Manitoba Energy and Mines appears confident that an oil battery is not to blame for the toxic gases afflicting a farm family near Tilston, Man.
Bruce Campbell and his father believe the battery releases gases from its flare stack that pose a health threat to themselves, their family and their livestock. But Energy and Mines recently issued information that counters the Campbells’ concerns.
“We believe that this battery operates efficiently and effectively and is not the source of emissions causing air quality problems,” said John Fox, the department’s chief petroleum engineer.
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In a six-page information notice to the media, Energy and Mines explained why it holds that position:
- Last July, Manitoba Environment began monitoring the air at the Campbell farm for traces of sulfur dioxide. The department found unusually high readings of the gas on nine different occasions in August. The high readings were of a short duration, lasting an average of eight minutes. The nature of the readings suggests a source other than the oil battery, Fox said.
If the sulfur dioxide was from the oil battery, located about 1.5 kilometres from the Campbells’ home, the monitor would have recorded a more gradual increase and decrease of the gas. Fox said the spikes of sulfur dioxide recorded on the government monitor suggest “a fairly localized source versus something emitted into the atmosphere by something almost a mile away.”
- Manitoba Energy and Mines used computer modeling to learn how sulfur dioxide emissions from the battery affect air quality. The model predicted what concentrations of sulfur dioxide would be found at ground level at various distances downwind of the battery.
At 287 metres downwind of the plant, concentrations of the gas were well within air quality levels accepted in Manitoba, Fox said.
- Energy and Mines also pointed to a study done by Alberta Health in 1998. The study looked at whether there was a link between areas where flaring occurs and respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia. No relationship was found.
- Energy and Mines cited the findings of a study done in Alberta that looked at the effects of emissions from licensed sour gas processing plants on livestock. The study, done through the University of Alberta, found “little evidence of negative effects” on the health of beef and dairy cattle. The author of the study found nothing to suggest that sour gas, sulfur dioxide or solution gas flaring emissions had caused stillbirths in cattle herds, or the deaths of cows and calves.
- The Clean Air Strategic Alliance in Alberta recently recommended new guidelines for flare stacks to improve their efficiency. The flare stack at the Tilston battery meets those proposed guidelines.
Manitoba Energy and Mines would not speculate on what else might be yielding the toxic gases affecting the Campbell family.
