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'Dirty Dozen' ranking misleading, Catalyst says |
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Lexi Bainas
Cowichan Vally Citizen
October 23, 2005
The Crofton Airshed Citizens Group and Catalyst Paper's Crofton operation
are again disagreeing on the extent of dangerous emissions being pumped into
the air by the pulp and paper mill.
In a statement issued last week, the CACG announced that a new B.C.
pollution overview issued by the Environmental Defence and the Canadian
Environmental Law Association has named "two of the mills run by Catalyst
Paper (formerly NorskeCanada) as among the 'Dirty Dozen' top air polluters
for the province."
CACG said the report is based on an analysis of data provided by Catalyst to
the National Pollution Release Inventory of Environment Canada for the year
2003.
"Once again we see the Catalyst mills being shown to be priorities for
action on toxic pollution in B.C.," said CACG's Elizabeth White. "With the
permits for both Crofton and Elk Falls currently being amended by the
Ministry of Environment, this is an opportunity for the government to step
up to the plate and address their disproportionate contribution to B.C. air
pollution."
However, Michelle Vessey, Catalyst's Environment Manager at Crofton, says
the figures provided by Pollution Watch to CACG are misleading.
Catalyst reports to Environment Canada on different substances in different
years, she said, "so a total doesn't give the correct information. When I
read the report, my main understanding was that Crofton's environmental
performance is quite opposite to what Pollution Watch is reporting. We've
actually seen a real reducing of our environmental emissions."
Vessey reported on these to a public meeting the Crofton Community Advisory
Forum last Spring.
"We've been reducing some of our key pollutants over the last decade,"
Vessey said. "Since 1990, we've reduced particulate emissions by over 90 per
cent from our mill, which is a real improvement. Greenhouse gases by 72 per
cent and odour by about 70 per cent, so we're really continuing to hit the
main emissions from the mill."
Residents are most interested in knowing how emissions affect the ambient
air and if the community is safe, she said.
"We had that comprehensive air-modeling and health effect study, which was
peer-reviewed by a couple of companies. The key conclusion there was they
felt it was safe to live in the airshed and recommended additional
monitoring."
Vessey said the company is "really pleased" with the monitoring results.
"We're seeing these emission reductions; they are showing up in the ambient
air, of course, but we've got very low emissions in the ambient air. It was
interesting to compare it to the B.C. Lung Association figures, to see where
we stack up against those major combustion gases that you get when you burn
fossil fuel or drive your car. Crofton is sitting at the lowest for nitrous
dioxide and the fourth lowest for (tiny) particulates. There were 15
communities in the study, because not many communities have these monitoring
stations, but we were right on the bottom band."
Pollution Watch is monitoring national trends, but the organization's
reporting is improving, from a company perspective, she said. "Pollution
Watch is starting to compare numbers that have been consistently reported.
They're comparing a couple of years where the same substance was reported
both years as opposed to totals, because then you really can see trends. If
you just go on a total number, it's an unfair comparison."
CACG said it has written to the B.C. Ministry of Environment asking that the
permit amendments for Catalyst's two paper mills be opened up to public
scrutiny and input. "The Crofton mill operates under a 30-year-old permit
that effectively regulates only two of hundreds of dangerous emissions and
does not accurately reflect the current operations and inputs to the mill,"
the group said.
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