Smog concerns dog Irving refinery proposal

Air quality advocates are lining up withquestions and concerns about Irving Oil's proposal to build a second oil refinery in Saint John.

The industrial city is already home to a pulp mill,the largestoil refinery in Canadaand several factories, employing thousands of people. Athick haze of brownish, yellowish smog hangs over Saint John on most days, and when the atmospheric conditions are right, people driving into the city are greeted by the strong smell of sulphur, emitted by the Irving-owned pulp mill.

On Thursday, Irving Oil confirmed CBC reportsthat the company is considering building another refinery on hundreds of hectares of land it boughtin Red Head, onthe eastern edge of the city. The refinery would complement the company's liquid natural gas terminal, which is under construction in nearby Mispec.

Gordon Dalzell is with the Citizens' Coalition for Clean Air,and says there is no such thing as a clean refinery, and Saint John can't withstandmore assaults on its air quality."We know the impact such a facility would have on the local air that we breathe and I could never accept it."

Kevin Scott isIrving Oil's director of refining growth, and predicted the project would create 5,000 construction jobs and eventually employ 1,000 peopleonce it starts operating.

Scott says the new refinery would be as big as the existing one, which processes 300,000 barrels of oil per day,but would process a heavier grade of crude oil. Hesays that doesn't mean more pollution.

"Well, heavier crude doesn't necessarily translate into emissions," he said. "It's to do with the amount of carbon, you know, the heaviness of the material. And you just need different equipment to refine that than what you have today."

Irving plans buffer zone for new refinery

Scottsays thepretty, seaside community of Red Head will be protected from the output of the proposed refinery. He saysthe company has bought enough landso thatthe neighbourhood won't be affected.

"We've bought a lot of land, we want to think about creating a significant buffer space for people," he said. "We understand people will have concerns, and we want to deal with those through consultation and the permitting process."

Red Head residentBeth Roy says homeowners have to know exactly where the refinery would be built, so they can decide what to do with their houses.

Mike McCambridge says he'd sell his houseif he could get a good price. He says he wants out of the neighbourhood.

"Already, construction at Canaport [where the LNG terminal is]is interfering with our quality of life with noise and I just see it getting worse," he said.

Mispec fisherman Wayne Moore is worried about the additional tanker traffic a new refinery could bring.

"It's just an added chaos to us as far as fishing goes. The LNG thing, when it came up, we tried to get answers of where we're going to fish and how it's going to displace our traps. They're going to build a refinery out here and it's going to be more ships and it's gonna screw us up big-time forfishing," he said.

Scott says the company hasn't decided on the precise location for the proposed refinery, or whether it will even be built.He says the company needs a financial backer for the project,whichhas anestimatedprice tag of$5 billion to $7 billion, and hopes to have a decision by early 2007.

Despite the environmental concerns, theidea is already getting support from business people and politicians at all levels.

Conservative MP Greg Thompson, who represents southwestern New Brunswick and is Canada's minister of veterans affairs, said the project fits in well withPrime Minister Stephen Harper's agenda.

"Canada's new government is committed to building this country as an energy superpower and a proposal like this could help us realize that vision," he said.