MacKay Bridge reopens, evacuation order lifted after chemical scare
Public had been told to avoid the area until situation was resolved
A mandatory evacuation order issued for the area around the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) in Dartmouth, N.S., was lifted just after 6 p.m. AT on Wednesday.
A news release on Wednesday from the municipality said firefighters were called to the institute around 2:20 p.m. for reports of a chemical spill involving formaldehyde.
But when firefighters got there, they didn't find a spill. Instead, they found a 250 ml container of picric acid that was dry.
"In a dry state, this chemical is highly explosive," the municipality noted.
An emergency alert was sent on behalf of the Halifax Regional Municipality recommending people stay away from the area, due to the quantity and state of the chemical.
In an email statement, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard said the BIO followed "well-established chemical storage and occupational health and safety protocols."
They affirmed that "no chemical was spilled" and instead explained that inside the Katherine Ellis Building at the BIO, a "normally safe chemical solution which is 75% Picric Acid, was identified in a changed state (crystallization) which creates an unsafe chemical."
Emergency services were called to the scene, and a non-emergency evacuation notice was issued for all employees as a precaution, according tot the statement.
The MacKay Bridge between Halifax and Dartmouth was temporarily closed, snarling rush-hour traffic across the city.
Nearly 400 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power after emergency crews asked the utility to cut power to the area, and several Halifax transit routes were detoured.
The Bedford Institute of Oceanography is a research facility operated by the federal government on the shores of the Bedford Basin in Dartmouth. It's Canada's largest centre for ocean research and is also home to some Canadian Coast Guard operations.
