OGI technology, a tool widely used by U.S. regulators, makes visible the uncombusted and partially combusted hydrocarbons, methane, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene. OGI data collection at the LNG Canada facility in May 2026 documents the extent of these flaring and venting emissions. It was led by Tim Doty, a technical air monitoring expert, who is an ITC Level III Master Thermographer, Technical Advisor to Texas-based nonprofit Oilfield Witness, and recently retired from nearly 30 years’ service at the state of Texas’ environmental agency.

The invisible hydrocarbon pollutants documented at LNG Canada are above-and-beyond the excessive flaring that has been taking place at the facility. New documents from the BC Energy Regulator, obtained last week through Freedom of Information requests, show that LNG Canada continues to surpass its permitted levels of flaring and continues to rely on the spare flare because an ongoing problem rendered the warm/wet flare unusable earlier this year.

These documents show the spare flare had a monthly average rate of 141.3 m3/minute against a 7.8 m3/minute permit level in April, 18 times higher than the permit. At this rate, a single day of flaring from the spare flare at LNG Canada burns enough gas to heat roughly 13,500 to 20,000 homes for one day in the winter. The facility’s other flares were also in exceedance of their permits in April:

• at 16.79m3/minute against the permit limit of 9.6 m3/minute for the cold/dry flare, and;
• at 32.92 m3/minute against the permit limit of 6.0 m3/minute for the loading and storage flare.

Flaring refers to the combustion of gas in a flare stack or an incinerator. It is an intentional and controlled burning of hydrocarbons with a visible flame. Venting is an intentional and controlled release of uncombusted gases into the atmosphere during operations. Both processes release uncombusted methane, benzene, other VOCs and oxides of nitrogen and sulphur. Many are known to harm human health even over short exposure periods.

Benzene, for example, is such a potent carcinogen that no safe exposure level has been found. Benzene is not routinely measured or reported at LNG facilities in British Columbia. However, monitoring elsewhere reveals that significant levels of benzene can be released from such facilities. For instance, more than 660 kilograms (1473 pounds) of benzene was released by Freeport LNG in Texas in 2024—an enormous quantity for a chemical often measured in milligrams. In Australia, an independent review of Inpex Ichthys LNG found that benzene was ‘systematically underestimated’ for years.

LNG Canada says that gas processed at the facility “has the same composition as the natural gas used in homes for heating and cooking.” Yet peer-reviewed research shows gas stoves in Vancouver and Calgary have the highest levels of benzene among 17 North American cities.

In British Columbia, five communities that share an airshed with LNG infrastructure—Squamish, New Westminster, Dawson Creek, Hazelton, and Terrace—as well as the Squamish Lillooet Regional District, the Health Officers Council of B.C., and more than 50 organizations across the country have called on Ottawa and B.C. to immediately mandate a cumulative, independent health impact assessment of British Columbia’s gas and LNG industry.

To date, the Prime Minister’s Office has deferred the request for a cumulative and independent health impact assessment of British Columbia’s gas and LNG industry to other ministries. The BC Premier’s Office has passed it to the Minister of Energy and Climate Change. British Columbia’s Ministry of Health has noted the province’s Environmental Assessment Office acknowledges concerns from medical professionals that project-by-project assessments may not fully address cumulative impacts.

B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Act allows for regional and strategic assessments that could be used to study the cumulative effects of the province’s gas and LNG industry, but to date, none have been conducted.

QUOTES

Tim Doty, technical air monitoring expert for almost 30 years at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; ITC Level III Master Thermographer; current Technical Advisor to Texas-based nonprofit Oilfield Witness, and President of TCHD Consulting LLC
“I have conducted thousands of environmental assessments using optical gas imaging (OGI) cameras since 2005, including surveying all currently operational LNG facilities in Texas and Louisiana, with one exception. I can clearly say that LNG Canada is a huge polluter whose site emissions appeared to be equivalent to or exceed that of anything that I have witnessed to date in the U.S. Field observations over a four-day period resulted in the documentation of extremely significant uncombusted/partially combusted emissions being released from flares, stacks, and processing trains. These emissions, which were not visible to the naked eye, filled the airshed with pollution both overhead and downwind of the facility causing great potential to negatively impact downwind receptors.”

