Irving Oil refinery's pollution limits unchanged in new permit

Air pollution limits for the Irving Oil Ltd. refinery are largely unchanged in the proposed new operating permit for the Saint John facility.

The document sets out emission limits under which the refinery would have to operate for the next five years.

While maximum sulphur dioxide levels have been reduced to 12.5 tonnes per day (as averaged over 30 days), the overall annual limit has been reduced by just three per cent to 5,200 tonnes.

Nitrogen oxide release limits remain the same at 5,500 metric tonnes per year. Particulate matter release limits are also untouched at 500 tonnes.

"I said to myself, where are the changes?" says refinery neighbour Gordon Dalzell, who heads the Clean Air Coalition.

"I'm quite disappointed overall."

Dalzell says he was looking, in particular, for a plan to reduce volatile organic compounds, a class of toxic pollutants that includes benzene.

Instead, the draft document includes only a requirement that the refinery develop a plan to better monitor VOC emissions.

Dalzell was also looking for a requirement that Health Minister Victor Boudreau sign off on the approval before it goes into effect.

Dalzell says his group is preparing a response to the draft document.

Barb MacKinnon, the president and chief executive officer of the New Brunswick Lung Association, says the provincial governnment is simply operating according to existing laws that have not been strengthened since the last approval in 2010.

MacKinnon says new federal standards are now in development after multi-stakeholder consultations involving the government, industry and non-governmental organizations from the environment and health sectors.

She says the result will be the first federal laws aimed specifically at industry groups, such as refineries and pulp mills.

"A number of those baseline laws for industry will probably be coming out over the next couple of years," said MacKinnon.

"And they will have related laws being created in the provinces because the provinces are responsible for environmental protection."

MacKinnon said she doubts that even the new laws will cause problems for the Irving Oil refinery.

The lung association president says the facility is fairly modern and one of the better ones in Canada in terms of emissions.

"I suspect maybe for the most part that the refinery will meet them," says MacKinnon,

"They may have a little bit of tweaking to do."

Public comments on the air quality operating approval document will be accepted until April 29. The new rules will go into effect June 30.