Our reputation as a crime capital is bad enough but Williams Lake has a new claim to fame.
Last Friday we had the worst air quality in the world. This has to be a one-day wonder, but who knows what the rest of fire season will bring.
And, how clean is our air at the best of times?
In the 1990s, fly ash from beehive burners was an issue.
City council managed to get rid of the burners. The concern now is fine particulates (FPs), microscopically small solid particles or liquid droplets in the air.
READ MORE: Air quality in Williams Lake once again reaches high-risk levels
They hide in dust, soot, smoke, aerosols, fumes, mists, whatever, and because they’re too small to see, we forget about them. Recent studies found FPs can even get into our bloodstreams.
The thing is, they are killers, the sixth highest risk factor for death around the world, claiming over four million lives each year. The wee bits sneak past our respiratory system’s defenses and cause acute, short-term problems and over time, killer chronic diseases.
Years ago, one of the Cariboo’s public health doctors was so worried about the number of residents with respiratory problems he asked the province to find out what was causing them.
READ MORE: Special air quality statement in effect for Cariboo
Nothing happened because we didn’t have a big enough population to warrant a study. We have more pollution now, are respiratory problems still an issue?
We have concerns about Atlantic Power burning railway ties, but is anyone looking at our air quality in general?
The city is currently asking for input on economic development. Surely clean air is as important to our economic development as it is to our health.
Speaking of city studies, I recently had a look at our official community plan, adopted in 2011. So much public input went into it. How much was ever implemented?
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.
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