Thomas Green, ecological economist and senior manager, climate solutions at David Suzuki Foundation
“We keep hearing that Canadian LNG has 60 per cent lower emissions than the global average. That's untrue, and it misses the mark. LNG is a fossil fuel, and burning it abroad adds to global heating and extreme weather. Ottawa and B.C. are leaning on an optimistic estimate from the LNG Canada project's 2015 environmental assessment filing. That number ignores how LNG plants, even the newest ones, vent and emit under real-world conditions. It also assumes the plant's power-hungry liquefaction would run on electricity, not the gas turbines it actually uses, with no plans to change. We can't see the full extent of the toxic pollution pouring off LNG export facilities, but imaging technology proves it's there, in massive amounts.”

Ankur Patel, Kitimat-based Registered Nurse and representative of the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment

“When we see some of the largest private investments in Canadian history, we expect to see a monitoring structure and regulatory oversight that protects people living nearby. Community discussions and forums are revealing again and again that many residents living in Kitimat are reporting health impacts, ranging from acute symptom exacerbation to unexpected personal and family diagnoses. We are watching the investment in LNG Canada come with integrity issues, broken permits, and an unexpected picture for those across the Northwest. The picture has shifted from what we were promised by the Province, and a comprehensive health assessment should follow in kind.”

Tracey Saxby, executive director, My Sea to Sky

“LNG is not clean, it is a dirty fossil fuel, and a lot of this harmful air pollution is unmonitored and unregulated. For example, benzene—which is a potent carcinogen—is not routinely monitored at LNG Canada. Our governments have not properly assessed the human health risk for people who are living near LNG plants in Kitimat, Squamish, or Vancouver. Why aren’t they doing a cumulative health impacts assessment of the LNG industry, from the fracking fields to the final consumer? Why isn’t there better air monitoring to keep these massive polluters accountable? If there’s not a problem, there should be nothing to hide.”

Dr. Tim Takaro, BC-based physician-scientist in environmental medicine, public health and toxicology and representative of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

“People are genuinely concerned about the rapid growth of the industry, especially when cumulative health impacts are not being considered as new multi-billion dollar LNG projects are proposed and approved. We’re seeing these projects built before their final air quality permit is granted, leaving governments in an impossible position if the facility should not be operating because air quality is worse than expected.”

Note to editors:

• LNG Canada has been exceeding its permitted levels of flaring since at least September of last year. The facility entered regular operations when the first shipments of LNG left Train 1 (June 2025) and Train 2 (December 2025).
• LNG Canada is the country’s first LNG export facility. Another 11 are earmarked across the country, according to the 2026 federal budget (page 33).
• The governments of Canada and British Columbia are set to provide $4 billion in public funding to the private LNG sector by 2030.
• Year-to-date royalties for natural gas in British Columbia (for the first nine months of 2025/26) are $530 million, without deducting any subsidies provided to the sector or LNG facilities. In comparison, the B.C. government spent $1.1 billion dollars in 2023 fighting wildfires, which are exacerbated by climate change that is largely driven by producing and burning fossil fuels.
• Flaring does not fully combust all gas, so it releases hydrocarbons and VOCs, including potent carcinogens, into the environment.
• Methane is 80 times more potent at warming the climate over a twenty-year time period than carbon dioxide.

– 30 –

Resources available to the media

• OGI visual package, with side-by-side comparisons, video, photos and b-roll | Photo credit in file names.
• B-roll of start-up flaring at LNG Canada in Kitimat | Photo credit: supplied video
• High-resolution images of one of LNG Canada’s flarestacks | Photo credit: supplied image

For more information:
Allison Murray, Principal
Murray Communications Inc.

Despite the largest source of flaring—by volume—occurring at the emergency Spare Flare, the facility’s cold/dry, and storage/loading flares also continued to greatly exceed their permitted volumes in March:

• The cold/dry flare calculated a monthly average rate of 29.7 m3/min against the permit limit of 9.6 m3/min.
• The Storage/Loading Flare (FLP) calculated a monthly average rate of 40.3 m3/min against the permit limit of 6.0 m3/min.

It was exposed on April 9 that the facility flared an average of 40 times more gas than its permits allow for the warm/wet and cold/dry flares during the last three months of 2025 and the first month of 2026, according to documents obtained from the BC Energy Regulator.

QUOTES

Tracey Saxby, Executive Director of My Sea To Sky

“This industry is operating unsafely in Canada and governments are allowing that to happen at the expense of human health. This is an emerging public health crisis. Ottawa needs to step in and issue a stop‑work order to LNG Canada, which has been spewing unregulated toxic chemicals into residential areas and exceeding its flaring permits by up to 40 times. These issues have been ongoing for close to a year. If this is the precedent oil and gas majors are setting for LNG in Canada, imagine what will happen with smaller, less experienced companies like Western LNG’s Ksi Lisims project or Woodfibre LNG.”

