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.
If something smells rotten in Denmark, something else smells acidic in Flin Flon. Despite the apparent ambiguity on the part of the provincial government, let there be no doubt that there is indeed a potent acid-like stench sometimes permeating the air in our downtown core. As someone who works and spends a fair amount of time in the downtown area, I have detected this foul outdoor odour more times than I can remember, both this year and in prior years. It's not an everyday occurrence, as far as I can tell, but nor would I classify it as rare. Let me be clear in saying that I do not know what this aroma is. I do know that it reeks like battery acid and is of a varying potency. I have never done so, but I would surmise that inhaling it for an extended period of time would carry the painful repercussion of a headache. To be sure that my nose is not somehow been playing tricks on me, I have asked friends, colleagues and casual acquaintances whether they are smelling what I'm smelling during those times. They always are. The word around town has long been that the source of the stench is the HBMS zinc plant's cellhouse, which uses sulphuric acid. Even some HBMS retirees have told me this. Do I objectively know that to be true? No, how could I? I am neither a metallurgist nor a chemist, nor have I ever been inside the cellhouse. But something in the downtown area is generating this awful aroma. (For its part, HBMS in 2007 forwarded all cellhouse operational documents to the province, which in late 2007 inspected the facility and found no problems. The company says that to its knowledge, no "acid mist" is escaping the cellhouse.) Let me say also that I have no information at this point to suggest this acidic fragrance is a health hazard. Some worry it is, and that is understandable since those who work around sulphuric acid (and again, I do not know if that is what the smell is) wear protective respirators. The odour was a prime topic of discussion Monday as residents gathered for this year's Healthy Flin Flon forum on local air quality. Concerned citizen Skip Martin referred to the scent as an "acid mist" and said it is detectable "on a frequent basis." Dennis Hydamaka, a long-time downtown resident, called the odour "quite strong and foul-tasting." This was at least the third time in the past four years that concerns about the acidic smell have surfaced at the forum. Nothing irregular? But Dave Bezak, air quality manager for Manitoba Conservation, said his department has investigated the matter and uncovered nothing irregular. The provincial government, he added, is still attempting to determine "whether this is really an issue or needs to be further evaluated." The answer on both counts is a resounding yes. And if the province has any doubts about whether this aroma really exists, a simple survey of people who live and work in the uptown area will put those to rest. The provincial government already has a number of employees working in downtown Flin Flon. Mr. Bezak or his surrogates could always pick up the phone and call them, too. And if there are still questions as to the validity of this concern, provincial officials themselves need only spend two or three weeks in Flin Flon. They're bound to encounter the stench at least once. Surely their expert noses could help provide the answers required. Flin Flonners have moved beyond the point of wondering whether there really is acid, or at least an acid-like smell, in some of the air they're inhaling some of the time. If you haven't smelled it yourself, just ask your neighbour. It is time for the provincial government, which endlessly touts its environmental chops, to step up and truly get to the bottom of what is happening in downtown Flin Flon. If that means spending tens of thousands of dollars on specialized air testing, or on sending air quality experts into the community, then Premier Greg Selinger needs to dig out the government chequebook. Lord knows he has spent money on less valuable endeavours. But this is not really about criticizing anyone. It is about Flin Flonners being afforded the basic right to know what they are breathing and whether they should be worried about it. Local Angle runs Fridays.
