April, 1999 |
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Airshed Management By Bert Groenenberg Williams Lake took a step forward recently in air quality. On January 12th, the City of Williams Lake approved their financial participation in a five-year Airshed Management Study.The City will contribute $21,000 per year for the next 5 years. It is contingent to all the other major partners contributing their portions. The Airshed Management Study is to see what pollutants are actually in the air of the Williams Lake Valley. Secondly, it should provide better grasp on the pollution sources. And finally, it will be able to make recommendations to reduce the air pollution. The vote to support the project was unanimous. Councillor Kerry Cook, who Chairs the Airshed Committee, introduced the motion. The Airshed Study is a joint project with the City of Quesnel. BC Environment will do the work, contributing about 40% of the direct cost plus some indirect costs. The other major partner may be Forest Renewal BC, but this depends on the participation and support of the people of Williams Lake and Quesnel. Quesnel has committed an equal amount. The Cariboo Regional District is expected to approve $5,000 per year from the areas represented by Jon Wolbers and Grant See. Total cost is $960,000. Williams Lake Environmental Society has been working on air quality issues for over 4 years. It began when the Province was setting standards for emissions from medium density fiberboard plants (MDF) in 1994. MDF plants emit fine wood dust and formaldehyde. A fiberboard plant has been planned for Williams Lake since 1990. But they have been unable to find a major partner with expertise and financing. Blowin' In The Wind By Darryl Grams Years ago Bob Dylan sang about the answers to life that are `Blowing in the wind.' The concept that as consumers we may be able to soon buy green power in B.C. is exciting. Call your B.C. Hydro office and let them know that you are interested in having the option of buying green power. When they receive enough interest they are apparently willing to follow the lead of the Alberta experience. They are listening, they have brought the issue up within the corporate office, but they need some consumer demand and they will meet it! Vision Quest also sells pollution credits much like buying and selling other commodities on the stock exchange. For example if a company produces a lot of sulphur laden carbon exhaust from another process they can buy a pollution credit that offsets their amount of pollution produced by the fact that these wind generators produce a non-polluting source of power with no adverse air effects. The pollution credits are controversial but do support the alternative energy industry and do remove some of the polluting sources from the environment. Vision Quest has a website http://www.greenenergy.com. There is a recent article in the Calgary Sun that discusses some of the new directions being taken by major companies based on the current trend towards less polluting power source the story is posted on the web http://www.canoe.com/Columnists/corbella.html. Xeriscaping Williams Lake Environmental Society sponsored a specialized course in landscaping. The course was tailored to the Cariboo conditions. Xeriscaping is a low water use type of landscaping design and format. Incorporating some of the principles of this concept produces a healthier, more beautiful landscape project in sync with local environmental conditions. It is not a stark or bleak style, rather it uses different concepts to produce vibrant results. The session information on plant selection gave a description of native and non-native annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees that are suitable for this climatic zone and these design principles. Gardeners of the novice to intermediate level found some useful suggestions and ideas. The purposes of this course were to raise money for the WLES, to increase awareness of the use of water resources in this area, and to begin a process of bringing the city on side towards rational water use. It was also meant for a little bit of fun and sharing. We did well on all accounts, $200 was raised and 9 people attended. It also received some positive feedback so it is a good start to a long term project of more efficient water use in Williams Lake.
Financial support of several school-based envrionmental initiatives Continuing Work
Watershed enhancement through the duck box project |
The quest for non-polluting sources of electrical are truly blowing
in the wind. Denmark has pledged to establish 500 offshore windmills by
2005, representing 25% of the national demand for electricity. The wave of
the future is also blowing in Alberta. Vision Quest Windelectric is a small
Alberta power producer that owns and operates several large wind generators
in southern Alberta. It sells its power to the Alberta energy grid and
through a complex process electrical power users in this province can
purchase the `Green Power' produced.
Topics included
rationale for xeriscaping, design principles, plant material, irrigation,
mulches, species suggestions, and additional resources to access (nurseries,
books, internet sites). 
Accomplishments