Tim Doty, former technical air expert at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), current Technical Advisor to Texas-based nonprofit Oilfield Witness and President of TCHD Consulting

“I just spent three days in Kitimat B.C. conducting optical gas imaging (OGI) field assessments of LNG Canada, using the same techniques and procedures that I helped to establish at the TCEQ’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement. During this monitoring project, I documented significant and sometimes massive uncombusted and partially combusted emissions being released from multiple exhaust stacks and a damaged and malfunctioning flare that was not being operated as designed and represented. The emissions filled the airshed with pollution over and beyond the company’s property line and would be expected to negatively impact the adjacent community and downwind receptors, pending meteorological conditions. I have personally performed OGI assessments at most of the operational LNG plants in both Texas and Louisiana over the last several years, and I can honestly say that I was shocked by what I documented at LNG Canada.”

Note to editors:

• LNG Canada disclosed to the BC Energy Regulator in 2025 that a flare stack at the facility had an “integrity issue.” This information was not made public until 2026. To manage this backburn problem and prevent an explosion, LNG Canada had been routing large volumes of gas to the problematic flare stack and burning it off into the airshed—until February 2026 when the flare tip cracked twice, likely due to increased and prolonged heat from excess flaring.
• LNG Canada says that gas processed at the facility “has the same composition as the natural gas used in homes for heating and cooking.” Samples from gas stoves in Vancouver and Calgary were found to have the highest benzene concentrations among samples from other North American cities, according to a peer-reviewed scientific study published in 2024.
• Benzene is such a potent carcinogen that no safe exposure level has been found. Benzene is not routinely measured or reported at LNG facilities in British Columbia.

– 30 –

Media Resources
B-roll and images of flaring, including the emergency spare flare, at LNG Canada in Kitimat | Files are from April 26, 2026 during a planned flaring event unless otherwise noted | Photo credit: Supplied unless otherwise noted.

Ecojustice lawyers, on behalf of the British Columbia-based citizens group My Sea to Sky, urge Ottawa to carefully consider whether the laws, policies and actions it implements to enable and financially bail out fossil fuel projects with public money can be reconciled with Canadians’ Charter rights, in particular the right to life. Fossil fuels worsen the climate crisis and its impacts cause deaths, human rights violations, and aggravate the affordability crisis that Canadians are enduring.

“Judicial decisions increasingly link climate impacts with governments’ laws and actions, and the human rights obligations our governments owe to people under the Charter and international law. The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that climate change poses an existential threat to human life in Canada and the International Court of Justice has called out fossil fuel subsidies explicitly as a potential ‘wrongful act’ under international law,” says Charlie Hatt, lawyer and climate program director at Ecojustice, citing rulings that point to serious and disproportionate effects on Indigenous communities and young people.

“It’s bad enough that Canada has continually failed to meet emissions reductions targets, but to use taxpayer money to fund climate harms is simply unconscionable, and we believe Canadian courts are ready to address this,” says Patrick Canning, lawyer originally retained by My Sea to Sky with lawyer Charlotte Chamberlain.

Fossil fuels are the main driver of the global climate crisis. Natural gas’ chemical name is methane, which is 80 times more potent at warming the climate than carbon dioxide. Federal definitions of low-carbon LNG rely on a narrow accounting of emissions that excludes the majority of the fossil fuel’s emissions, including upstream extraction, methane leakage, pipeline transport, and end-use combustion.

“Even if the wholly American-owned Ksi Lisims LNG project were to electrify its liquefaction, which impacts less than five percent, on average, of LNG’s total life-cycle emissions, it will still produce as much as half of British Columbia’s current yearly emissions,” says executive director of My Sea To Sky Tracey Saxby, noting that Ksi Lisims LNG is one of twelve LNG projects Ottawa identified in last month’s federal budget.

“These emissions figures assume that all goes according to plan. That hasn’t been the case at LNG Canada as we now know. That facility has been exceeding its air pollution discharge permits by up to 40 times for many consecutive months because of an ongoing operational defect,” adds Saxby.

Seven of the country’s LNG projects are located in British Columbia, including Ksi Lisims LNG, LNG Canada Phase 1 and 2, Cedar LNG, and Kitimat LNG, all in northern B.C.; Woodfibre LNG in Squamish; and Tilbury LNG in Metro Vancouver, a project that would affect the airsheds of residential neighbourhoods in New Westminster, South Vancouver, Richmond, Delta and Surrey.

