EJQ4 - Spring 2025 - Journal - Page 24
there’s more value to anaerobically digest those organics and create biogas or methane,” Webb observes. “And then that methane can be used to
run generators, or it can be upgraded to be used for vehicles and for your
home, for heating… so we’re part of that whole ecosystem where we are
dealing with the emissions from each of the stages of treatment.”
From a Future Ready perspective, whether it’s anticipating the
construction of a new plant, a new road or building a high-rise condo
“you have to make sure to protect the local air quality,” before those
projects get approved. This includes conducting land use studies “to see
how compatible that location is in terms of air quality.”
Going on the defensive
If, for instance, a builder wants to construct a residential condo near a
major transportation corridor, the work doesn’t immediately focus on
addressing air pollution from nearby vehicular tra昀케c, but rather whether
there is enough of a setback due to the air quality challenges posed by that
location in the 昀椀rst place.
As communities continue to grow in and around existing industrial areas
as part of e昀昀orts to intensify, companies such as WSP have developed
what’s known as their Future Ready program, part of which includes
not only addressing existing air quality issues but anticipating future
challenges.
Principal Engineer Linda Lattner, the technical lead for WSP’s air quality
practice in Ontario notes that “most of the work our team does is related
to ambient air quality. But when we start talking about facility air quality,
we pull in colleagues from environmental health and safety. The team
looks at potential e昀昀ects of ambient air on nearby communities. Anything
that might be a昀昀ected by local industries or transportation sector. We
also look at (air pollution coming from) roads and highways.”
Due to heightened concerns over air quality on multiple fronts, Biorem’s
Webb says that from his front-line perspective “what I’m seeing is
municipalities take the matter into their own hands. They are dissatis昀椀ed
with the federal and provincial level regulations and enforcement
and can’t wait for those regulations to change. So, I’ve seen cities like
Hamilton and Metro Vancouver that go above and beyond the federal and
provincial regulations to ensure a better quality of life for their citizens.”
As well these and other cities should; in light of such trends as the
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