The Stroud City Council approved the appointments of three directors for the Stroud Library Board at its regular meeting on April 9.
Louise Gordan, Marilyn Hudson and Raquel LeMaster were all reappointed to the board for three-year terms. The Council also approved online transfers for 2025-2026 and a proclamation making April Fair Housing Month.
The Council then tabled a discussion on data centers and their impact on communities at the request of the scheduled speaker, LeMaster, until the meeting next month.
Also on the agenda, Stroud resident Brendan Duncan made a presentation on the potential hazards related to the offloading station in town operated by Plains All American Pipeline. After his presentation and another from a representative from Plains, the Council took no action.
Duncan expressed concerns over the possibility of four volatile organic compounds (VOC) -- Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes (BTEX) -- being in the air, and asked that the Council abate offloading operations at Plains until any leaks are fixed and a proper vaporcontrolled system (VCU) is installed.
Following his presentation, Brad Griff, a representative from Plains, apologized for any health and safety concerns on behalf of the company. He reported that they began evaluating the situation in January when public concerns first began surfacing and as such, installed a carbon filter scrubber. This pulls air through activated carbon to absorb odors.
As a more permanent solution, they installed a VCU. As of late March, it is operational. The system collects vapors and safely combusts them in an enclosed system, reducing any emissions into the atmosphere, Griff said.
He said the company also retained a third-party independent specialist to conduct regular air monitoring around the facility, and agreed to share those results with the City Council and administration as they continue this action going forward.
“We do not anticipate continued odor issues, but recognize trust is built through actions and not words alone,” Griff said, adding that Plains will continue to operate its odor control equipment and actively assess its performance.
A memo report from Technical Environmental Services, Inc, dated April 7, stated that air samples taken around the Stroud community during Plains operation hours found no indications that air quality exceeded health-based guidelines during sampling periods. The memo said samples were collected over eight-hour and 24-hour periods during active operations at the terminal from Jan. 6-7 and Feb. 20-21. The samples were sent to a certified laboratory for testing and analyzed for VOC, including BTEX compounds.
At the Stroud UtilitiesAuthority Meeting immediately following, they went into executive session to discuss the sale, purchase, lease, acquisition or appraisal of real estate property. When they returned, they asked City Manager Bob Pearman to negotiate on behalf of the City.