After the village called out the oil giant in their alert to the town, they committed to making the dangerous goods crossing but there are questions about who controls delivery.
The Village of Grand Manan won’t be without fuel during peak tourism season despite Irving Oil initially refusing to deliver on a dangerous goods crossing – an issue the island has been grappling with for a few years.
Grand Manan Village Mayor Bonnie Morse said that Irving has committed to having a truck on the island for delivery.
She said Irving Oil had come around to committing to the delivery on the island on the night of June 26. But that was the closest the island had ever come to running out of fuel.
The Village of Grand Manan alerted the community via Facebook this past week that the island would run out of gasoline at the only gas station. The post highlighted the ongoing issues between Irving Oil, the island and the oil giants unfilled orders. World Fuel Service, according to Morse, is responsible for the supply of fuel to Grand Manan.
The fuel is delivered by RST, which is owned by J.D. Irving, Ltd. The fuel is held in storage by Irving Oil on the island.
The Courier reached out to World Fuel Services company for comment and is awaiting a response.
Morse said the province’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) along with Coastal Transport stepped up to make sure there was the ability to make a dangerous goods crossing. After the village posted to social media, the company reversed its decision and made the crossing.
Morse said the island’s fishing industry does not rely on this supply but running out of fuel would have spelled disaster for the small outboard boats, residents, and tourists. As the lobster season comes to a close the gas transport trucks would have been stuck on the island.
“This has been going on for three years when the amount of gasoline ordered for the island has not been fully delivered,” Morse said.
The gasoline deliveries to the island have not met their maximum capacity, or even met the quantity ordered. Morse said the island has the capacity for more gas but the deliveries by Irving Oil are supplying enough to fill their storage.
“If the number of dangerous goods we currently have were fully utilized we would be in the situation we are in,” she said.
Gasoline to the island gets delivered every four weeks on the dangerous good crossing for things like fuel and propane on the island. During the summer there is a dangerous crossing every two weeks due to the increased traffic.
“The gas station received ten thousand litres less than what they ordered,” she said, which is about the amount of gas the island would use in a week.
Morse said the island faced similar circumstances in December of 2023 when a storm delayed the dangerous goods delivery.
“This is consistently happening and it is not for lack of conversation,” said Morse.
She said after the incident in 2023 council had raised the issue with all the involved players including Irving Oil, Coastal Transport, DTI, World Fuel Services, and RST–the J.D. Irving Ltd. owned tank transportation company, but these conversations didn’t solve the issue.
Morse said she is unsure where the issue falls in the supply chain and it has not been made clear to her or the village as to why orders are not being fulfilled.
“I don’t think we’re asking for a lot here. If the order is fifty thousand, bring in fifty thousand… Fill the orders.”
Irving Oil spokesperson Katherine d’Entremont said the company works hard to offer reliable supply of product, “in a safe manner,” to its customers in the regions it serves.
“We provide routine deliveries to our customers on Grand Manan, and regularly track inventory to ensure product levels remain stable, and if further deliveries are required, we strive to respond as quickly as possible.”
At the time of publishing Irving Oil has not replied to a follow up to comment specifically to if the company would commit to increasing the quantity of gasoline delivered on each delivery.
