TRACY SHERLOCK, Vancouver Sun, March 15, 2010
Emissions from a proposed waste incinerator in Metro Vancouver could have negative effects on human health, a University of British Columbia report says.
The air-quality study, commissioned by the Fraser Valley Regional District, presents "serious" concerns about incinerating waste.
"Given forecast population growth, rising background pollutant levels and global climate change, the addition of any new sources of combustion in the Lower Mainland, including mass burn waste incineration, is simply not advisable," said Ian McKendry, a professor in UBC’s geography department.
"At the same time, there is a large body of credible published evidence to suggest that there is sufficient cause for concern around the potential health risks posed by modern waste incinerators, especially from dioxins and nano-particles."
Roger Quan, Metro Vancouver’s air quality division manager, does not dispute that incineration creates emissions, but says the net effect on Metro Vancouver’s air quality would be reduced emissions because an incinerator also creates energy.
"Our studies are showing that the amount of additional emissions from waste management ... is a very minor contribution to the airshed, anywhere from 0.1 to one per cent of the total emissions in the airshed," Quan said. "We don’t believe that a no-new sources philosophy is reasonable. We have to do something with our garbage."
Increasing global pollution is one reason McKendry calls for no new sources of combustion.
"We’re now getting lots of pollution from Asia and beyond, and that’s increasing," he said. "I’m questioning the wisdom of locking into a long-term new combustion source in a sensitive airshed when, in the not-too-distant future, we’re going to be dealing with things out of our control such as increasing pollution coming from a long way away and also global climate change."
Quan says McKendry’s concern about health risks from the byproducts of incineration is contrary to what Metro’s research has shown.
"We’ve looked at the experience in other areas where incineration plants have been commissioned. Two examples are advice from the United Kingdom Health Protection Agency and Health Canada, which both state that the health impacts from modern, well-managed incinerators are not expected to be a concern," Quan said.
Patricia Ross, chair of the Fraser Valley Regional District, said she is concerned about the unpredictability of the pollution created by incinerators as well as the vulnerability of the Fraser Valley’s agricultural lands.
"The very complex toxins and unpredictable nature of our waste mean it’s virtually impossible to offset all the pollutants. What we do know is bad enough. What we don’t know is even scarier," Ross said. "This is some of the most rich and productive agricultural land in the world. Why would you want to do anything to risk or diminish that? You can’t just reproduce farmland like that," Ross said.
McKendry said the Fraser Valley’s geography presents unique concerns.
"The Lower Fraser Valley is different because of the complex terrain: it’s mountains, and it’s a valley that’s narrow with water at the other end.
That’s complex ... and it produces very poor air quality," McKendry said.
Greg Moore, chair of Metro Vancouver’s solid waste committee, said his top concern is that the region meet its 70-per-cent diversion targets, which would only leave 30 per cent of the area’s waste to be landfilled or incinerated.
"If we can hit those, what we do with our residuals becomes less important. If we don’t have that many residuals it leaves better options for us," he said.
Metro Vancouver’s draft solid waste management plan will be voted on by the organization’s directors later this month. If approved, the plan will go out to public consultation over two months. Following that, the plan would need to be approved by the Ministry of Environment.
The Ministry of Environment told The Vancouver Sun in a statement that it has received the UBC study and is reviewing it.
"The Ministry of Environment will be looking very closely at any waste-to-energy proposal to ensure that it will not significantly impact air quality in the Lower Mainland," the ministry statement said. "Any new solid waste facility, including proposed waste-to-energy, would need to undergo a thorough environmental assessment and be subject to regulatory approval before it could be built."
The Fraser Valley Regional District includes Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Hope, Kent and Harrison Hot Springs.
tsherlock@vancouversun.com
