In the last few months I have received several questions from resident about the level of soot emanating from LP. A few years ago LP invested a considerable sum to improve it's pollution control equipment which had made a noticeable difference to the quality of the air we all breathe in Golden. Lately an increased soot level has observed. As a result I asked Annette Lutterman from the Golden & District air quality committee to look into the situation. Below is the response I received.
Hello
Keith,
I
spoke with Dave Messier at LP to address your question about the increased soot
observed. The situation is that last year there was a fire in one section of
the dry electrostatic precipitator pollution control equipment for the
boiler. This section was rebuilt in October 2012. There has since been some
equipment malfunction
LP
is:- Working closely with the Ministry of Environment on this issue.
- Currently, under agreement with MoE, they are running the boiler at a reduced load (20% lower) to keep emissions at a minimum and still continue to operate. The annual source test indicated that LP had exceeded its permitted particulate limits.
- LP has retained a third party engineering company to resolve the issue.This will result in some type of upgrade to the pollution controls to resolve the issue. The equipment may take 3-4 months to be manufactured. They must have it completed by the end of October due to freeze up. The upgrade may be completed earlier if the required equipment is manufactured sooner.
With
regards to your question about the IPP, nothing has changed in the past 10
years in terms of how hard the boiler is run. Any power that is sold is
essentially surplus capacity when the mill is operating at lower production
rates, and on the weekend. Currently, under the reduced boiler load, LP is producing power for the IPP only on weekends, when the production plant is not running.
So
you can pass on the message to residents that there have been some issues over
the past 8 months, but LP is working hard to resolve them.
Cheers, Annette
