An information meeting was held Oct. 18 to address concerns the Coastal community might have with an amended burning permit issued to Howe Sound Pulp and Paper by the Ministry of Environment.
Three ministry officials were on hand to explain the process behind the development of the permit, as well as to answer any questions the public might have at an open house Tuesday night at the Cedars Inn in Gibsons.
In a presentation to a handful of participants, the ministry's section head of industrial business standards, Cassandra Caunce, detailed the challenges and concerns of creating the new regulation.
"We recognize that this was, it was a bit of a leap of faith," she explained to those in attendance.
Because of the installation of a new power boiler, the ministry has not had the chance to fully ascertain the extent of metal emissions associated with the new permit, which governs the ratio and quality of construction and demolition waste burned at HSPP.
Included in the permit is a six-month monitoring clause that will allow the data to be analyzed in the coming months.
"We did identify what metals we were going to be monitoring for, but we haven't determined what the power boiler is capable of," Caunce said. "If what we hope is true, the emissions are going to come way down."
The new rules limit the amount of plastic and painted wood to be burned to one per cent by weight and call for a minimum of 70 per cent clean wood in the fuel mixture.
Continuous monitoring of sulfur emissions, noxious gases and particulates is also embedded in the permit.
Louis Legal of the Sun-shine Coast Clean Air Society was on hand to learn more about how the permit might affect the Coast.
While he said his concerns over the 30 per cent maximum allowance for things like asphalt shingles, treated woods and asbestos still remain, he hailed the permit as a step in the right direction.
"I think we can feel relatively assured," he said, pointing specifically to the new hotter burning boiler and continuous monitoring called for by the permit.
