Smithers Council had a visit from the BC Ministry of Environment to address local air quality concerns on Tuesday night.
Based on a study done between 2011 – 2013, data showed that Smithers and Williams Lake each had the highest ozone concentrations in the Central Interior.
It also showed that Smithers had the second worst daily mean of dangerous particulate in the area, behind only Vanderhoof.
Ministry of Environment spokesman Glen Okrainetz says particulate levels aren’t too bad on most days, but can be very harmful in cold weather.
“It’s not so much the ongoing emissions, it appears [to be that] we’ve got some spikes that occur likely in the winter associated with residential wood combustion when you’ve got weather like you do here this week. Nice clear, cold weather the smoke has nowhere to go,” he says.
Air quality has been a longstanding concern in Smithers, and Mayor Taylor Bachrach says both levels of government plan to collaborate to make it better.
“They’re serious about working with us to tackle it, we’re serious about tackling it, we just need to do the work and put our nose to the grindstone and find the strategies that are going to work,” the Mayor says.