Dear Editor,
Re: “Get used to that smell,” News, Nov. 25.
We have all heard the saying where there is smoke there is fire, and where there is odour there is gas. What we smell needs to be called what it is — methane gas. It is made up of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. It’s harmful to the health of citizens and contributes to acid rain and global warming. Now, our residents are feeling sick from it. We have lost the lovely fresh, healthy air that we used to have.
Vast amounts of waste is being collected from cities across the Lower Mainland band and delivered for processing to this tiny island, residential farming community. Why are they talking about bad smell complaints when they should be talking about people’s health? Why are they more concerned about ground level ozone than health effects. Is it not one and the same? Is it not all harmful for humans and wildlife to breathe? Should we not be measuring air quality health index and providing health risks to citizens daily? Why are they blaming it on the weather? The winds will blow the gas on someone else. How can a responsible facility operate based on the dispersal of gases being refined to the level that people won’t smell it? Are humans the only gauges for the safe and effective operation of this company? Harvest is prioritizing improving cost over making citizens and the planet sick.
Was this facility not brought in to help make a cleaner city? Richmond citizens want to do their share, but it is just a tiny island, not equipped to take on the task of the big city emissions, let alone 1,000 per cent more emissions.
We don’t want to be sick and we want our fresh clean air back.
Linda Jones
Richmond
