Editor:
As a concerned citizen, mother and a physician, I welcomed Mr. Blezard’s letter to the editor (Tribune, March 2, 2016) regarding the projected railway tie burning at Atlantic Power. Finally some scientific facts!
I was just as concerned to see, in the same edition, the report on the meeting that occurred to discuss the above proposal.
Deductions made by the general public that oily residue on their vehicles must be from the power plant and so forth.
To give you a bit of background, I come from a family entrenched in environmental affairs.
My father was environmental manager of one of the largest mining companies in the world.
From a young age I sat in with him in meetings at the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg.
I consider myself a “greenie” and was invited to speak on environmental sustainability on an environmental actuality program when younger.
First and foremost, however, I consider myself a scientist. Just as I cannot endorse the notion that the measles vaccine causes autism, I cannot burn Atlantic Power on the stake because of my perceptions, or because of public hysteria.
I have read the facts, including the RWDI report and the Intrinsik report.
I refer to the aforementioned report (done by an independent company) for the following:
“The chemical emissions from the WLPP burning 100 per cent railway ties are associated with a negligible level of risk, as defined by the BC MOE and Health Canada.”
Incidentally, APC does not propose to burn 100 per cent railway ties and have applied to burn maximum 50 per cent ties in their permit application.
The biggest determinant of health in a population is poverty. Besides the fact that we can now clearly see that scientific studies have proven that burning railway ties will not cause us or our children harm in Williams Lake, I wonder what will happen if 33 people have to lose their job because of the WLPP closure?
What about Tasco, Acklands, Woodtec construction, Irwin safety, Finning, Cariboo Steel, etc. that will be directly affected by such a closure?
I would also like to see the roadside logging debris burned, but financially no one can afford it.
No cash-strapped mill can afford an increase in their trucking budget to bring RLD into town.
If the mills close down, very little remains of my beloved town.
Yes, my husband works at the power plant, but he is also a scientist.
With a master’s degree in sustainable energy management, he is however not blind-sided by a need for employment.
I hate the smell of the woodpile at WLPP, but the smell of wood breakdown is not toxic.
There are other factors that will cause an oily residue on your vehicles or create a smell around the industrial area where the WLPP resides.
I’ve read about the beehive burners and am so thankful that WLPP has replaced them.
Before we came to Canada and Williams Lake, I made sure, for one, to look at any potential hazards or concerns in the area we would choose to settle in.
Moving to the other side of the world is no laughing matter and I wanted to make sure.
We looked at crime statistics, natural environment as well as the industrial area in detail.
We chose Williams Lake, and we will continue to do so.
Dr. Jolien Steyl
MBChB, DCH (SA), CFPC
Williams Lake