The Boundary Air Quality Committee (BAQC) held its inaugural meeting on Feb. 13, 2006 and, with only a few exceptions, it has met on a monthly basis since then. The committee’s stated mandate at that time was: To develop an air quality management plan that improves the quality of life and health in the Boundary Region while sustaining a viable economic base.

After over four years of meetings, BAQC may have fulfilled its original purpose and now reached the time when it must be reformed to include other environmental matters of concern to residents. Perhaps as a watchdog group with a broader environmental mandate that includes air quality.

What began as a rather disparate group eventually gelled into a cohesive working body that has made a significant contribution to the community with its initiatives.

Its major accomplishments include an air quality management plan, an emissions inventory, a strong influence on the Roxul environmental operating permit, and most recently, a dispersion model.

BAQC met on Thursday, May 13, for a couple hours to discuss the forthcoming dispersion model and the future work of the committee.

Dispersion modelling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in a particular air shed. Data that are used in creating the model are: wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric turbulence, air temperature, temperature inversions, sources of emissions, emissions exit temperature, rate of flow, terrain elevations, and the location, height and width of obstructions.

The emissions dispersion model for the region that was commissioned almost a year ago is a critical instrument in air quality management. Bryan McEwen an engineer from SNC Lavalin, a company with offices in several locations in B.C., informed the committee by telephone that he hoped to have a draft model prepared and in the hands of the chair within a week.

Residents who have wondered how the polluted emissions from industrial stacks, wood stoves, outdoor burning and vehicles exhausts are dispersed throughout the valley will soon know. The information will also be valuable in the future should new industries apply to locate in Grand Forks, and it will serve a useful purpose in monitoring the emissions output of existing industrial operations.

The area covered by the model will extend from Hardy Mountain to Christina Lake. It will show how emissions from both fixed and mobile sources travel through the valley.

Since BAQC began its work, Canpar, a major wood product industry at the time, has closed, and the sawmill is operating fewer hours by Interior Forest Products (Interfor). Roxul has undergone a major upgrade of its emissions controls and now operates under a more stringent permit. And these changes resulted in a considerable reduction in air pollutants.

With its future now somewhat in limbo, the committee has agreed to meet again in the fall to discuss the dispersion model further and deal with issues that may have arisen through the summer.

The feeling among BAQC members is that the committee serves a useful purpose and that it should meet at least a couple times a year to monitor the implementation of the Air Quality Management Plan.

Chris Moslin, incumbent chair of BAQC, told the committee that his responsibilities as a city councillor have broadened in scope and he will not be able to continue in the chair's position. He called for a new "champion" to take his place. Moslin made it clear that city council is still committed to the improvement of air quality.

During its four-year tenure the committee has operated on a small budget, but in spite of that shortcoming it has managed to accomplish a great deal and through its work the air shed over the Grand Forks area is much cleaner.