An Innisfail auto repair shop must pay thousands of dollars by early next month to comply with Alberta environmental regulations after government inspectors paid it an unprecedented surprise visit this month.
Sarah Jackson, a spokesperson for Alberta Environment, said the province conducted an inspection of all auto repair shops in the city on Oct. 8 to “educate” shop owners on how to avoid violating provincial rules.
She added that the bill is not intended to fine businesses for violating environmental regulations, which would otherwise cost them tens of thousands of dollars.
Jackson said seven Red Deer County Environmental Protection District compliance inspections on Oct. 8 and 9 targeted 41 businesses in Innisfail, Stettler and Sylvan Lake.
“The Environmental Protection Officer (EPO) is simply there to make sure that these businesses are in compliance so that they don’t get fined in the future. It’s kind of an educational program,” said Jackson, who acknowledged that this was the first time the provincial government had conducted an environmental inspection of the Innisfail garage. “It’s an opportunity to get businesses in compliance, and every time there’s an inspection, the EPO provides an educational package of various fact sheets that are relevant to the inspection.”
But local auto shop owners said state inspectors have given them 30 days to upgrade their work areas to meet state environmental standards, an “education” that will cost them thousands of dollars.
“It’s such a hassle,” said Kevin Massignan, who has run a specialty auto repair shop for the past 15 years. Massignan said inspectors have asked him to clean out the shop’s oil pan, upgrade the commercial fuel tanks and build an outdoor containment hangar. He said the work will cost $6,000 and has until Nov. 8 to complete it.
“I agree that there are some instances of negligence that need to be addressed. I don’t care about the cost right now, but I think it’s just part of being environmentally friendly,” Masinian said. “I’m upset because to me it’s a waste of money. You’re not making any money, so you’re spending $6,000 just to throw it out the door.”
John Schneider, owner of 2020 Auto Service in Innisfail, said his shop has already begun a major cleanup of old gas tanks in front of the store, and Alberta environmental inspectors have required him to pay about $1,000 in compliance upgrades.
“It’s a big problem for me now. I had to go out and buy a secondary coolant seal, bleed the oil pan and buy an oil leak repair kit,” Schneider said. “We were all upset: Why are they doing all this at once? They came in and told me: This is what needs to be done, this needs to be done immediately.
“There was no notice. Nobody knew what was going on,” Schneider added. “They just showed up and did it and basically wrote us a letter and asked us to fix it or something.”
Ron Steuer, 43, owner of Master Muffler, said state inspectors ordered him to install a dual waste oil collection tank, which would cost him between $2,500 and $6,000.
“I’m just a small-town operator. I rarely change my oil. I worked here for seven years before I owned this business and never had a problem,” Steuer said. “Well, the (government) guy said, ‘I’ll give you some advice. If you want, you can buy a kiddie pool and put a couple of 45-gallon drums in your shop.’
“I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” he said, adding that he would not follow the inspector’s advice because it would damage his professional reputation.
Sharon Houseman, who has owned Home Town Auto Service for the past five years, said inspections of her business can cost $5,000 because of government-mandated upgrades. But she questioned whether inspectors were overzealous.
“There are rules that if it’s under 265 litres it’s not regulated, but of course they don’t tell you that. They also talk about secondary insulation and all that stuff, and my daughter sent me the government rules and they’re not as extreme as they made them out to be,” Hausmann said, adding that she was taken aback by the inspector’s harsh tone. “If they had gone to a big company they might not have been so aggressive. I think there’s a big difference between a small company and a big company. We were told if we didn’t comply we would be shut down.”
However, Jackson said businesses of all sizes were subject to departmental inspections. She said there was no specific reason for the Innisfail raid other than “it was their turn”.
“They are only there when they are needed. They will be on duty all over the province,” she said. “They don’t come every two weeks or every two months, but they come randomly.”