By Greg Fry

Citizens group voices environmental concerns over Lafarge startup

May 8, 2018 | 10:18 AM

KAMLOOPS — A citizens group has popped up in Kamloops to voice the environmental concerns of its members over the restart of Lafarge Kamloops.

Citizens for Compliance (CFC) was formed by neighbours of the Lafarge cement plant in east Kamloops, whose emissions permit amendment is currently under review by the provincial Ministry of Environment.

“Before they shut down, they were terrible polluters,” says spokesperson Doug Mears. “The sky was always brown with black clouds… and now when they fire up again we just want to make sure that they’re following some new guidelines because we’ve complained for years and they always just turned a blind eye.”

He says CFC members are concerned about health effects from fine dust Lafarge hopes to grind from gypsum and pumice.

“Dust escape from the plant is conservatively estimated at 17 tonnes per year, with at least five to 10 per cent of that fine particulate, which the province has identified as the air pollutant of greatest concern to human health within BC,” CFC says in a news release.

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It also has concerns about the gases Lafarge will use to cook the pumice, monitoring of emissions, enforcement of standards and other issues.

Mears says the goal is not to prevent the company from reopening, though.

“Nobody wants to shut anybody down. We’re all for jobs and job creation, but we have to run it in a more environmentally-friendly manner than in the past.”

He says CFC doesn’t trust B.C.’s Ministry of Environment to set the proper standards.

“No, I don’t. They’re a big company and the environmental branch just seems to turn a blind eye to them. They just seem to get away with whatever they want and we’re not going to stand for it.”

CFC has another meeting planned for this Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at Harper’s Trail Winery.