Boy I wonder how much the "clean air" crap the city is trying to push down our throats will influence this report. Let me guess to combat the poor air we have they will suggest to turn off our vehicles when at red lights too next!!!

It continues to amaze me that the most obvious source of air pollution in this city never comes up in any of these studies.
Perhaps this one will be different since it says they have examined all sources this time.
It seems pretty obvious that the pulp mills are a major source. Anyone who enters the town can smell them. Sure it has been better lately while they are not running at full capacity.
But I suppose it is much easier to take on home-owners and motorists than to take on big business.
I am looking forward to hearing what their recommendations and findings are.

"there was a transcription error in the recording of the number of homes in Prince George which use wood for heat"

Transcription error? LOL..... So instead of 30% it is 3% ????

There far more than a transcription error.

There is an error due to

1. not doing a sampling count in different subdivisions of the city
2. not knowing how many have wood burning central furnace systems
3. not knowing how many have wood burning space heaters
4. not knowing how many have wood burning fire places
5. not knowing the % of wood versus other heat source they use over the course of a year - 100% .. 80% ... 10% ... etc.
6. not knowing, for each woood burning appliance people have:
a. whether they burn logs or pellets
b. how much they actually burn in units such as cords, pounds of pellets, etc.

The methodology is fraught with errors through and through.

"The review of the study suggests some minor adjustments to ensure the data collected is complete and interpreted properly." Just sounds like the globull warming nutcases, When the results of their doom and gloom computer programs don't match the real world they have to do a little tweeking to get the falsified results.

Couger. Pulp Mills always operate at full capacity, unless they are shut down for maintenance. In addition to the pulp mills you have to consider Husky Oil, FMC Corp. plus the sawmills,

Lets not foreget the diesel fumes spewing out of the local buses for 16 hours per day, and Railway diesels, that in itself is worse than back yard burning would ever be.

In addition to the car/trucks/asphalt/etc; we should also consider all the fumes etc;that are spewed out of the many restaurants in this town.

The City normally takes the line of least resistance which is the lowly taxpayer, mainly because business would tell them to take a hike.

They should look at certain industrial polluters who only follow the terms of the air discharge permit when the stack is being tested. The rest of the time it is pedal to the floor to gain production

They should look at certain industrial polluters who only follow the terms of the air discharge permit when the stack is being tested. The rest of the time it is pedal to the floor to gain production

There is a positive connection between wood burning and pneumonia in children and especially higher risk in the homes that burn wood. My plan for air quality: Ban all wood burning for 2 months in the winter. Then test the quality. Put that up against the same test with wood burning. That's positive science on whether or not wood burning is a factor. If you aren't prepared to modify the causes,how will you ever know?

I don't know if we can shut the Pulp Mills down for 2 months, why not?? Give those guys a winter holiday.

Wow supertech you are out to lunch!!!! I am just at a loss for words on how to respond to your suggestions.

"Ban all wood burning for 2 months in the winter. Then test the quality. Put that up against the same test with wood burning."

Interesting idea, except that people who burn wood in the bowl don't give a rat's you know what about air quality and would completely ignore the ban.

And truewitt has hit the nail on the head about how testing works at the mills.

Fort Collins, Colorado

Here is their wood burning regulation and web site.
http://www.fcgov.com/airquality/wood-burning.php

They have no forest industry. From their point of view, the less wood burning of any kind, the better.

The 2 month shut down versus two months of burning is not going to show very much. the weather is a key factor.

There are two considerations when it comes to the smoke from ANY kind of wood burning that is emitted from residences.

1. the adjacency factor - when someone nearby, especially a neighbour, burns, the smoke can rise on good venting days and not bother anyone. When the weather cahnges to downdrafts, and those drafts are towards your house and open windows or furnace air intake, then you will get smoke in your house. No one else in the city is affected except the immediate neighbour(s). The concentration can then be quite high.

2. the cumulative effect of many houses (10%, 30%, 50%) of entire neighbouhoods burning to effectthe area as in 1. above, plus the effect on inversions of much of the smoke getting hung in the valley.

We could easily get 2 months of no inversions or two months of 2 or 3 inversions. That is why there are annual reports rather than monthly reports and those annual reports themselves are looked at to identify low and high years.

Children do get respiratory problesm associated with wood smoke, among other things. One reason is that their air passages are smaller than those of adults.

However, those studies that show that are basically taken INSIDE homes with wood burning appliances in countries where such appliances are used for cooking as well as heating and they are not well controlled. It is primarily a third world country problem, but could become one here as well, especially if situation 1. above is at play in your house with a baby.

Euorope gets the so called "green" energy and we are left to inhale the fine dust and volatile organic compounds sent up the stack during production.

You got it!!!!!!!

There needs to be alittle more research done by some of you. Smell has absolutely nothing to do with particulate count.

If you look at the Air Quality Report from 2008

http://www.pgairquality.com/files/pdf/PG_PM25SourceApportionment_FinalReport.pdf

Especially at the summary of the report, the graph and chart on page 68 are quite informative.

Oh, and upon futher reading, maybe this mighht help some of you out.

http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/14252/1/canfor+nets+%24122m+in+green+transformation++dollars?id=143&st=10

Check out the national registry where all industry must report their emissions. Pretty obvious who puts the most effluent into the atmosphere.