The City of Kamloops is going to be calling on Victoria to provide a better snap shot of how industry impacts air quality in the city.

The call will be made in the city’s response to a request from Thompson River Veneer in the Dallas area to provincial authorities to take its facility up to a 24/7 operation, which is expected to kick out more particulate through its natural gas burners.

Environmental Services manager Glen Farrow says the application the company is making provides an opportunity to glean more information from Victoria about air quality.

“We definitely the opportunity to put in some stronger language as a suggestion to the letter that we provide the veneer facility,” noted Farrow as part of Tuesday’s council meeting.  “Ultimately it is province’s mandate and they’re the regulators [who will decide on the company’s application].”

As part of the debate, Councillor Nancy Bepple argued the City should be aware of the cumulative impact industry is having on Kamloops’ air quality.

“My concern is that we don’t seem to get the big picture from the Ministry of Environment, because it’s not one emitter that really is what’s going to make a difference, it’s the cumulative effect of all of these different types of emissions within our air shed,” said Bepple.  “Kreuger is emitting 75 times more that what Thompson River Veneer is proposing, but they’re [Kreuger] also emitting it at the top of an air shed, in a much wider area, than down at the bottom of the valley.”

While Bepple, as well as fellow councillor Dale Bass, did express concerns about the broader impact the increased particulate may have on the overall air quality, neither opposed the application.

“I’m just curious, because we can’t stop them [Thompson River Veneer], and we don’t want to stop them. It’s a viable business that keeps people employed,” pointed out Bass.  “But we’ve also got to be concerned with the people who live in the [Dallas] neighborhood who have trouble breathing at the best of times.”

The request for more information on air quality came at the same meeting Kreuger submitted its annual air quality report to the City via a letter.

In it, the pulp mill does state that its did struggle a bit las year with its discharges when it comes to the smell.

“Mill stack odour in 2023 was slightly higher than 2022, [but] within range of the previous seven years and continued a step-change improvement that began in 2013,” said Kreuger in its report to council.  “In contrast to the slight increase in odourous emissions, odour complaints decreased slightly for a total of 21, or just under an average of 2 complaints per month.

Kruger also reported two incidents of non-compliance when it comes to its air permits through last year, including on July 29th when its sulfur dioxide emissions exceeded its requirements, and on September 6th during a test of one of their boilers.  In both instances, Kreuger says it corrected the problem almost immediately.

Councillor Mike O’Reilly, as part of the session, also put forward a motion to invite the company to present to council.

“We usually have Kreuger, formerly Domtar, come annually to talk about what they’re doing,” noted O’Reilly.  “Not just the emissions report, but just in general. I think we’re probably close to that mark, I believe.”