A deadly ammonia leak at an arena in British Columbia last fall, is having an impact on the St. Pierre arena. 

Ammonia is a colourless gas with suffocating fumes, commonly used in refrigeration systems in arenas. Councillor Raymond Maynard, who is also the chair of the rec committee in St. Pierre, says they now have to reconfigure the piping for their ice plant due to stricter safety regulations.

"We're going to have to move the ice plant outside of the arena into a separate building with pipes being piped into the arena," says Maynard noting this project comes at a cost of up to $150,000. He says they have applied for grants and now await a response. "We don't have a choice it's got to get done."

Maynard notes with ammonia being so flammable, moving the system to a separate building will be safer for staff. He adds the option would have been to increase their exhaust fan, install an intake fan and build a firewall between the ice plant and where the zamboni is parked which he says was far more costly and inefficient. "Also by doing that, we found that the zamboni would not have enough room. We also would have had to build a vestibule so that there is two door separation in case there is a leak."

On top of all that, he says they would have had to change their heating system from gas to electric, change the hot water tank to electric or partition off the hot water tank with a wall. "So that again, that being gas-fired and ammonia being so flammable, it could cause explosions and problems," says Maynard.

Maynard notes the inspector gave them a deadline of August 31 so he adds they will be ready to go for the upcoming hockey season.