While current fossil energy markets are highly volatile, there is a serious risk that by the time Canadian LNG comes online global markets may be in a period of structural oversupply. The Iran war is causing potential import markets to accelerate their transition to renewables as clean energy is less expensive, faster to deploy, and offers lower ongoing costs and energy security reassurance, which global fossil fuel markets simply cannot.

Notes to editors:

• Public financiers must respect Canadians’ Charter rights, including the right to life, liberty, and security of the person (s. 7), the right to equal protection under the law (s. 15), and non-Charter rights like the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• The 100 percent American-owned Ksi Lisims LNG project faces federal lawsuits by the Lax Kw'alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation, and the project lacks consent from nearly half the Indigenous Nations consulted by the Province of B.C.
• The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline—required to supply gas to the proposed Ksi Lisims project—faces two provincial legal challenges in B.C.
• The FortisBC Eagle Mountain-to-Woodfibre pipeline, which is being built to supply gas to the Woodfibre LNG project, is facing a provincial lawsuit by a member of Squamish Nation.
• Battery storage is the fastest-growing power technology today, with 40 percent more deployed worldwide in 2025, compared to 2024, and 80 percent of the new capacity was utility-scale, according to the IEA.

– 30 –

About Ecojustice
Ecojustice uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions, law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax.

About My Sea to Sky

My Sea to Sky is a people-powered environmental organization that was founded in 2014 to defend, protect, and restore Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound through science-based research, education, advocacy, litigation, and facilitating public engagement with governments. It is based in Squamish, British Columbia, 7 km northeast of Woodfibre LNG. www.myseatosky.org.

It's been an epic couple of weeks.

Last Monday May 4, My Sea to Sky, represented by Ecojustice lawyers, sent a letter to Prime Minister Carney, warning that granting new fossil fuel subsidies for LNG projects may violate Canadians' Charter rights.

Last Tuesday May 5, we made the front page of the Vancouver Sun, exposing the year-long water permit violations from FortisBC's toxic tunnel.

And last week, I visited Kitimat with Tim Doty, a former Texas regulator who now contracts with Oilfield Witness, to capture footage of the invisible pollution pouring from LNG Canada (both the flare and five polluting stacks at the facility itself) using an optical gas imaging camera. I felt like Erin Brockovich, tramping through the woods with Tim.

This week, we broke a story, nationwide, that LNG Canada's flare tip is cracked due to excess flaring and that the acid-gas incinerator has been offline for a month, which means the gas is dirtier and polluting nearby communities. LEARN MORE: CBC | Energetic City

Then on Tuesday May 12, My Sea to Sky volunteers held FortisBC and the BC Energy Regulator accountable as they gave an update to the District of Squamish.

I'm feeling like a total badass, and I wanted to take a moment to celebrate our success with all of you. We could not do this without the incredible support of the My Sea to Sky community.

Thank you for making our work possible!

Boom, boom, boom.

Tracey Saxby

Executive Director
My Sea to Sky

P.S. If you'd like to support our badass legal actions to stop Woodfibre LNG and FortisBC, chip in now and get a charitable tax receipt from our partner, Sunshine Coast Conservation Association.

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?

Unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh territory (SQUAMISH, BC) — Woodfibre LNG and FortisBC appeared as a delegation before the District of Squamish on Tuesday to provide project updates.

The delegation was met by approximately 25 citizens, chanting "No Fracking Way!" in a snap action led by Melyssa Hudson, one of the co-founders of My Sea to Sky.

"As a mom with two young children, I am genuinely frightened for their future. We are already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change. Last year, hundreds of people died in the Heat Dome, and tens of thousands of people were evacuated due to wildfires or floods. We cannot build new fossil fuel infrastructure like Woodfibre LNG that will increase fracking and lock in climate pollution for decades."

Eoin Finn, co-founder and Research Director of My Sea to Sky, hand-delivered a petition to Woodfibre LNG staff signed by more than 20,400 people calling to stop Woodfibre LNG and the associated Eagle Mountain to Woodfibre high-pressure gas pipeline proposed by FortisBC.

"We've been fighting to stop Woodfibre LNG and the FortisBC pipeline for over eight years. We have successfully delayed these projects since 2015, and we're not giving up. We will stop Woodfibre LNG. We will stop FortisBC. We are fighting for the future of our grandchildren."

