Close X
Monday, November 11, 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

    Provincial Police Investigating Helicopter Crash Near Sept-iles, Quebec

    Provincial Police Investigating Helicopter Crash Near Sept-iles, Quebec
    SEPT-ILES, Que. — Rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of a helicopter crash on Quebec's North Shore.

    Provincial Police Investigating Helicopter Crash Near Sept-iles, Quebec

    Amazing Deal Or Pricing Error? Air Canada Glitch Sets Off Class-Action Lawsuit

    Amazing Deal Or Pricing Error? Air Canada Glitch Sets Off Class-Action Lawsuit
     A mistake by Air Canada in offering a package of flights at just 10 per cent of the value has triggered a proposed class-action lawsuit by customers who thought they got an amazing deal.

    Amazing Deal Or Pricing Error? Air Canada Glitch Sets Off Class-Action Lawsuit

    Man With Revving Chainsaw Arrested Outside St. John's Family Court

    Man With Revving Chainsaw Arrested Outside St. John's Family Court
    The incident happened at the Unified Family Court at about 9:30 a.m.

    Man With Revving Chainsaw Arrested Outside St. John's Family Court

    Canadian Trucker Gary Blakley Sentenced To 3 1/2 Years In Crash That Killed NY State Trooper

    Canadian Trucker Gary Blakley Sentenced To 3 1/2 Years In Crash That Killed NY State Trooper
    Gary Blakley of Ridgeway, Ont., pleaded guilty in April to aggravated criminally negligent homicide.

    Canadian Trucker Gary Blakley Sentenced To 3 1/2 Years In Crash That Killed NY State Trooper

    Dalhousie Student Alleged To Have Made Threats To Kill Up To 20 People

    HALIFAX — A Dalhousie University medical student who was facing expulsion told a psychiatrist he would obtain a gun and kill up to 20 people and himself, court documents allege.

    Dalhousie Student Alleged To Have Made Threats To Kill Up To 20 People

    Tom Mulcair Speaks With Egyptian Ambassador, Emphasizes Urgency Of Fahmy Case

    TORONTO — NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has raised the case of imprisoned Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy with Egypt's ambassador to Ottawa.

    Tom Mulcair Speaks With Egyptian Ambassador, Emphasizes Urgency Of Fahmy Case