canola, corn oil or soybean oil."
Two to four rail cars will deliver the bio-feedstock for that project each day.
A new non-regenerable vapor recovery unit -- to reduce benzene emissions -- is to be completed by March 2027 and a massive undertaking to minimize sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 60 per cent annually is also planned.
Project Engineer Anthony Mancusi said the SO2 project will ensure compliance with new Ontario regulations for petrochemical facilities to come into effect in 2029.
"This is the largest single capital project that Shell has ever undertaken, so it's massive," Mancusi said. "We have an old unit that we need to basically demo to make room for all of this new infrastructure."
Mancusi expects construction of the SO2 project to begin in March 2026.
A scrubber unit will be installed in the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit and a process treating unit will be installed in the former BTX Unit.
Wastewater treatment plant upgrades, caustic storage and distribution, and pipe rack runs and interconnection are also planned.
When asked by council, company representatives didn't have a dollar figure for the investment to share, or an estimate for the number of jobs expected to be created.
