Canada: Report Highlights Air Quality Challenge of LNG Export Terminals

Canada: Report Highlights Air Quality Challenge of LNG Export Terminals

As proposed, three LNG plants planned for Kitimat, B.C. will together burn a quantity of natural gas equivalent to two-and-a-half times combusted annually by the 2.4 million residents of Metro Vancouver – sharply escalating air pollution in the northern city, according to a new report.

That’s the conclusion of Air Advisory: The Air Quality Impacts of Liquefied Natural Gas Operations Proposed for Kitimat B.C., a new report from SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, a grassroots organization whose goal is to make the Skeena watershed and nearby communities a global model of sustainability.

The report uses publicly available information to quantify the projected emissions of the three proposed plants.

“When we first saw the data, we were frankly shocked,” said Greg Knox, executive director of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust.Without design changes, these plants are going to send air pollution off the charts, with huge risks not only to salmon, but for the people who live and work in this community.”

The report finds that the three plants—if built with conventional “direct-drive” technologies as proposed by industry—will increase nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution 500 percent above existing levels. These pollutants are known to cause respiratory illnesses, especially in vulnerable populations such as small children and the elderly, as well as acid rain.

As proposed, the LNG plants would also elevate a range of other contaminants, including volatile organic compounds, particulates, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxides.

“Our organization was chartered to protect salmon and build regional sustainability,” said Knox. “But unless the LNG industry makes smarter choices right now, these plants could threaten our kids, elders, and many others in our community with a range of respiratory illnesses for years to come,” said Knox.

The report highlights cleaner alternatives — that government require industry to adopt “electric drives” that can use other energy sources like wind and water to power the large compressors at the center of the LNG production process. Locating natural-gas powered electricity plants outside the Kitimat airshed is another option.

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Source: SkeenaWild, November 22, 2013