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Province Shuts Public out of Mill Permit Process |
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January 4,
2006
(Crofton, BC) – A representative for the BC Ministry
of Environment shocked members of the Crofton Airshed Citizens Group
(CACG) when he confirmed that the province had no intention of opening
up the consultation process for a new air emissions permit for the
Crofton mill to the public. Bernard Bintner, the Senior
Industrial Pollution Officer for the Ministry of Environment, said that
this will not be classified as a ‘major amendment’ and therefore there
will be no public meetings or notice since the permit re-write is
considered an improvement.
“How this can be termed an improvement is completely
incomprehensible,” said Patti Bauer of CACG. “The permit proposal
increases emission volume by over 10% with no reduction in Total
Reduced Sulphur (TRS) concentration, it regulates only the same two
substances as the old permit out of the dozens of noxious emissions
coming from the mill (TRS and particulate matter), and worst of all, it
removes some of the limits that exist in the current permit.”
The proposed new air permit was circulated to members of the Community
Advisory Forum (CAF) for the Crofton mill last month. Even that level
of transparency was unusual for the province and industry according to
Bintner. “We don’t usually do that,” he said at the last CAF meeting
when questioned about the process. The process is usually simply a
trade of drafts between the company and their regulator until agreement
is reached.
“According to the US EPA, over two thirds of all the toxic release
of the pulp and paper industry is released to the air, yet there are no
Canadian provincial or federal regulations on toxic release to the air
from pulp mills,” said Bauer. “The permit is the only constraint on
air emissions and is effectively a blank check for the mill. Some of
the most dangerous toxins known to man are emitted from the mill and
they are not mentioned in this permit.”
The province has given until January 24th for input from members of
the Crofton CAF but will not be holding public meetings, soliciting
input from other bodies or providing public notice of the permit
re-write.
“Everyone recognizes that the air emissions permit for the mill is
completely out of date and insufficient,” said Bauer. “The re-write is
an opportunity to bring the regulatory body that the public counts on
to protect their health and environment into the picture in an
effective way. Instead we see a regulatory authority that betrays that
trust while paying lip service to dialogue. The dialogue, apparently,
does not include the public.”
Click here for a comparison between the current and proposed air emissions permit for the Crofton mill.
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Press Centre