I would like to see some enforcement of our clean air bylaw. Bylaw officers should cruise around town and record addresses with smoke belching from the chimneys. The culprits should attend classes on clean wood burning and be given a decent trade -in value on their old burner (paid by the city) to purchase a new clean air model. Failing that, they should be shut down and liable to a 2500 fine for pollution. It is comparable to littering the highway only much more life-threatening and this city has an obligation to its residents to clean up our air. Council should be held accountable for the premature deaths here due to respiratory ailments.

Mike .... our clean air bylaws do not address the key polluting sources .....

We all know about the increase of logging trucks through our city ... we speak about dangerous goods routes ... about the danger of the increase in truck traffic ....

While we have these “feel good” but utterly stupid "no idle zones", our city is seeing an enormous increase in diesel fueled vehicles moving through town without a blink of an eye by those responsible for ensuring healthy air quality for our lungs. Asleep at the wheel as usual!

From the linked site:

"Diesel particulates are very fine. The primary (nuclei) carbon particles have a diameter of 0.01 - 0.08 micron, while the agglomerated particles diameter is in the 0.08 to 1 micron range. As such, diesel particulate matter is almost totally respirable and has a significant health impact on humans. It has been classified by several government agencies as either "human carcinogen" or "probable human carcinogen". It is also known to increase the risk of heart and respiratory diseases."

http://www.nett.ca/faq_diesel.html

As far as the residential burning of wood, here are some statistics to provide some comparisons:

The average beehive burner in the province used to burn about 30,000 bone dry tons of wood residue a year. A cord of green spruce weighs about 1.5 tons. That means that, not accounting for the weight differential between dry and wet wood, 20,000 houses would need to burn a chord of wood each to produce as much air emission as a single beehive burner. Even giving consideration to improper burning by a large portion of the “traditional” residential wood stove and fireplace users, as well as the seasonality of the residential use, it becomes rather obvious that the total annual output of air pollutants by residential users in PG (there are about 30,000 households in PG, about one third of which may have some access to using wood in a stove or fireplace) would never have exceeded that of a single average beehive burner capacity.

The problem, of course, as we all know, is that when one is close to the source, such as the downdraft of a neighbour’s chimney, or the exhaust of an idling car, or driving behind a diesel powered vehicle, the amount of pollution taken in over a short period, by the individuals close to the source, is considerable more than when that pollution is dispersed over a large area on days with sufficient air movement. These are individual cases which are typically worse on small city lots than on larger rural lots.

So, on those inversion days, to be effective and efficient, should we be sending bylaw enforcement officers around to check on a few thousand wood stoves, or do we get someone to check 10 or 20 known industrial point sources which have a considerable greater impact than all those few thousand wood stoves combined?

Not to worry all of the people runing for council and the mayor promised to give us clean air. And look the mayor has already set up a task force on air quality headed by none other then the well known Dr Jago.
We also have an air quality bylaw. Something has got to give.
Please dont hold your breath waiting for clean air. This entire exercise is nothing but hot air.
We are trying to encourage people to live down town the most polluted area in the city.All the mayor is doing is passing the buck and Dr Jago is it. And someone said that all Dan Rodgers would do if he became mayor would be studies and task forces.
You were right on Owl when you said people are voting with their feet.

Not to worry all of the people runing for council and the mayor promised to give us clean air. And look the mayor has already set up a task force on air quality headed by none other then the well known Dr Jago.
We also have an air quality bylaw. Something has got to give.
Please dont hold your breath waiting for clean air. This entire exercise is nothing but hot air.
We are trying to encourage people to live down town the most polluted area in the city.All the mayor is doing is passing the buck and Dr Jago is it. And someone said that all Dan Rodgers would do if he became mayor would be studies and task forces.
You were right on Owl when you said people are voting with their feet.

How nice of CMHC to offer this advice & tips at such an appropriate time. Thank you.

Of course newer technology woodstoves probably burn up to 80% cleaner. But, I would like to suggest that the main reason people choose to use wood heat is because of the reduced expenses compared to gas or electricity.

One can go to great lengths to purchase the latest in heating systems, but if their windows, doors and their insulation (R12) are of 1960 standards, what's the point of spending any money on the heating system?

I recall building a home back in the early 80's. 2x6 construction, triple glaze windows, Tyvec House rap, 6 mm polly, R32 insulation in the trusses.

I was told that I would have never seen a financial payback in my lifetime if I purchased a high effeciency furnace.

So, maybe investing money in your home to make it more energy efficient might make more sense. Chester

I have never seen a study that coorolates the direction of wind with air quality. This morning for example the wind was taking the polution from the pulp mills directly into town.

I've lived here my whole live and I can smell the pulp mills and oil refinery from Cameron Street bridge.

That said the diesel issue is one often over looked. For example what is wrong with our street lights in this town. If we insist on funneling all our industrial traffic into our highest congested areas of town then the least we could do is find a way to make the traffic lights work for industrial traffic.

Point #1 why is it that any trip through town requires a minimum of 5-15 stops so that a single car can get on the highway stopping a 150,000 pound truck, often multiple 150,000 pound trucks that spit out litres of diesel fuel into the air just to get moving again? The issue is a serrious one boardering on rediculious with the proliferation of traffic lights along the industrial cooridor. Can we not do something with the lights that allows them to stay green for 30 seconds longer when industrial traffic is comming through and a single 4 wheel car is tripping the light? The emmissions from this far exceed the emmissions of all other cars on the road.

Point #2 What are we going to do about the traffic on Central? The absolute worste is the North bound turn from Central onto 5th Avenue. All the industrial traffic stays in the right hand lane and often idles through three lights to make the intersection because all the traffic using the right hand lane to turn onto 5th avenue. Can't we put a turn lane in that spot to keep traffic moving rather then diesel rigs idling there?

That said I pitty the fool who tries to stop me from burning wood to heat my home considering the NAFTA Chapter 11 issues that price electricity and gas out of reach for home heating. I'll burn wood anytime I feel like it whether Colin Kinsley or anybody else likes it or not.

I'll add a statistic for further back ground.

Did you know that in the United States 3 out of every 4 deaths involving a tractor trailer unit are the result of 4-wheelers (cars trucks) rear ending a rig that is making a sudden stop. The vast majority of sudden stops are for single vehicle tripped lights with the exception being cases like the suicide walker last week in Red Rock that almost killed the person driving the jeep behind the truck that hit the pedestrian.

Just how many "Wood Smoke Police" do we have on the street in PG. My guess is nil. Probably about as many as they have to enforce the illegal suite bylaw and the noise bylaw. Smoke and mirrors. If there is one or two around and they come to my house, best they have a search warrant, because they will not be admitted otherwise. I would be more than willing to be co-operative if some of the major polluters were targeted also.

I tried to get the timing increased on the Queensway 4th light, but no luck.
The Kyoto accord would have some substance if one the changes in 1997 was the world wide elimination of the "Stop" light. Red would become a "Yield" light.
Think of this anytime you sit at a "Red" light with no one in sight. Just sitting by yourself with the engine idling away. Don't you feel stupid sitting there staring at a light like a trained dog?