My Sea to Sky is a people-powered environmental organization that was founded by Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound citizens concerned about the local and regional impacts of Woodfibre LNG, which will increase fracking, lock in climate pollution, and puts residents that live along the proposed pipeline route in Squamish and Coquitlam, or near the LNG carrier route in Howe Sound or English Bay at risk.

While oil and gas companies including Woodfibre LNG are opportunistically pointing to the Russia-Ukraine War as an excuse to increase fracking and LNG exports, this crisis instead highlights the extreme price volatility of oil and gas, as well as the vulnerability of fossil fuel infrastructure to targeted attacks. In response, the European Commission plans to rapidly scale up renewables and energy efficiency measures, divesting from gas to ensure future energy security.

"Fracked gas is risky, it's expensive, and it will always remain volatile depending on global markets. Building new gas infrastructure like Woodfibre LNG or FortisBC's pipeline will only entrench global dependence on fossil fuels at a time when we need to invest in renewable energy," said Finn. "Woodfibre LNG will not be operational until at least 2027 or later. Will there still be a market for BC's LNG in five years? Unlikely."

A recent report urged all nations to begin a rapid phaseout of fossil fuel production, calling on Canada as a wealthy, high-emitting nation to end all oil and gas production by 2034 to ensure that warming does not exceed 1.5°C.

My Sea to Sky is one of more than 350+ diverse organizations and businesses that have signed an open letter calling on the BC government to confront the climate emergency and undertake ten urgent climate actions. We reiterate our support for these actions, and call on the BC government to immediately stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure like Woodfibre LNG and FortisBC's Eagle Mountain to Woodfibre gas pipeline.

-- 30 --

For media inquiries, please contact:

Tracey Saxby, Executive Director, My Sea to Sky
Phone: (604) 892-7501
Email: tracey@myseatosky.org

Eoin Finn, Research Director, My Sea to Sky
Phone: (604) 715-7991
Email: eoin@myseatosky.org

Background information

• Woodfibre LNG is a proposed LNG export facility located southwest of Squamish in Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound. While the project has received an environmental assessment certificate, and was granted a five-year extension in 2020, it still needs several outstanding permits to proceed, including an amendment to its environmental assessment certificate to build a floating workcamp to house 500-600 construction workers.

• The project is owned by the notorious Indonesian businessman, Sukanto Tanoto, whose companies have a history of tax evasion and profit shifting, human rights violations, and animal rights violations.

• Woodfibre LNG intended to begin construction in 2015, however the project has been delayed for over seven years due to significant local opposition coordinated by My Sea to Sky and partnering organizations. The project has also been plagued by ongoing corruption and high staff turnover.

• Woodfibre LNG made a fake Final Investment Decision (FID) in November 2016, two days prior to the BC Liberal convention, and two weeks after Sukanto Tanoto and Rich Coleman signed secret documents that the government still refuses to release. This brings into question the reliability of Woodfibre LNG’s public statements, and whether future FID announcements are to be considered reliable or genuine.

• FortisBC proposes to build a 24-inch high pressure pipeline from Coquitlam to the Woodfibre site. This includes digging a 14-foot wide, 9 km long tunnel underneath the Squamish estuary that will result in permanent acid rock drainage and treatment, similar to Britannia Mine, which was one of the worst environmental disasters in Canada’s history.

• FortisBC plans to expand Tilbury LNG on the Fraser River in Vancouver, which is currently undergoing an environmental assessment. This makes FortisBC one of Woodfibre LNG's competitors in a global market that is rapidly evaporating.

• A recent report from The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) forecast that Woodfibre LNG and other proposed LNG projects would be unlikely to proceed as LNG Canada is not economically viable. "Due to markets shifts, rising costs and policy changes, Phase I of the LNG Canada export terminal could be the last liquefied natural gas project built in British Columbia under current market dynamics..."

On behalf of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE BC), the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE), Lax'yip Firekeepers, and My Sea to Sky, we would like to invite you to attend a community forum in Hazelton, Kitimat, or Terrace to learn about the human health impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in BC.

Doctors and nurses will share the latest research on the threats that LNG development poses for public health and BC’s healthcare system, especially in rural and Indigenous communities. Residents will share their firsthand experience in Kitimat where excess flaring by LNG Canada is affecting the health and wellbeing of community members.

At a time when many British Columbians are looking for credible, accessible information about the health implications of fossil fuel expansion, we believe it is important to create opportunities for dialogue grounded in public health expertise and frontline community experience.

