The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
HBMS's efforts to reduce air contaminants continue to show results but more can be done to address the situation, a provincial air quality specialist said yesterday. "The improvement in air quality continues in the community but there are still some elevated levels," Dave Bezak told 25 people on hand for an air quality meeting at the Friendship Centre Restaurant. "We're working towards trying to make further improvements." Bezak, an air quality section manager for Manitoba Conservation, detailed the air situation with a series of graphs outlining information gathered from a monitoring program operated by the province and HBMS. His presentation focused on three categories of air contaminants Ñ sulfur dioxide, particulate matter (fine dust), and the heavy metals of lead and arsenic Ñ which he said can have health consequences. Bezak said there has been "a significant improvement" in sulfur dioxide levels since 2000, when HBMS implemented a multimillion-dollar environmental initiative called the Smelter Gas Handling Project. The Project aims to ensure processed gases from the smelter operation are emitted out of the Smoke Stack rather than from the tops of buildings. It's also designed to ensure that this gas is cleaned as much as possible of fine particulate matter before being emitted. "Sulfur dioxide levels, especially in the uptown area, remain lowered after the Project," said Bezak. "The amount of sulfur dioxide coming from the operation of the smelter complex operation are well within regulated limits both monthly and annually." See 'Guideline' P.# Con't from P.# With regard to particulate matter, Bezak said that since January 2003, incidents of the coarser type of fine dust have not exceeded the government guideline. The same cannot be said for the finer form of the dust. Bezak said that over the past few months, incidents of the finer dust have increased in the Creighton area, probably from residential wood burning rather than industrial sources. As for lead and arsenic, Bezak said those levels have remained unchanged over the past year. At the same time, HBMS data shows that those emissions have decreased. A possible explanation for this is that previously settled material is being blown around by the wind. Lead and arsenic levels have decreased since the Smelter Gas Handling Project was put in place in 2000, but not as dramatically as sulfur dioxide levels. Putting a less technical perspective on the information was Dr. Jim Popplow, Senior Medical Advisor for Manitoba Health's Environmental Health Unit. "I think the Company is doing as well as any base metal smelter in Canada," he said. "I don't have any particular worries about this particular community. "Compared to other places in Canada, I think that Flin Flon is doing as well as could be expected considering that you live next door to the smelter. It would have been better if they had built the town somewhere else and had the smelter here, but that isn't the way that it worked in the 1920s." Dr. Popplow encouraged particularly sensitive people, such as children with asthma or individuals with lung problems, to pay close attention to HBMS's air quality reports, broadcast on local radio or available by calling 687-2360. During his brief speech, the doctor commended HBMS for voluntarily joining the ISO-14001 environmental management system. This extensive system, routinely audited by an independent third party, is designed to ensure that environmental control issues are correctly looked after. HBMS received certification through the system in June 2003. Regarding the information presented at yesterday's meeting, Bezak said it was based on what he feels is the most extensive air quality monitoring system in the province. A handful of rooftops around Flin Flon and Creighton, such as the Barrow Provincial Building and the Creighton Town Hall, feature the necessary testing equipment.
