With this project in mind, Michelle wrote to point out a Tyee article: Cruise Ships Dodge US Rules by Dumping off Canada.

Cruise ships thought to be abiding by tough new sewage and wastewater discharge standards in Alaska and voluntary Washington State rules actually aren’t following all those regulations, instead legally dumping waste in Canadian waters between the two states.

InvestigateWest found that if the ships simply don’t choose to participate in either state’s tougher set of guidelines, they can choose to hold their wastes and discharge in Canada where regulation is less stringent. [continue]

Just great.

Last year Slate asked how bad for the environment are cruise ships? and the New York Times reported cruise lines urged to shrink their footprints. So, hmmm. Looks like there are rather a few environmental concerns associated with the cruise ship industry.

I’m not thrilled about having more cruise ships around Gabriola Island. Are you?

Gabriola, is smoke drifting through your air? In our part of the island lots of people are burning up yard waste (and heaven knows what else) in back yard fires. After days of smoke, I began to wonder about the health effects. Is this bad for us?

It’s seriously bad for us, it turns out. HealthLink BC explains that wood fires create Particulate Matter Air Pollution:

Any form of burning can lead to particle pollution. One of the largest sources of particulate matter in B.C. is residential wood burning. Wood smoke may come from sources such as a fireplace or woodstove within a home, slash burning, or beehive burners. (…)

Particulate matter is considered to be the air pollutant of greatest concern to human health within B.C. Research has shown that even low levels of particulate matter can lead to increased deaths, emergency room visits, hospital stays, and days lost from work or school.

Children and older adults are most likely to be affected by this type of air pollution. As well, premature death can occur in those with heart or lung diseases. [continue]

Alarming, isn’t it?

The Backyard Burning and Air Quality page at Greenmuze notes:

Burning slash and backyard debris in open burn fires contributes to the reduction in air quality. Wood burning, in general, releases carbon and a number of toxic chemicals into our air and the atmosphere. All of these contribute to poor air quality for those who have compromised respiratory systems, especially children’s developing lungs, and for those who consider themselves healthy, there is diminished air quality, and a reduction in the quality of life and health.

The issue seems quite straightforward. If we don’t want to continue to jeopardize the health of ourselves, the planet, and future generations, we will have to bring an end to burning slash and backyard debris. Many jurisdictions across Canada have already legislated such burning out of existence. [continue]

OK, so. If wood smoke is such a serious health problem, why do we allow all this burning to go on?

Related:

• Wood Smoke and the Atmospheric Commons: Protecting and Preserving the Right to Breathe Clean Air – article by Michael Mehta, published in the Flying Shingle

You live on Gabriola, so you know about the Harmac pulp mill in Nanaimo, just a mile or so from our island. And you’ve probably been reminded of Harmac’s presence when the wind blows from Harmac to Gabriola, and you get That Pulp Mill Smell. Not so pleasant.

What I want to know is this:

1. Where on Gabriola can you smell that Harmac smell?
2. Are there places on Gabriola where one never smells Harmac?
3. What about the sound – can you hear Harmac from your place?

I know people are wondering about this stuff, because web searchers arrive at this blog after searching for things like:

• bad Gabriola island smell
• can you hear Harmac from all over Gabriola?
• pollution problem Gabriola
• what is bad smell on Gabriola?

and so forth. (They find my previous blog post about Harmac.) I also had a letter from a reader asking about Harmac. This reader plans to move here, and wants to know about Harmac’s effect on the island before deciding which (if any) property to buy on Gabriola.

Please help by sharing what you’ve noticed about Harmac’s effect (or lack of effect) on your neighbourhood.

I’ve been wondering what sort of environmental impact Harmac has. Is it a major polluter? Does it spew out nasty toxins, or is it mostly steam that comes out of those giant chimneys? What effect — if any — is Harmac likely to have on our health?

Noodling around the web to find out, the first article I came across was one from Business Examiner. It quotes Leonard Krog:

The New Democratic MLA notes that there are many within his own ranks who would be happy to see the mill gone, because of pollutants it puts in the air and water.

But I tell them, either we produce the pulp here in B.C. under very tough environmental standards or by default the work will go to the Third World, where the pollution will be much worse.

[The article quoted above is no longer available on the Business Examiner's website.]

Oh, so there is a pollution problem, but we should be happy that it’s a not-so-bad problem here instead of a more serious problem far away. Huh.

Harmac’s environment page says they’ve improved their equipment and that means significantly reduced emissions to air, water and land. But reduced from what to what? Claims without numbers and documentation aren’t very enlightening.

What I want to know is exactly what the pollutants are, how much of them Harmac produces, and what effects that pollution is likely to have on health. Does anybody know?

More web searching. I arrive at the Georgia Straight Alliance site, where their pulp pollution page explains how pulp mills damage the environment:

• they consume large quantities of fresh water
• they discharge toxic waste into the air and water
• they are BC’s leading source of airborne dioxins and furans, the most toxic substances known
• their effluents (liquid wastes) are a source of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, neurotoxins and other dangerous contaminants

They’ve got more information, but nothing specific and recent about Harmac, and that’s what I’m after. Hmmm. Where can I find the details?