Organizations call on federal and B.C. governments to mandate health impact assessment of LNG Canada’s Phase One

FORT ST. JOHN — More than 50 organizations are calling on the federal and B.C. governments to conduct an independent assessment of the LNG Canada Phase 1. 

According to a news release by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) on May 14th, more than 50 organizations have written a letter to the government to “immediately” mandate a cumulative and independent health impact assessment of the country’s “first LNG export operation.” 

This comes after a freedom of information request revealed that an ongoing operation defect with LNG Canada’s flare stack in Kitimat has cracked the facility’s flare tip, leading to the use of its emergency space flare as its largest source of flaring in March. 

The release said LNG Canada has exceeded its monthly authorized emissions on average 40 times over at least six consecutive months, and the facility has relied on unregulated, emergency flaring for nearly three months. 

The emissions expose residents in Kitimat and the region to health-harming chemicals, including black carbon and benzene, a potent carcinogen with no safe exposure level. 

LNG Canada estimated that it will take three years to resolve the equipment failures that have caused these violations, raising significant concerns about prolonged regulatory non-compliance, avoidable harms to people’s health, and adequacy of oversight for “one of Canada’s most emissions-intensive industrial projects, the release said. 

Dr. Tim Takaro, a CAPE representative, physician-scientist, and professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University, said: “Canada’s first LNG export operation is releasing toxic emissions at exponentially higher levels than allowed.” 

“Yet not only is the government failing to protect nearby communities from this harm, [but] it is moving full steam ahead on brand new LNG projects that will put countless more people at risk,” he said. “This is unacceptable. We need to pause and understand the full health impacts of the LNG facilities we have before launching new ones.” 

In the letter, the organizations are asking for a mandatory industry-funded, cumulative health impact assessment, the suspension of all federal and provincial public support for new LNG projects, and transparent, comprehensive carbon accounting. 

The release said that although Ottawa acknowledged that expanding LNG production will increase emissions and intensify environmental risks, “very little concrete data” beyond commitments and tax incentives was provided. 

It also highlighted the federal government’s recent budget, which outlines 11 other foreign LNG projects at various stages of development across the country. 

The release said that without intervention, the same risks could emerge in other parts of the country. 

To read the full letter, see below.