Cedar LNG Submission - Air Quality Concerns

To: Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency     10/19/2019

The Cedar LNG project is now the third LNG project under proposition in the Kitimat Valley and these projects are in addition to Rio Tinto’s existing aluminum smelting plant.  Local residents are already concerned about local air quality due to Rio Tinto’s substantial sulphur dioxide emissions.  LNG Canada, which is in construction phase, is also expected to contribute sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions to the existing Rio Tinto emissions

The public needs more information on the impacts of industry pollution in the Kitimat Terrace airshed.  The only study that examined existing and potential industry emissions (Kitimat Airshed Study 2014) presented pollutants (nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide) in isolation without consideration of the interaction between pollutants.  The compound impact of pollution over time from Rio Tinto’s smelter and three possible LNG projects on vegetation, water, soils and animal life will not be known for many years.  

 Shipping emissions and construction related emissions also need to be measured as a contributor to cumulative emissions.   

Our government needs to take climate change more seriously. The carbon emissions from the Cedar LNG project seem disproportionately high in regards to the size of the project. Cedar LNG’s project if power is self-generated has carbon emissions that are roughly equivalent to the Rio Tinto smelter, a much larger plant.  

The residents of Kitimat and surrounding areas have higher rates of asthma and respiratory related illness than the BC Average (BC Community Health Data, 2015).  The community of Kitimat is located north of industrial development and receives air pollution via winds travelling from the south most times of the year.  With yet another LNG project, this airshed will be maxed out and our air too toxic for those who live and raise families in this region.

My hope is that the Cedar LNG project will be assessed by the CEAA so that local residents will be able to express concerns in person and receive some support from our government to provide research related to local concerns.

Sincerely,

Lis Stannus

1852 Kitamaat Village Rd

Kitimat, BC V8C 2P4