Key speakers:

• Dr Tim Takaro, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Ankur Patel, Kitimat Acute Care Nurse, Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment
• Drew Harris and Grace Vickers, Lax'yip Firekeepers

Hazelton

Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: Hagwilget Hall, Hwy 62, New Hazelton BC

Kitimat

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: Mount Elizabeth Theatre, Kitimat BC

Terrace

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: Sherwood Mountain Brewhouse, Terrace BC

*******

Whatever your feelings about LNG Canada—we all deserve clean and healthy air.

We hope to see you there.

Kate McInnes

Director of Health and Economic Campaigns
My Sea to Sky

Did you know Woodfibre LNG plans to triple in size? What does that mean for Bowen Islanders?

Please attend this public meeting hosted by Concerned Citizens Bowen, tomorrow on Bowen Island. Tracey Saxby from My Sea to Sky will present an update on Woodfibre LNG and the associated FortisBC pipeline and tunnel project, including:

• Health harms from flaring;
• Excessive water pollution from FortisBC's toxic tunnel;
• Woodfibre LNG’s ambition to triple its production.

WHEN: 7pm to 8:30pm, Wednesday, May 13, 2026
(Doors open at 6:45pm)

WHERE: Collins Hall, 1120 Miller Road, Bowen Island BC

*******

Spread the word, bring friends! Together we can make change and protect Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound.

I hope to see you there.

Anton van Walraven

Concerned Citizens Bowen
in partnership with My Sea to Sky

BC is already burning. Ask your MLA to commit to climate solutions now.

On behalf of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE BC), the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE), Lax'yip Firekeepers, and My Sea to Sky, we would like to invite you to attend a community forum to learn about the human health impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in BC.

Doctors and nurses will share the latest research on the threats that LNG development poses for public health and BC’s healthcare system, especially in rural and Indigenous communities. Residents will share their firsthand experience in Kitimat where excess flaring by LNG Canada is affecting the health and wellbeing of community members.

At a time when many British Columbians are looking for credible, accessible information about the health implications of fossil fuel expansion, we believe it is important to create opportunities for dialogue grounded in public health expertise and frontline community experience.

Key speakers:

• Dr Tim Takaro, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Dr Melissa Lem, Family Doctor and Past President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Ankur Patel, Kitimat Acute Care Nurse, Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment
• Gina Mowatt, Lax'yip Firekeepers
• Shay Lynn Sampson, Lax'yip Firekeepers

Vancouver

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: SFU Harbour Centre - Fletcher Challenge Theatre

*******

This will be a powerful event with incredible speakers.

I hope to see you there.

Eoin Finn

Board Chair
My Sea to Sky

Share how important clean air is to you. Do you or your family have health conditions that could be impacted by flaring from Woodfibre LNG?

This week I took a road trip to Tilbury LNG in Delta.

I could smell the gas. I could see the air pollution.

FortisBC has plans to expand this small, LNG storage facility to a 2.5 megatonne export facility, bigger than Woodfibre LNG.

It made me wonder, how will air pollution from Tilbury LNG affect Vancouver’s air quality?

Free community forum this Thursday at SFU

On behalf of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE BC), the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE), Lax'yip Firekeepers, and My Sea to Sky, we would like to invite you to attend a community forum to learn about the human health impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in BC.

Doctors and nurses will share the latest research on the threats that LNG development poses for public health and BC’s healthcare system, especially in rural and Indigenous communities. Residents will share their firsthand experience in Kitimat where excess flaring by LNG Canada is affecting the health and wellbeing of community members.

At a time when many British Columbians are looking for credible, accessible information about the health implications of fossil fuel expansion, we believe it is important to create opportunities for dialogue grounded in public health expertise and frontline community experience.

Key speakers:

• Dr Tim Takaro, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Dr Melissa Lem, Family Doctor and Past President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Ankur Patel, Kitimat Acute Care Nurse, Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment
• Lax'yip Firekeepers

Vancouver

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: SFU Harbour Centre - Fletcher Challenge Theatre

*******

It's not too late to stop Tilbury LNG's expansion.

I hope to see you there.

Tracey Saxby

Executive Director
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?

Minister of Energy and (cough) "Climate Solutions," Adrian Dix, says BC will produce "the world's lowest-emission LNG." Premier David Eby, says BC's gas is the “lowest-carbon LNG in the world.”

But "clean LNG" is a dirty lie. Want proof?

