Air quality a concern for Fort Saskatchewan residents

Two recent sour gas leaks in Fort Saskatchewan have led to calls for an environmental impact study before new plants and oil upgraders are built.

The Fort Saskatchewan area, northeast of Edmonton, is home to several heavy-industry plants. The region is preparing for billions of dollars in investment over the next10 years.

Anne Brown, who lives just outside Fort Saskatchewan, is calling for an environmental impact assessment.

"We realize that the jobs are important, we realize the tax base is important. But we need to look after the people, we need to look after the environment, we need to look after our water."

Shell's Scotford upgrader processes bitumen from the Alberta oilsands into synthetic crude oil.

On Sept. 12, residents near the plant were advised to stay indoors after hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide were released at the heavy-oil upgrader site.

Days earlier, on Sept. 8, sulphur dioxide ignited on site, but in a different unit.

The medical officer of health for the region says there have been plenty of studies on the air quality in Fort Saskatchewan. Research shows that residents are not being exposed to any high levels of toxins, said Dr. Gerry Predy.

"There's been concerns expressed about asthma and respiratory conditions. Several studies have been done and none of them have shown that there's really any significant increase or difference between people living in proximity to industry versus those living away."

'Nose starting to burn'

Resident Cathy Radke believes one of the sour gas leaks this month wafted over to her dairy farm. She got in her car and left the area for a couple of hours.

"My nose was starting to burn in the back of my nose and down my throat somewhat."

Radke is worried about her health andthe health of her cattle.

"What's going to be the long term? They still were breathing whatever it was in the air for those hours until it did disperse."

Jim Sheasgreen, the mayor of Fort Saskatchewan, says he doesn't share environmental concerns about the expansion of heavy industry. His main worry is making sure infrastructure and social services improvements match the pace of development.

"If you look at the track record here I would say it's very good to excellent.The number of these incidents are very infrequent."