Early last month, a hazy pall hung over parts of the United States, the result of smoke and particles from wildfires burning in Canada, which having started a few months prior, had driven air quality to unhealthy levels. The smog saw some flights cancelled, schools restricting outdoor activities and ending classes early, while several offices temporarily embraced once again, the work-from-home edict a la Covid-19. The situation in the US has continued to fluctuate, possibly owing to wind direction and speed; not so in Canada, where as of last week, there were some 500 wildfires burning, with at least a half of them out of control. In a country that sees wildfires every year, the 2023 season, which is far from over, has already been pegged as the worst on record to date.
As terrible as that sounds, wildfire smoke is visible and allows for protective measures to be taken, inclusive of evacuation where necessary and possible, particularly of infants, children and the elderly. There are other types of air pollution, which are insidious but tend to be ignored. In some cases, they are difficult to measure and the polluters find it expedient to turn a blind eye. A case in point is soot from oil refineries. A known hazard in Nigeria and Syria, soot has also been found emanating from refineries in the US operated by Valero, British Petroleum, Chevron and ExxonMobil, among others. This is apart from the additional known air pollutants from oil refineries, such as methane, carbon monoxide, benzene and toxic metals to name a few.
Last year, big oil challenged air quality regulators over calls to install devices in refineries to control the condensable soot they emit, claiming that the measurements done by scientists were flawed. This is in spite of the fact that research has proven that soot, both solid and condensable, causes more than 50,000 deaths a year in the US.
That this occurs in places where there are means to measure air quality and standards by which most companies must operate should give us pause for thought. We really have no idea what is in the air that we breathe in this country. We often read that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has waived environmental assessments on various projects, choosing not to evaluate the likely inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts of those endeavours on the environment. Importantly, this also negates the contribution of the community’s voice to the proposed project.
The EPA would usually publish a notice stating that it had been assured by the prospective operators or builders that measures would be put in place, including where necessary, filters to capture dust and particulate matter. It normally also claims that any likely emissions would be within World Health Organisation (WHO) stipulated limits. Unfortunately, recent developments involving this agency and the companies drilling for oil in Guyana’s waters warn us to be wary of its pronouncements.
Last month, the EPA waived an assessment for an asphalt plant on the Linden Highway, which one assumes will be pressed into operation for the imminent road work to be undertaken there. According to a public notice, the EPA stated that there was “potential for temporary impacts on air quality”. It acknowledged that the plant would emit “the maximum predicted concentrations of key pollutants nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, particulate matter and carbon monoxide”. Considering that an asphalt plant has to be in constant operation to produce the bituminous pitch used for road surfacing, one wonders how the impact of its emissions could be assessed as temporary. Furthermore, how often will the EPA measure said emissions to ensure that they remain within the WHO stipulated limits? What is fortunate is that the Linden Highway is not densely populated. Nevertheless, people do live and farm there and as seen with the Canadian wildfires, wind can carry smoke and particulate matter for some distance.
According to the WHO, air contaminants also include dust, fumes, gas, mist, odour, and vapour, in quantities and duration that can be injurious to human health. Due to their small size, some air pollutants are able to penetrate into the bloodstream via the lungs and circulate throughout the entire body. Exposure to this pollution can result in skin and eye irritation at the basic level, to respiratory issues such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, lung capacity loss, and emphysema. Prolonged exposure can cause neurological and cardiovascular diseases, and some cancers. According to data from the WHO, globally, outdoor air pollution kills around seven million people each year.
The freedom to breathe clean air is yet another thing that cannot be replaced, no matter how much oil money the country earns. The government and all of us would do well to remember this.