LNG Canada flared more gas in 2025 than any other LNG export terminal in the world in 2024, flaring almost one million cubic metres of gas a day on average. The extreme flaring from LNG Canada is raising questions about the ongoing human health impacts for Kitimat residents.

How will air pollution from Woodfibre LNG's flarestack impact communities in Howe Sound? What does it mean if Woodfibre LNG triples its capacity? How is air pollution from Tilbury LNG affecting Vancouver residents?

Attend a community forum near you to find out...

On behalf of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE BC), the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE), Lax'yip Firekeepers, and My Sea to Sky, we would like to invite you to attend a community forum to learn about the human health impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in BC.

Doctors and nurses will share the latest research on the threats that LNG development poses for public health and BC’s healthcare system, especially in rural and Indigenous communities. Residents will share their firsthand experience in Kitimat where excess flaring by LNG Canada is affecting the health and wellbeing of community members.

At a time when many British Columbians are looking for credible, accessible information about the health implications of fossil fuel expansion, we believe it is important to create opportunities for dialogue grounded in public health expertise and frontline community experience.

Key speakers:

• Dr Tim Takaro, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Dr Melissa Lem, Family Doctor and Past President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (Vancouver only)
• Ankur Patel, Kitimat Acute Care Nurse, Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment
• Lax'yip Firekeepers

Squamish

Date: Monday, April 27, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: Brackendale Art Gallery

Vancouver

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: SFU Harbour Centre - Fletcher Challenge Theatre

*******

These events are free, and tickets are moving fast. Please make sure you RSVP now.

Our communities deserve clean air.

Linda Smart

Volunteer
My Sea to Sky

Earlier this year, I spent a few days in Kitimat BC, where LNG Canada has been flaring up to 15 times more gas than expected due to an equipment failure that will take three years to fix.

Every flaring event releases a toxic mix of air pollutants, including particulate matter, black carbon, nitrogen and sulphur oxides, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including benzene. Even brief exposures to these air pollutants can harm human health.

Last month, the Health Officers Council of B.C. called for an independent assessment of the health impacts from fracking and LNG export projects, which has since been supported by councils in Dawson Creek and Squamish.

How will air pollution from Woodfibre LNG's flarestack impact communities in Howe Sound? What does it mean if Woodfibre LNG triples its capacity? How is air pollution from Tilbury LNG affecting Vancouver residents?

Attend a community forum near you to find out...

On behalf of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE BC), the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE), Lax'yip Firekeepers, and My Sea to Sky, we would like to invite you to attend a community forum to learn about the human health impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in BC.

Doctors and nurses will share the latest research on the threats that LNG development poses for public health and BC’s healthcare system, especially in rural and Indigenous communities. Residents will share their firsthand experience in Kitimat where excess flaring by LNG Canada is affecting the health and wellbeing of community members.

At a time when many British Columbians are looking for credible, accessible information about the health implications of fossil fuel expansion, we believe it is important to create opportunities for dialogue grounded in public health expertise and frontline community experience.

Key speakers:

• Dr Tim Takaro, Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Dr Melissa Lem, Family Doctor and Past President of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (Vancouver only)
• Ankur Patel, Kitimat Acute Care Nurse, Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment
• Lax'yip Firekeepers

Squamish

Date: Monday, April 27, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: Brackendale Art Gallery

Vancouver

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30pm)
Location: SFU Harbour Centre - Fletcher Challenge Theatre

*******

We can't take clean air for granted.

Kate McInnes

Director of Health and Economic Campaigns
My Sea to Sky

Last week at a global energy conference in Houston, federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson revealed:

“I know Woodfibre [LNG] has ambitions to double and triple the size of their production.”

My Sea to Sky has warned regulators and the public since 2015 that the capacity of the Eagle Mountain to Woodfibre pipeline and tunnel currently under construction by FortisBC could allow Woodfibre LNG to expand significantly.

This confirms our suspicions that Woodfibre LNG has overbuilt infrastructure to enable a phased expansion of the project while sidestepping the environmental assessment process.

Is Woodfibre LNG exploiting regulatory loopholes to sneak in a project up to three times bigger than initially assessed?

Triple the tankers. Triple the pollution. Triple the health & safety impacts.

Did the provincial and federal governments know this was the plan from day one?

READ THE BIV ARTICLE

Love where you live. Defend what you love.

This has raised the stakes.

Sunshine Coast Conservation Association and My Sea to Sky have launched several legal actions to stop Woodfibre LNG and FortisBC, and hold regulators to account.

