"When I arrived in Prince George in 1974, I was told to shut up when I complained about the quality of the air, it was after all the smell of money. Here it is 34 years later, the world has changed considerably and the polluters have had sufficient time to clean up their act.""


Things have changed considerably since 1974. Some of these local polluters you talk about have spent millions on cleaning up since then. Perhaps, in fairness, you'd mention that when you insinuate that things haven't changed since 1974?

There is only one solution and it will never happen IMO. The city needs to have an industrial area down wind from the city and thus IMO in the North East sector towards Shelly. It will never happen because the city could not tax it if its outside the city limits... and for the city politicians and administration its all about capturing that tax dollar loot. The provincial resource and land use planners are dead set against this concept and are focused on infill with the Boundary Road taking up all of their parochial vision.

What the city needs is a framework set up so they can tax an industrial park outside the city limits, thus remove the provincial middle man from the scene,... and therefore have the bureaucratic empire effect working in our favor, rather than against us. Maybe we need to draw a boundary out in the bush towards Salmon Valley and say this is also part of the city of PG even though it is separated from PG proper by regional district lands.

The way I see it we were going to be home to at least 3 medium density fiberboard plants at one time, 12 potential ethonal plants, even at one time they had crazy talk of an aluminum smelter coming to town... NCP will need a new home, and all the River Road mills could use some green dollars... most of the BCR site is better suited for residential, parks, and light industrial... and this is to say nothing of our strategically placed asphalt plants that could use some economic incentive to relocate. Clearly none of this happens because the bureaucracy will stop at nothing to prevent them from being enabled as viable projects by a properly zoned, as per air quality, industrial park.

The bureaucratic empire of locating all industry in the bowl for the short term tax loot has killed PG for the last 3+ decades strangling the communities huge potential... because while we insist new industry locate in the bowl, we also insist on no new pollution in the bowl... so we have this perpetual catch-22 where one side blames the other for not supporting industry and the other asking I wonder if they have lungs too. These people reading this all know what camp they are in and no one can see past that.

IMO Boundary Road is not the solution for PG economically. The solution comes from laying the needed heavy industry infrastructure in place that will be drawn upon over the next 50-500 years, so that when opportunity for new heavy industry arises we have the location with service hook up availability to negotiate a win-win deal for all involved... and thus magnatize all new opportunities within 1000 miles to our new industrial park as word gets out. The airport IMO can make due without a fancy road or revamp the BCR site to suit their needs for a fraction of the cost.

All I know is Boundary Road would do nothing to convince Canfor to build another plywood plant in PG. A new industrial park designed for air quality concerns as well as transportation and services logistics on the other hand would have Canfor fighting for a spot with a long list of other companies looking for location. In the mean time I will wait until I see the first cargo plane land at the PG airport, with a slight cough. Thats not to say PG airport won't be a success... I think it will over a ten year horizon... but that gig has the critical infrastructure in place already to attract the seeds it needs, while our tradition economy languishes and one at a time drops from the scene not to be replaced.

PG needs to facilitate new growth in heavy industry, we need to clean up the bowl (our biggest growth potential for new business IMO) so PG can take the next step to becoming a livable city with pride in its environment, and the bonus IMO is if we can get some new industry as a result of the new run way extension that brings us new surprises not yet recognized, which I'm sure it will.

IMO you do it with a new industrial park outside the air shed for obvious reasons, and not with a plan to build yet another one in the air shed.

AIMHO this is as important a long range issue as was the location of the Canfor mills directly across the river from the downtown core. This is why I would fire all the long range planners with any association to PG to this date if I had that power.

Eagleone says: "in the North East sector towards Shelley"
Maybe check a map Eagleone, you will find that the local pulpmills, the rfinery, and two chem. plants are already 'over there'
Okay, I know that Shelley is up river from most of those plants, but guess what? Northwood is Right across the river from Shelley. If you live in the Salmon Valley area, you know that when the wind blows up (NNE) the Fraser, you can smell the money Ergo, air currents follow the river valleys in more than one direction at different times, and all of these industries need to be located near a significant source of water, so they will always build next to a river if they can. It does not matter where the mills and Husky are located (assuming they are within 40K or so, we are going to smell the byproducts of their processes. In this day and age, the only solution to the pollution is to shut the industries down and do we really want that to happen?
metalman.

Meisner has hit it right on the nose!

Metalman has hit it right on the nose!

Ben,

Great article and I definitely agree with you.

I'd like to know (after all these years) why hasn't the "top guy" from each pulp mill ever been questioned in the media? Everybody knows what's going on and I've seen it on the news before. So how come these big-wigs are never on the news explaining why they pollute so much? When our air quality is so bad that we issue health warnings then the top guy from each mill should have to answer some tough questions.

I've heard excuses before. Big industry has said that when our air quality is bad it's because the airshed has stopped moving and it's created a holding pattern for pollutants. BUT THAT'S NOT IT!!! Our air quality is bad because the pulp mills are quite simply... operating. END OF STORY!

You think someone from the media would have chased them down by now and asked them a lot of tough questions.

Now THAT would be a news story. And you would see a lot of very upset people in town after they saw that interview.

I have a very good friend whose young son had an inhaler while living in Prince George. As soon as they moved to Kamloops there was no further need for the inhaler.

Go figure.

I woant to go outside today but I can't The smell of death is all around me.

Love 'em or leave 'em boys, the pulpmills put PG on the map, they are far from perfect, and sure, the shareholders come first above all, but at the end of the day, they still employ a lot of people in this town, directly and indirectly.
Without the polluting industries, PG would still be a small town. I don't like the pollution either, but I make my living here.
metalman.

Of course Ben is correct and anyone who takes an honest and reasonable look into the matter would agree. To take the view that PG can't change or shouldn't change its' approach to airshed management is simply one severely lacking in vision or progressive thought.

The simple fact is that our glorious industry, while employing lots of people, also causes people all sorts of minor and major medical conditions, disease and death. It also inhibits the ability of the city to grow beyond what it currently is. Many people have severe tunnel vision on this issue in town and that is simply a reflection of the small town thinking that is so prevalent here.

Thankfully though, the historical attittude of accepting of our poor air is changing. There was a time when you would be laughed out of the room for suggesting that changes needed to be made. That generally doesn't happen any longer. With time (I'd suggest within a decade), the roles will be reversed and the people who present the view of "we need to put up with it for the sake of jobs" will be in the minority.

It takes time and it's not going to happen overnight, but it will come. Eventually there will be a critical mass of people wanting to see it change (it's already well on its way) and when that happens, things will change. It only exists because enough people are still willing to put up with it. When that changes (and it will), so will the air. That's when PG can really start to work on putting itself on the map.

very well put, NMG!