Canada: Study to Assess Effects of LNG in Kitimat

The Province will fund a $650,000 scientific study to help inform regulatory and policy development for future industrial activity in the Kitimat area. The goal is to ensure the potential impacts from industrial air emissions are clearly understood prior to new projects being approved and in operation, B.C. government said in a statement.

The Kitimat Airshed Impact Assessment Project will look at the cumulative effects of existing and proposed industrial air emissions in the airshed. These include emissions from: an existing aluminium smelter, three proposed LNG terminals, a proposed oil refinery, a crude-oil export facility, and gas-turbine-powered electrical generation facilities. The study will focus on sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions from these facilities.

The study will assess the impact of emissions through a number of scenarios, including their potential effects on water and soil, as well as on vegetation and human health from direct exposure.

A Request for Proposals to conduct the study will be issued for the work and the successful proponent will be required to complete the study and submit a final report to government by March 31, 2014. Conclusions from the study will be used to inform environmental-assessment work and regulatory decisions for LNG and other industrial proponents in Kitimat and other airsheds where clusters of LNG export facilities are being proposed.

The Province has also hired a contractor to begin field work next week, which includes collecting surface water and soil samples. The data collected will be made available to the successful proponent chosen to complete the airshed study so they can use it to analyze and predict potential environmental impacts of the emissions.

[mappress]

LNG World News Staff, October 4, 2013; Image: Kitimat LNG