PGAQ #11 (Cit) by Vic Steblin, Jan 28, 2008

2570 Laurier Crescent, Prince George, BC, 250-564-1123

Managing poor quality air episodes in Prince George seems to be up to the wind. Driving into the bowl from work at 4pm on Mon Jan 28 convinced me that management is lip service at best. The weather was cold and still. The smoke from the two nearby pulpmills rose somewhat, hovered, and blanketed the downtown in a sickening grey cloud. The main source of pollution was dramatically obvious.

If there was a decent wind, all this pollution would have little local effect. Who besides the wind is actually doing anything about poor air episodes? I cannot recall a single stack ever being shut down since moving here 30 years ago. These stacks should obviously be better controlled until the wind picks up again.

Of course the people who make the profits will use every excuse to keep making money or to reduce losses. They could say that a shut down takes planning and is very expensive. Of course most of the owners do not live here and do not have to breathe the pollution of each million dollar day. Of course they would ask the locals if they want jobs or clean air. They could point out that the concentration of nearby cigarette smoke is much higher than city air and 25% of the citizens smoke. They could point out that Prince George is a forestry town and many residents tolerate pollution.

For healthy lungs those stacks should be shut down when the wind is less than adequate, unless they have the best controls available. If farmers can comment on a million dollar rain, the pulp producers can comment on a million dollar wind!