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But complaints from Saint John residents about smells from the terminal have surged alongside an uptick in emissions of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs — chemicals that can pose a human health risk — with residents describing the odors as powerful enough to “burn your eyes,” according to the documents.

Irving has since scrambled to deal with the issue, testing odors emanating from crudes of different origins, minimizing venting from rail tankers, and hiring a company specialized in odor reduction to assess the problem, according to company emails obtained by Reuters.

The facility is among roughly 180 oil-by-rail terminals operating in North America, with 50 more planned or under construction. The rapid increase in rail transport of crude has triggered worries about public safety, particularly after the deadly derailment of an oil-laden train in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last year that was bound for Irving’s terminal.

Worries about air quality from oil-by-rail terminals — which unlike pipeline or marine terminals sometimes expose crude to open air during unloading — have also been rising. Testing by New York environmental officials this month in Albany, another oil-by-rail hub, found emissions of harmful compounds too low to be considered a public health concern, but the proximity of many rail terminals to populated areas continues to raise the ire of activists there and elsewhere.

Irving’s rail project is located at Irving’s East Saint John terminal, at the edge of the eastern Canadian province’s largest city. The terminal has for decades been used to move petroleum supplies by ship to serve the company’s 300,000 bpd refinery, and was refurbished to add four rail spurs.