PRESS RELEASE

NS contributor as well as victim of transborder pollution

Ambient Air Quality Accounts for Nova Scotia

Nova Scotians give as good as they get when it comes to transborder air pollution, GPI Atlantic said yesterday in a 250-page report on the state of the province’s atmosphere.

Dartmouth, Jan. 21, 2004—Anne Monette, GPI Atlantic senior researcher and the report’s lead author, today confirmed the widespread belief that problems in the province’s air quality stem largely from pollution in central Canada and the Northeastern U.S. “But that doesn’t let Nova Scotians off the hook,” said Monette, an environmental scientist. “We are major polluters. We’re perpetrators as much as we’re victims.”

Nova Scotia’s per capita sulphur oxide emissions, which contribute to acid rain, are twice the Canadian level; 2.6 times the levels of the U.S.A. (the next highest emitter); and much higher than any other reporting OECD country. Sulphur oxides (SOx) are a by-product of burning coal for electric power generation. Despite having a relatively small population, Nova Scotia emits more SOx from electric power generation by utilities than any other Canadian province (135 kilotonnes). The province alone accounts for 25% of Canada’s SOx emissions attributable to electric power generation (534kt).

Nova Scotia electric power generation emissions of SOx are 145kg/capita, more than 8 times the Canadian average and 1.35 times the per capita electric power generation SOx emissions of the next-closest province (Saskatchewan, 107kg/capita).

GPI Atlantic is a non-profit research institute based in Nova Scotia that is developing new measures of wellbeing – the Genuine Progress Index.

Ground-level ozone levels high

Other highlights from the report:

• In the summer of 2001, Nova Scotians seeking refuge from ground-level ozone pollution were better off in downtown Halifax than in Kejimkujik National Park, where ozone levels have been as high as 2.33 times the maximum acceptable concentration. In 2001, the highest ozone concentration in Canada occurred in Kings County, NS.
• Also in 2001, downtown Halifax had the highest annual average sulphur dioxide concentration of any commercial site in Canada – between two and 12 times the levels detected in commercial areas of other Canadian cities.
• Air pollutants emitted by Nova Scotians on a per capita basis were higher than all reporting OECD countries and produced damaging effects in excess of half a billion dollars a year. Sulphur oxides account for 40-50% of these damages.
• NS lakes have been slower to recover from acid rain than those in Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.
• The frequency of public reporting on air quality in the province has declined sharply. The GPI report is the first assessment of Nova Scotia’s air quality to be released at the provincial level in nearly six years – since the provincial government abandoned its State of the Environment reporting.

Significant improvements

There have been significant improvements in the quality of both Nova Scotia's and Canada's outdoor air since the 1970s. In Halifax, carbon monoxide (CO) levels are 63% lower than 25 years ago, particulate matter (PM) concentrations are down about 50%, sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels have dropped by 90%, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels by 20%. The most dramatic improvements have been in Sydney, where the closing of the Sydney Steel coke ovens in the 1980s saw PM concentrations in Whitney Pier drop by 79%, from levels that had been far in excess of the maximum acceptable concentration to levels below the maximum desirable concentration today.

Some of these improvements are due to improved emissions controls, including catalytic converters, in cars and trucks. Joint Canada-U.S. initiatives have also sharply reduced the sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions that contribute to acid rain.

A key air quality concern today is ground-level ozone - a pollutant formed when sunlight interacts with other pollutants. There have been no improvements in ozone concentrations in the province in more than 15 years, and ozone levels at all Nova Scotia monitoring stations are higher than the Canadian government's “maximum acceptable concentration.” This means that Nova Scotians are exposed to ozone pollution at levels that can cause harmful health effects.

Ozone has been linked to respiratory illnesses like bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, and emphysema, lung damage, and cardiovascular illnesses. High ozone levels are associated with increased hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and premature mortality due to cardiovascular and respiratory illness.

Monitoring stations in Kings County, Yarmouth, and Kejimkujik – far from local pollution sources – regularly register ozone levels at twice the maximum acceptable concentration, indicating that high ozone levels in the province are largely the result of pollutants being transported by wind from the U.S. and central Canada.

Nova Scotia’s per capita emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, sulphur oxides, and volatile organic compounds are higher than those of all industrialized countries. Its per capita emissions of nitrogen oxides are the third-highest in the world.

Some 40% of the half-billion dollars annually in damages from these emissions are attributable to electric power generation, nearly 60% of which relies on coal. Another 8% is due to light-duty cars and trucks.

The biggest industrial polluter in the province is the pulp and paper industry, which produces about 3% of total pollution damage costs.

Air pollution damages include the effects of acid rain on rivers, lakes, fish populations, and forests; human health impacts; damages to materials; reduced agricultural yields and forest productivity; and diminished visibility.

Contact:
Anne Monette: 902-466-0806; 489-7007
Ron Colman: 902-823-1944