Worried about the health impacts of flaring? Me too.
December 11, 2025
Kate McInnes
I’m a Squamish mom, and a former investigative journalist.
In spring 2023 I sat at my kitchen table wondering what local health effects there might be from Woodfibre LNG’s flarestack.
I reached out to Tracey at My Sea to Sky and worked with Canada’s top public-health and air quality researchers to answer one central question:
What are we actually breathing when LNG plants operate near residential communities and flare massive volumes of gas?
The results of the first study were published this September in an independent, peer-reviewed analysis. What we uncovered should concern every family in Squamish.
The research found that LNG “start-up” phases release three times more gas than companies model in their environmental assessments.
These flares are hotter, louder, and significantly more polluting than regular operations. They also emit toxic and carcinogenic pollutants — including benzene and fine particulate matter — at levels that have never been properly modelled, measured, monitored comprehensively, or disclosed by LNG operators or regulators.
LEARN MORE: CBC | NATIONAL OBSERVER | SQUAMISH CHIEF | READ THE STUDY
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LNG Canada's toxic flare can reach 90 metres high
Residents in Kitimat, B.C., are already reporting toxic air pollution from LNG Canada’s flarestack that is affecting the health of residents and their children.
In the U.S., a new report found that all operational LNG terminals had violated pollution limits. In Canada, a broader investigation by The Tyee shows that many health risks tied to LNG expansion are being ignored. Doctors are warning that "people are getting sick."
We put together videos from Kitimat residents showing the toxic black plume and massive flare at LNG Canada which can reach 90 metres high.
WATCH ON: INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK
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TAKE ACTION! Our communities deserve to have clean air
My Sea to Sky is calling on the BC government to immediately require full modelling and accounting of flaring emissions for Woodfibre LNG in the LNG commissioning phase.
We are endorsing the call by doctors, nurses, and First Nations leaders for an independent, cumulative, comprehensive human health impacts assessment of the gas industry in BC – from fracking to transport, liquefaction and export.
Please take a minute to send a letter to regulators. Let them know the health impacts of flaring from Woodfibre LNG must be assessed. Talk to your neighbours, call your MLA and MP to share your concerns.
SEND A LETTER!Our communities deserve to have clean air, not toxic pollution from Woodfibre LNG's flarestack.
Kate McInnes
Director of Health and Economic Campaigns
My Sea to Sky
My Sea to Sky is incredibly proud and grateful to say that we rely on the My Sea to Sky community for small donations that provide the majority of our funding. Since our launch in 2014, we have been funded through personal savings, family and friends; and powered by the passion of our volunteers. Your generous contribution will help us to run our critical campaigns to defend, protect, and restore Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound. Can you chip in?