Danielle Smith: Refineries need to clean up on sulfur dioxide emissions

If you are a polluter and no one is harmed by it, is there any reason to clean it up?

I guess that is the question at the heart of this debate on how to respond to a new study by EcoJustice. The study, which uses bench-marking data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, shows that Canadian refineries pollute more than American refineries — and by a pretty wide margin.

READ MORE: Pollution from Canadian refineries an ’embarrassment’ compared to U.S. 

It looks at six pollutants that can cause a range of problems such as aggravating respiratory conditions, creating smog, causing cancer, asthma attacks, chronic bronchitis and heart attacks.

Looking at 2015 data for the 15 refineries in Canada and comparing each to a 15 comparable American benchmarks, EcoJustice found:

• SO2 emissions were 44,791 tonnes in Canada versus 1,912 in the U.S. – 23 times more.
• CO emissions were 23,511 tonnes in Canada, compared to 4,381 in the U.S. – five times more.
• NOx emissions were 17,134 in Canada, compared to 7,708 tonnes in the U.S. – two times more.
• Particulates were 1,421 tonnes in Canada, compared to 951 tonnes in the U.S. – 1.5 times more.
• Volatile Organic Compound emissions were 9,246 tonnes in Canada, compared to 6,209 tonnes in the U.S. – 1.5 times more.
• Benzene emissions were 66,712 kg in 2015 compared to 63,586 kg in the U.S. – about the same.

Looking at the numbers, what stands out is it seems we have a real problem with sulfur dioxide and the biggest polluter is the Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia.

READ MORE: MPs say investigation into toxic refinery emissions is a ‘wake-up call’ 

The question now is, what should be done? EcoJustice wants the government to set a regulatory target in line with U.S. benchmarks and demand companies meet it.

But University of Guelph economist Ross McKitrick says it may not be necessary.

There is a difference between emissions and the ambient amount of air pollution. Just because a company is polluting, it doesn’t mean the amount is high enough to cause a concentration in the air that will affect human health. In the case of SO2, Canada hasn’t had ambient air problems for more than a decade. Collectively, across all sources of emissions, it is one of Canada’s great success stories.

When I asked McKitrick about localized air pollution problems and Sarnia in particular, he said they are mostly on track too. There are only a few times when SO2 registers above a safe level.

So the question remains: how much pollution is too much? If no one is harmed, is there any reason to clean it up? McKitrick argues the cost of improvement delivers no material gain – the air is already safe – so it is not worth the effort.

Watch below: Exclusive data shows large gap between Canadian and U.S. refineries on pollution

I can probably accept this argument for benzene, VOCs, particulates, NOx and CO. We aren’t that much worse than the U.S., there are no air quality concerns and the money could probably be better spent on other things.

Forcing Canada to go further than necessary on these emissions may also result in more refinery closures.

In fact, this study probably gives insight into why so many refineries closed in Canada since the 1990s. It was probably cheaper to shutter them than it was to improve them. As consumers, we suffer for that decision because we now export crude for cheap prices and buy it back from the U.S. at a premium. So, I am not eager to see any more Canadian refineries close.

READ MORE: The Price of Oil investigation

But doing nothing on SO2 seems harder to justify. The technology exists to do it. Since it is now old technology it should be less expensive to implement than it was for the early adopters. I’d like to see the estimates of how much it would cost but I’m inclined to think that if we can do it, then we should.

Now let’s see EcoJustice do a benchmarking study for steel, aluminum and cement plants in B.C. and QC. Fair’s fair, right?

Danielle Smith is host of The Danielle Smith Show on Global News Radio 770 Calgary. She can be reached at danielle@770chqr.com