Dear Editor,
I am disappointed by Richmond city council’s failure to take any serious steps to address the disastrous air quality issue created by the new Harvest Power permit.
Apparently, the mayor is encouraging citizens to complain to Metro Vancouver about the odour. We have been doing that long before the mayor appears to have woken up to the seriousness of this issue. The call by Coun. Bill McNulty for a better PR campaign by Metro Vancouver is just silly.
Council has asked Vancouver Coastal Health to conduct a health impact study — an obvious step, but a bit late in the game.
Failing to initiate legal action simply because of “a lack of assurance about the outcome” is a failure to provide leadership, given the impact this is having on the livability of our city.
I also understand the city is unwilling to appeal the decision. Instead, it is leaving it up to individual citizens to challenge a complicated permit, without all the needed professional expertise that would be available to city hall.
At least demand some answers for us. How often is Harvest exceeding the limit to its air pollution discharges? Will the health impact assessment be done in time for the citizen appeals that will be going forward? Why is the known mitigation technology not already in place?
Sadly, our mayor and council would rather someone else stand up for the citizens of Richmond — or let them go it alone.
Ted Bruce
Richmond
