Kitimat LNG Facility Blows Past Pollution Limits

The British Columbia coast saw flames as tall as a 26-story building on average 45 times over the permitted limit, contradicting the promise of LNG Canada's Kitimat facility being the world's cleanest fossil fuel bridge.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) was supposed to be a cleaner alternative to coal, but in reality, the plant emitted significantly more pollutants than expected. According to air quality researcher Laura Minet, who obtained emissions reports through freedom of information proceedings, the facility exceeded permitted volumes by 45 times on average for warm and wet flares, and by 40 times for cold and dry flares.

The LNG Canada facility has been in operation since last winter, and despite the excessive pollution, it continued to ship cargoes. The company claims that elevated flaring is a safety measure during early operations and will decrease once the plant reaches regular operation.

However, independent researchers are less confident in the permits themselves, pointing out that without information on how LNG Canada modeled flaring for its permits, no comparison can be made between forecast volumes and those actually emitted. Minet's research also found that LNG facilities worldwide have start-up phases with large amounts of flaring lasting two years on average.