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Revising Catalyst permit to be a public process |
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By Peter Rusland
The Pictorial
Nov 12 2005
Residents can sound off next month about upgrading an air emissions permit for Crofton's Catalyst Paper mill.
Following the mill's recent community advisory forum meeting, CAF chair
Jon Lefebure said the environment ministry will essentially view the
permitting process as a major amendment requiring public comment.
"The permit for Catalyst has been in place for about 10 years and has to be brought up to date.
"Due to public input it will be considered as a major amendment. It's a
few months down the road, at the very least."
CAF will receive data about the process before its Dec. 13 meeting at the Crofton Community Centre.
Michelle Vessey, the mill's environment manager, says a formal permit
application hasn't been submitted yet. She's working with the
ministry's regional manger, Bernard Bintner, on draft amendments.
"Our last permit update was 1991 and we're open to having it brought up to the current status of the mill.
"I envision some public meetings and CAF meetings are open to public questions."
The amendment will likely reflect millions in air-quality improvements
the mill has done in recent years. Upgrades halved particulate loading
from the mill's No. 4 boiler and
eliminated boiler-ash fallout on Crofton. Mill odor has dropped too.
Concentrations of chlorine and chlorine dioxide are zero from both
bleach plant stacks, Vessey tells Bintner in an Oct. 13 letter.
Updated ambient air monitoring stations also show an array of fine
particulates, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide within human health
guidelines.
But Rob Witzen of the Crofton Airshed Citizens' Group is leery of the
mill's progress given its ranking on B.C.'s 'dirty dozen' of top air
polluters. The list was issued in mid-October by the Canadian Environmental Law
Association based on Canada's National Pollution Release Inventory.
"Their current permit specifies 21,800 cubic metres per minute of total
emissions and the new draft permit says maximum discharge is
undetermined," he said. "It's continuous discharge; they can do
whatever they want."
Vessey says that load doesn't measure total mill emissions, admitting
there's no regular measurement of what's in that 21,800.
"That's in response to the (steam) vents from our paper and pulp
machines and we'll get into those details in the next few meetings."
Airshed members want the new permit to address composition and fallout
of burning the mill's sludge and salty hog fuel. Witzen repeated
Airshed's demands for a baseline study of the entire mill's air
pollutants and their health effects.
"The discouraging thing about the permit is over 70 compounds are
reported to NPRI but why does the permit only regulate two: particulate
matter and total reduced sulphur (TRS)?
"We still have no complete idea as to what's coming out of the mill."
Lefebure hints answers may come from local Georg Stratemeyer's idea to CAF.
"He suggests we use a conflict manager to help us move forward."
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