Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

Central Alberta Region Exceeds Air-quality Limits; Environment Minister Shannon Phillips Concerned

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Sep, 2015 03:51 PM
    EDMONTON — Alberta's environment minister says results from a national testing program show the province is on track to have the worst air quality in Canada.
     
    Shannon Phillips said high levels of fine particles in central Alberta pose no immediate health risk, but the findings require immediate action from the provincial government.  
     
    "This includes a review of technology that could be used to reduce harmful emissions," she said after the results were released Wednesday. "We are also looking at the licence review process to see how we can ensure industrial emitters are meeting the new stricter national standards."
     
    She promised a plan to address the situation in about a month.
     
    Phillips said the government is also considering whether to introduce emissions standards for vehicles as part of its ongoing effort to rewrite Alberta's climate change policy.  
     
    The results show the Red Deer region has exceeded levels for fine particulate matter. Those particles form in the presence of sulphur and nitrogen dioxides, the main components of smog.
     
    Although their origin hasn't been pinpointed, the particulates are thought to come from a combination of industrial sources — especially coal-fired power generation — and vehicles.
     
    Four other regions of the province — the lower Athabasca, upper Athabasca, North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan — are approaching the same levels seen around Red Deer. Those zones must develop plans to keep their levels from getting worse.
     
    "We are on track to have the worst air quality in Canada," Phillips said.
     
    The measurements are an attempt to gauge general air quality in an area, not to provide health guidance.
     
    The results, the first from testing initiated by the country's environment ministers in 2012, also found significant levels of ozone throughout the province.
     
    The report only looked at particulates and ozone and did not measure for contaminants such as mercury or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are considered highly toxic.
     
    However, particulates are capable of being absorbed into the body through breathing. They are believed to be linked to asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases, premature delivery and birth defects.
     
    Ozone, while naturally occurring in the upper atmosphere, is thought to harm respiratory function at ground level.
     
    Air-quality concerns were also recently expressed for an industrial area northeast of Edmonton, where a U.S. lab found short-lived plumes of highly toxic chemicals such as benzene.
     
    Phillips was cautious about the possibility of expanding Alberta's air monitoring. 
     
    "What we're focused on is preparing the management responses to this new set of ... standards."
     
    She said the government is considering its overall approach to monitoring as part of a new environmental policy framework.
     
    The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment said Wednesday's results are no surprise and called for the phase-out of coal-fired power generation in the province.
     
    “There are viable economic, non-polluting alternatives that can be brought in fairly quickly to produce rapid improvements in air quality,” said spokesman Dr. Joe Vipond.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Man Recovering In Calgary Hospital From Grizzly Bear Attack Near Cranbrook

    The bow hunter was looking for elk east of Cranbrook Tuesday evening when he came across a sow grizzly with two cubs.

    B.C. Man Recovering In Calgary Hospital From Grizzly Bear Attack Near Cranbrook

    Syringe Stabbing Sends Kamloops Homeless Man To Prison For 2.5 Years

    Syringe Stabbing Sends Kamloops Homeless Man To Prison For 2.5 Years
    A British Columbia man convicted of aggravated assault for stabbing a grocery store security guard with a used syringe has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

    Syringe Stabbing Sends Kamloops Homeless Man To Prison For 2.5 Years

    Vancouver Artists Could Carve Some Good Out Of Recent Powerful Windstorm

    Vancouver Artists Could Carve Some Good Out Of Recent Powerful Windstorm
    The Vancouver Park Board estimates at least 500 trees came down in parks and along boulevards during the Saturday storm

    Vancouver Artists Could Carve Some Good Out Of Recent Powerful Windstorm

    Police Charge 19-Year-Old Man In Murder Of Toronto Teen Ricardo Williams In Jamaica

    Police Charge 19-Year-Old Man In Murder Of Toronto Teen Ricardo Williams In Jamaica
    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Police have charged a 19-year-old man after the death of a Toronto boy in Jamaica.

    Police Charge 19-Year-Old Man In Murder Of Toronto Teen Ricardo Williams In Jamaica

    BC Storm: Still No Power For 3,500 BC Hydro Customers After Record-breaking Outage

    BC Storm: Still No Power For 3,500 BC Hydro Customers After Record-breaking Outage
    BC Hydro says a windstorm that knocked out power in thousands of homes and businesses is believed to be the largest such outage ever for the utility.

    BC Storm: Still No Power For 3,500 BC Hydro Customers After Record-breaking Outage

    Harper, Trudeau Clash On Budgets, Deficits, Following StatsCan Recession Report

    OTTAWA — Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau are duelling over deficits today in the wake of Statistics Canada's recession pronouncement.

    Harper, Trudeau Clash On Budgets, Deficits, Following StatsCan Recession Report