Two individuals are continuing a fight for standing in an appeal of an air emissions permit for Rio Tinto's $3.3-billion smelter project in northwest B.C.
Terrace resident Charles Claus, a former pastor ini Prince George, and part-time Terrace resident Lynda Gagne believed they had won a critical B.C. Supreme Court victory this spring when the court said the province's Environmental Appeal Board had used a restrictive interpretation in deciding who could be part of the appeal.
Both had been rejected for not being a "person aggrieved" when they tried to appeal a provincial permit allowing an increase in sulphur dioxide to 42 tonnes from 27 tonnes per day from Rio Tinto's modernization of its aluminum smelter in Kitimat.
Terrace is about 50 kilometres as the crow flies from Kitimat, on the coast, and both are located in a narrow valley penned in by steep mountains.
But after the appeal board reviewed their case as ordered by the court, they were rejected again. (An appeal by two Kitimat residents has been accepted).
Claus and Gagne, with financial support from West Coast Environmental Law, are challenging that second decision, also in B.C. Supreme Court.
They filed a petition on Aug. 14, which charges that the appeal board "failed to implement" the court's direction.
Neither the appeal board nor Rio Tinto has filed a response.
"When we received the ruling (this spring) we interpreted it as a win, and essentially interpreted it as direction to the Environmental Appeal Board to let us have standing in this appeal, so when they came out with the same decision we were extremely surprised," Gagne said.
"My concern all along has been that people in the (Terrace) area have been shut out of this decision making process," said Claus.
The pair asked for standing on the basis that an increase in sulphur dioxide emissions will affect air quality and their asthma, and that acid rain will have a negative effect on soil and farming.
They want to see Rio Tinto put pollutant scrubbers in place at a cost of $150 million to $200 million.
Rio Tinto officials could not be reached for comment.
The company has said that all emissions other than sulphur dioxide from the smelter will be reduced, that sulphur dioxide emissions outside Kitimat will not exceed provincial limits and that sulphur dioxide emissions in Kitimat will not have any material effects on human health.
The company, a global mining and refining enterprise with revenues of more than $51 billion in 2013, has also said claims that agriculture and fish would be affected by increased sulphur dioxide emissions were "highly speculative."
Rio Tinto says science professionals hired by them found the only area where an impact on soil might be seen is a small section of industrial land at the smelter. The company said studies also show the increase in sulphur dioxide emissions will not cause respiratory disease in healthy people, but may cause a less than one per cent increase in breathing problems for those with existing conditions such as asthma.
And Rio Tinto said that none of the streams samples, and only one per cent of the lakes in the study region, may see some acidification.
The B.C. Supreme Court ruling had been welcomed by environmental and community groups as it opened the possibility for wider standing in future appeals of $17 billion of proposed liquefied natural gas projects in the Kitimat air shed and a proposed $8-billion oil refinery.
"We funded this appeal because we believe that shutting the door on British Columbians who are concerned about their health is wrong," said Andrew Gage, a lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law.
"Good environmental decisions need to be transparent and involve everyone who believes that they may be impacted," said Gage.
Northern Health has expressed concerns about the health impacts of increased emissions, and has recommended that scrubbers be installed to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions.
