May 25, 2005
For Immediate Release
Norske’s Crofton Mill Shows Largest Increase in Pollution In Canada
(Crofton, BC) In a report issued by the North American Commission for
Environmental Cooperation (CEC), Norske’s Crofton Mill has shown the
single largest increase in pollution release in the entire country .
The report is based on data provided to the National Pollution Release
Inventory by the company itself for the years 1995-2002.
The report comes on the heels of another damning report commissioned by
the Crofton Airshed Citizens Group that slammed Norske’s claim that its
Crofton facility is “clean and safe.” The CACG scientists gave the
mill’s public report a failing grade, citing lack of transparency, poor
scientific protocol, and a number of misrepresentations.
“This national pollution report reinforces the fact that Norske needs
to spend its resources on cleaning up its pollution not on managing
public opinion,” said Michael Ableman of the Citizens Group. “People in
the region are getting tired of the lies and obfuscation. We want
action.”
According to Canadian government data, BC is Canada’s largest emitter
of dioxins and furans, mainly from the pulp and paper sector.
The Crofton mill operates under a thirty-year-old permit that regulates only four of hundreds of dangerous emissions.
According to Canada’s National Pollution Release Inventory, each day
approximately 24 million cubic metres of exhaust gases leave the
Crofton mill, carrying a tonne of fine particulate matter, a tonne of
volatile organic compounds, two tonnes of hydrochloric acid, three and
a half tonnes of sulphur dioxide, one and a half tonnes of methanol,
dioxins and furans, chlorine dioxide, formaldehyde, PCBs, and
hexavalent chromium. Each of these substances is dangerous to
human health.
“This is a classic David and Goliath battle of local citizens trying to
get a multinational polluter to stop endangering their health,” said
Ableman. “The air belongs to all of us, no one company has the right to
hijack that commons for its own profit and place communities and the
environment at risk.”
Contact: Michael Ableman
250-537-1449
|
Press Centre 
