Letter to the Editor

Poor quality public information about air quality in the East Kootenay leaves me wondering if I should be concerned for the health of my family.

We watched earlier this summer as Kamloops hit 22 on the 10-point Air Quality Health Index and media widely reported high risk readings of seven in Vancouver.

While there has been intermittent smoke throughout the summer, we have been receiving the same Special Air Quality Advisories issued by Environment Canada for at least two months now.

But it’s clear from the recent pea soup haze that it’s getting worse.

How bad has air quality become? We don’t know because there is no air quality reporting on the East Kootenay. The closest Environment Canada monitoring station is in Castlegar – with 250 kms and two major mountain ranges separating the 60,000 residents of the East Kootenay from that data point.

It leaves me wondering if we should be keeping our newborn and three-year-old inside. The only benchmark I have for changing conditions is that for the first time I can no longer see the ski hill four kilometres from my house.

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. It feels like we are getting second-class service.

Kevin Wilson, 

Kimberley

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