A study to find the best location for an air quality monitor in Exshaw is ongoing after a preliminary proposal fell flat with residents. Lafarge at Exshaw hosted a public meeting on Sept.
A study to find the best location for an air quality monitor in Exshaw is ongoing after a preliminary proposal fell flat with residents.
Lafarge at Exshaw hosted a public meeting on Sept. 23 with expert air quality consultants from WSP to discuss and gain feedback regarding its Fugitive Dust Control Best Management Practice Program.
Lafarge has a Nov. 30 deadline to submit a program plan to provincial regulators Environment and Parks, as well as a proposal for an Ambient Air Monitoring Program (AAMP) as part of its plant expansion extension approval this past June. Alberta Health Services will be required to be consulted for the AAMP.
The program's intention is to prevent or reduce fugitive dust generated by the cement plant's activities - a major concern in MD of Bighorn hamlets Exshaw and Lac Des Arcs (LDA). The meeting also touched on light and noise pollution in the communities.
Two WSP representatives presented their opinion on how Lafarge should move forward with fugitive dust, ambient air modelling and particulate matter monitor placement.
Kyle Howe and Alex Shutte recommended air quality monitoring objectives, new continuous ambient particulate matter monitoring station, fixed continuous monitoring, and transparent reporting and public communication.
A monitor at LDA, which is now under consideration, hadn't been a proposed suggestion for a site because an Exshaw site was “more appropriate” for long-term averages due to its proximity to the plant, said Howe.
Residents heavily focused on the monitor placement in particular. Lafarge currently has four active air monitors. The initial proposal for the monitor north of Exshaw School and on Lafarge property received criticism from residents and MD councillors.
“Let's be serious about where this monitor goes,” said Councillor Paul Ryan, “because in putting that monitor inside the (Lafarge) fence line, all you're doing is creating an opportunity for a future manager, not Jim, to stand here and say, ‘Well that's inside my fence line, can you prove it went outside?' We need to come out of here with something a little bit better than what we came in with.”
Nearing two months in his new role as plant manager at Lafarge, Jim Bachmann said Lafarge has a commitment to work with the community.
“If it costs us more money to put another monitor in Lac Des Arcs, then it costs us more money to put one over there,” Bachmann said.
“This is an information meeting, whatever it takes, we've got a couple months to get this right. When I say I want input and I want to be transparent, I mean it ... we've got to do the right thing for the fugitive dust plan.”
On Sept. 24, WSP went to three locations with Ryan to assess sites as potential placements for a new monitoring station.
A follow up public session has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 28.
The stricter plan for air monitoring and fugitive dust was added to Lafarge's expansion extension requirement by the province in June.
