By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
In the latest move to reduce dust storms in Valemount, Council passed a motion during their December 10th meeting to hire a consultant who will help collect and review evidence of dust being blown into the village from the Kinbasket Reservoir. Additionally, the Village will collect data on silica dust in Valemount – a type of particulate which can cause chronic lung problems, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
The Clean Air Task Force, a Council committee that makes recommendations to the Village on how to improve air quality in Valemount, recommended that the Village create a new email account to receive photos and videos of dust storms on the Kinbasket Reservoir. The email would be open for six months, and the committee would submit the evidence to BC Hydro as part of a request to measure and report Valemount’s PM10 levels – fine particulate matter, such as dust. Currently, PM2.5 – less fine dust, which typically comes from wood smoke – is monitored on a daily basis, but PM10 is monitored for 24 hours once every six days.
In the report on the committee’s recommendation, staff brought up several concerns with the recommendation. According to the report, compiling submissions and addressing follow-up questions would significantly increase staff workload. Staff would also have to review each submission to verify its authenticity, then cross-check the video evidence with data on weather and air quality monitoring, a task which the Village lacks expertise for, the report says. Finally, the report adds that PM10 is already monitored by the Ministry of Environment, and the resulting data is available in an Environmental Monitoring database.
Councillor Pete Pearson said while the recommendation is a good idea, he wonders whether the email inbox will get overwhelmed with submissions. Councillor Hollie Blanchette said having an email address dedicated to dust storm evidence could prevent staff from becoming overwhelmed. Blanchette also thanked Corporate Officer Carleena Shepherd for her work on the committee.
Pearson said Village email addresses do not receive mail from free email accounts such as Gmail or Hotmail. Torgerson thanked Pearson for his point and added that inbox storage may run out quickly if the email address consistently receives videos and photos.
Blanchette asked if the Village could request tech support to compress video and photo files sent to the dust storm email. CAO Anne Yanciw said that would not be possible, as files must be compressed by the sender of an email. She suggested considering the three alternatives listed in the staff report: 1) hiring a consultant to review and compile the videos; 2) developing and circulating educational materials on how to report observations of dust to BC Hydro or other appropriate authorities; and 3) collecting air quality samples during dust events, and samples of sand from the Kinbasket Reservoir, to test for silica dust, a type of particle that has adverse health impacts.
Councillor Donnie MacLean suggested following option three. She said the Village could consider using a normal Gmail account for the email, and her own email address has not run out of storage since she began collecting evidence in July.
“I would be hesitant to do that,” Yanciw said. “There might be security risks. I’m not tech-y enough to say that with confidence, it just might worry me. I would have to verify that that would be a safe process.”
MacLean added that this year may have less dust storms than last year if there is more precipitation preventing dust from getting kicked up from the Kinbasket Reservoir.
“2024 and 2023 were certainly anomaly years,” Torgerson said. “With low snow loads here in the valley… the [reservoir] drawdown was particularly long this year,” leaving more exposed sand that could contribute to dust storms.
MacLean agreed, and reiterated that she prefers the third option. The first option may negatively impact the Village’s budget, and the second option may strain the Village’s relationship with BC Hydro, she said. Torgerson asked MacLean if she was amending the motion to include the third option, alongside the creation of an email to collect video evidence. MacLean agreed to put forward the amendment.
Yanciw said if the Village chooses to move forward with collecting evidence, hiring a consultant would be necessary.
“Your staff is pretty fully loaded,” she told Council. “I don’t know where we would find the time to do this.”
Torgerson thanked Yanciw for her feedback.
Blanchette suggested consulting with the Ministry of Environment to see if the Province could identify ways to review dust storm evidence without putting further strain on Village staff.
Councillor Pete Pearson asked if the recommendation could be amended to direct staff to find a consultant who could review dust storm evidence, so that responsibility does not fall to Village staff.
Yanciw said Council cannot amend an amendment: instead, Council would have to pass an amended motion and follow it with a second motion, or defeat MacLean’s original amendment and use Pearson’s amendment instead.
Torgerson suggested defeating MacLean’s amendment. Council voted three to one to defeat the amendment. Torgerson asked if there was any discussion on the original, unamended motion.
Blanchette suggested discussing the proposal with the Village’s IT employees and a representative of the Ministry of Environment. She asked to postpone making a decision on the recommendation until after having those discussions.
“We need to bring this to the specialists. This is important, so I want to do this right,” she added.
Yanciw asked if Council defeated MacLean’s amendment to consider Pearson’s amendment.
“It was to give us a clean slate,” Torgerson said.
Torgerson asked Council to vote on the original motion. It was defeated unanimously.
Pearson said he supports collecting video and photo evidence of dust storms and hiring a consultant to review the submissions. He also supports following suggestion three and collecting data on air quality. He moved to amend the motion to include hiring a consultant before collecting and reviewing videos and data.
Torgerson asked Council to vote on Pearson’s amendment.
“We need to amend it to ask staff to look for funding,” MacLean said. “[How] will we pay for said consultant?”
Yanciw said Pearson’s amendment would be sufficient direction for staff to research and estimate the cost of hiring a consultant, which would then be brought forward during 2025 budget discussions.
Blanchette asked to bring the Ministry of Environment to a discussion about the recommendation. Torgerson asked if the Ministry’s representative who sits on the Clean Air Task Force, Gail Roth, was present when the committee drafted and approved the recommendation. Blanchette said Roth was present, but added that she thinks the Ministry should be included in discussions about hiring a consultant.
Torgerson said the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation has used an environmental consulting company in its advocacy to reduce dust from the nearby Williston Reservoir. Similarly, Simpcw First Nation contracts Etsék’ Services LLP, an environmental consultancy firm, he said.
“I would hope that we engage with our First Nations partners, because the program up in the Williston area was fully funded by BC Hydro,” he said. “The example drawn from a BC Hydro reservoir, involving First Nations, involving communities, can be replicated.”
Council voted to approve the recommendation, with Pearson’s amendment.
