PGAQ #2 (FP) by Vic Steblin, Dec 28, 2007

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

It is human nature to notice more keenly recent issues that we are told about, like air quality. On Dec 27 I went sledding with my sons to our usual hill on Carney Street. About 40 sledders of all ages were enjoying the good snow conditions but I was noticing the air. I could smell the air and even noticed quite a variety from the top of the hill to the bottom.

A smoker in a lawn chair influenced the air quality at the top. The traffic exhaust from idling vehicles at the intersection of Carney and Massey influenced the air quality at the bottom. A sand truck near the intersection would influence air quality through road dust once the snow was gone. On the way down one could smell some kind of wood smoke from home burners or mill stacks.

Grey clouds were moving slowly from the south and passing directly overhead. They looked like smoke to me. The billowing white pulp plumes on the eastern horizon were obviously being blown to the north and could not be blamed for much that day. I imagined all the residential wood fired boilers south of town adding their share.

I wondered about the children on the hill who were having too much fun to even care about air quality. I wondered about the smoker who did not seem to care about himself or others. I wondered about all the car accidents and complaints if our roads were not heavily sanded. I wondered about the irony of starting the F350 diesel just to take the boys to a cleaner hill. I wondered if my airways were sore from bad air or just the exercise of 20 runs down the hill. Maybe air quality should affect our image of Prince George and maybe more of us should care.