Clean-air activist presses for Irving refinery change as permit comes up for renewal

Gordon Dalzell has lived for decades near the Irving Oil Refinery in Saint John, and air quality has long been top of mind for him, both as a clean-air activist and as a resident who likes to walk the streets of his neighbourhood.

He always wonders what he might be breathing in.

Sometimes, he said, he can smell and taste pollutants in the air; other times he feels a shortness of breath.

He said this suggests that maybe the air those days has a higher than usual level of ground-level ozone, caused by a mix of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides from the refinery, mixed with heat from the sun. 

Dalzell files complaints when he thinks something is amiss.

"The industries take them very seriously, and they've often told me, 'Look, no problem," Dalzell said in a recent interview on the east side of the city, overlooking the refinery. "We're glad to get this information so we can make some corrections.'"

Dalzell also participates in larger opportunities to influence air quality near the refinery, most recently the public engagement process for the renewal of the refinery's air quality approval to operate. 

The current approval, in place for the last five years, expires July 15.

Dalzell keeps an eye on things through the federal government's local air quality health index, which takes regular readings of ground level ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide in communities across the country.

Using a scale of one to 10, Dalzell said, it's a gauge of when it's safe to go outside and engage in sports and other physical activities.

"If it's above six or seven and it still looks OK outside, that means that there is some ground-level ozone out there and that can make it sometimes a little harder to breathe, especially when you exert yourself," Dalzell said.

The public participation part of the refinery renewal process began Jan. 15, when people were invited to submit comments, which were addressed in an interim report issued in March along with a draft approval to operate.

The period for public comment ends May 16, after which the New Brunswick Environment Department will prepare a final summary of the issues and responses and give it to the environment minister for final approval.

He has been a lone advocate when it comes to this public engagement process but a successful one. His submission in 2020 was 200 pages long, handwritten and raised 33 issues. He asked for stricter emissions levels for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. The Environment Department responded by capping them at 4,500 tonnes.