Bad Air

[Old Boy]

For the last month the valley has been full of Smoke. Government dose not control anymore?????? Wonder what big Lumber company is doing it?? Seems that no one controls them any more. Down by Pulp mill you could not see the road nov/12 am. And they did not shut road down . Logging truck drove off road. Young girl standing in Middle of road crying scared to drive . Old couple were in same condition. Government people said would cost pulp to much money to shut road down . Life in BC. now is not worth anything . What your take.

 

[tex78]

Huh... Just a rant??

 

[bobsledder]

For the last month the valley has been full of Smoke. Government dose not control anymore?????? Wonder what big Lumber company is doing it?? Seems that no one controls them any more. Down by Pulp mill you could not see the road nov/12 am. And they did not shut road down . Logging truck drove off road. Young girl standing in Middle of road crying scared to drive . Old couple were in same condition. Government people said would cost pulp to much money to shut road down . Life in BC. now is not worth anything . What your take.

My take.....I think you inhaled some

 

[moyiesledhead]

Yes it's a rant, but he's right. I work at the pulp mill. It was brutal all day on the 12th. Pretty much spent the whole day wearing a respirator. The drive out was the worst conditions I've seen in 28 years of doing that drive. Absolute zero visibility from smoke. That highway should have been closed!

 

[teeroy]

forest industry must have some pull. here in my MD they will make them put the brush piles out if they cause a hazard on the highway. I just had a dodge pickup smash into my beavertails the other day because of smoke from burning brushpiles, visibility went to zero and the guy ahead of me slowed to a crawl....next thing I know I feel a bang....dodge was bent up pretty good. the next day the MD made the farmer bring out a cat and a hoe to extinguish the piles.

fire season ended on Oct 31st, so all the farmers too cheap to buy permits during fire season are doing their burning now. the peace valley has been smoky for the last few weeks

 

[mathrulz]

Are you sure it was actually smoke - something was uncontrollably burning? Must've been quite the unusual emergency if so...

Industrial processes common to facilities such as pulp mills often emit hot flue gases that form a white cloud sort of - exactly the same as the white cloud that forms near your house from your furnace or hot water tank exhaust. This is the water vapor in the air and flue gas reacting to the temperature change. When it's cold outside it becomes more visible and sometimes stays lower to the ground. This is the same as low hanging clouds or fog that commonly occurs around the world every day - some is thicker and harder to see through than others. Nothing unusual, just water vapor trapped by temperature and likely no wind.

 

[Bnorth]

Are you sure it was actually smoke - something was uncontrollably burning? Must've been quite the unusual emergency if so...

Industrial processes common to facilities such as pulp mills often emit hot flue gases that form a white cloud sort of - exactly the same as the white cloud that forms near your house from your furnace or hot water tank exhaust. This is the water vapor in the air and flue gas reacting to the temperature change. When it's cold outside it becomes more visible and sometimes stays lower to the ground. This is the same as low hanging clouds or fog that commonly occurs around the world every day - some is thicker and harder to see through than others. Nothing unusual, just water vapor trapped by temperature and likely no wind.

I'm guessing that the guy that works at Skook Pulp knows the difference between recovery boiler and smoke emissions.

Obviously the contractors doing the burning lit up piles when they shouldn't have, they should have paid closer attention to the venting indices on those days. I was out burning a few blocks this fall and as long as wind direction, velocity and venting is good it doesn't create issues in the valley.