To celebrate Clean Air Day, June 8, the B.C. Government issued a press release celebrating the province’s air quality in the Peace region, home to extensive natural gas operations and Site C dam construction.

The press release, which praises the “successful partnership to ensure continued clean air in the Peace region,” came on the heels of a federal warning issued to BC Hydro for failing to turn on air quality monitors near Site C dam construction.

Federal investigators with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) discovered monitors near Site C operations, which measure total suspended particulates, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide were not collecting any data.

CEAA compliance and enforcement chief Michel Vitou issued a warning letter to BC Hydro on May 26, saying the crown corporation “has been unable to monitor air quality effects in order to inform the appropriate authorities of exceedance of federal and provincial air quality standards.”

Vitou said he inspected the location of Site C construction from April 26-29 and discovered “none of the air quality monitors [were] currently collecting data.”

Failing to monitor for potentially hazardous violates BC Hydro’s agreement to follow the project’s Air Quality Management Plan.

The non-compliance violation, if not corrected, could cost the company $400,000, Vitou warned.

Federal Investigation Finds #SiteC Air Quality Monitors Turned Off https://t.co/3Xe2cvktPk #bcpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/8azyKjFjSO

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) June 9, 2016

“I am bringing this alleged contravention to your attention in order for you to take corrective action,” he wrote.

According to a report prepared for BC Hydro, impacts to local air quality are expected to be much higher during the construction phase of the project.

The report, prepared by RWDI Air Inc., lists these potential sources of emissions:

“clearing activities; prescribed burning and incineration of clearing debris; extraction, processing, movement and placement of construction and waste materials; drilling; explosives detonation and blasting; material handling and transfers; concrete batch plant operations; material processing; stockpile wind erosion; grading and scraping; fugitive emissions of road dust on paved and unpavedroads; mobile vehicle exhaust; diesel-fuelled equipment and generators; boats; aircraft and asphalt production.”

Construction of the dam is expected to last eight years. The highest levels of carbon monoxide emissions are anticipated to occur during year one of construction, the report notes.

During the most emissions intensive portions of construction, the overall emissions from expected contaminants — carbon monoxide, suspended particulates, nitrogen oxide, and sulphur dioxide —are expected to increase by 5 to 83 per cent in the study region.

B.C. launched its Northeast Air Quality Monitoring Project in 2012 to address growing public concern over air quality issues in relation to oil and gas.

Increasing industrialization in the province’s northeast coupled with longer wildfire seasons (and preventative prescribed burning in the mix) present a severe threat to the region’s air quality. The construction of the Site C dam, which is proceeding at breakneck speed, compounds those concerns.

Yesterday’s press release celebrates the relocation of three oil and gas air quality monitoring stations in the Peace region.

Let’s just hope the province ensures they’re turned one. 

Image: Site C logging. Photo: Garth Lenz

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