We are demanding a new environmental assessment to evaluate Woodfibre LNG’s true cumulative impacts.

In the last month, 125 generous donors have raised an incredible $12,915. We still need to raise another $12,085 to meet our goal.

Can you chip in to help pay for legal fees, expert peer review, access to information, and dedicated staff time to support our legal actions?

Donate below to get a charitable tax receipt from SCCA.

This fight is heating up. Please stand with us to defend Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound and the beautiful communities we all call home.

Eoin Finn

Board Chair
My Sea to Sky

In the midst of global turmoil and yet another war for oil, PM Mark Carney is pushing hard to fast track new fossil fuel megaprojects.

Foreign investors are pitching LNG exports as an economic cure-all for Canada. But if LNG is such an economic engine, why do they need billions of our public dollars?

“LNG: Not in Our National Interest” is a new national campaign to pressure PM Carney and his key ministers to stop the government from giving billions more of our taxpayer money to dirty energy megaprojects that only benefit foreign billionaires. We want the government to start to fund the clean, renewable economy instead.

Join our national campaign launch on March 31 to hear from movement leaders and experts on why LNG export projects are not in our national interest. Learn why these foreign-owned, high-cost projects don’t make economic sense, will raise energy prices at home, and harm Indigenous reconciliation. You’ll also learn how much better the clean, renewable economy is better on every measure.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 31, 4:00pm PT / 7:00pm ET

WHERE: via zoom

Speakers:

• Chief Na’Moks, Hereditary Chief of the Wet’suwet’en Nation
• Gwii Lok’im Gibuu (Jesse Stoeppler), Co-Executive Director of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition
• Dr. Melissa Lem, Past President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
• Janelle Lapointe, Senior Advisor, David Suzuki Foundation
• Andy Hira, Clean Energy Research Group, Simon Fraser University
• Kai Nagata, Energy Campaigner, Dogwood
• Emiko Newman, Coordinator, BC Climate Emergency Campaign

We’ll also share details of exciting in-person actions happening across the country for the Week of Action in mid-April. Now is our chance to tell the Carney government that Canadians say NO to more free money for big polluters, and YES to funding the clean energy economy.

In solidarity,

Eoin Finn

Board Chair
My Sea to Sky

FortisBC has failed to comply with their permit since as early as November 2024, by dumping pollution loaded with heavy metals into the fragile Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound ecosystem as it constructs a 9 km tunnel from Squamish to Woodfibre LNG.

Instead of fixing the problem, FortisBC is asking for permission to pollute even more.

FortisBC proposes to amend the current permit to:

• Increase discharge by over four times (from 1,500 m³/day to 6,815 m³/day);
• Discharge copper at levels ~18 times higher than BC Water Quality Guidelines;
• Discharge aluminum at levels ~62 times higher than BC Water Quality Guidelines;

Combined, that would allow FortisBC to pollute ~72 times more copper and ~248 times more aluminum into Howe Sound than is currently permitted.

High levels of aluminum and copper are both toxic to aquatic life—including algae, glass sponges, crustaceans, fish, and marine mammals.

No excuse for FortisBC to pollute

According to our experts, it is technically feasible to treat copper and aluminum to meet BC water quality guidelines for both freshwater and marine environments, if the water treatment plant is designed and operated appropriately by an experienced operator.

However, the treatment method chosen by FortisBC is clearly inadequate. The proof? FortisBC has failed to meet the permit on an almost weekly basis for over 16 months.

FortisBC promised to meet BC's water quality guidelines, and to halt discharge if they didn't.

But stopping the excessive water flows and upgrading the water treatment plant would slow construction of the tunnel and increase costs.

With no consequences from the regulator other than a single warning letter issued 14 months after the pollution started, FortisBC keeps polluting, unchecked.

It's not too late to send a letter

Tell Ministers and regulators to reject FortisBC's permit amendment and hold them accountable for this uncontrolled water pollution that is exceeding the original permit conditions.

FortisBC needs to stop work on the tunnel until they upgrade the water treatment system to meet water quality guidelines.

Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound already paid the price once. We cannot let it happen again.

Not on our watch.

Suzanne Senger

Executive Director
Sunshine Coast Conservation Association
in partnership with My Sea to Sky

P.S. Our handy letter writing tool will send a letter to key Ministers, BC Energy Regulator, FortisBC, your MP, and your MLA. But you can also submit a comment on your own to Waste.Management@bc-er.ca and egp@fortisbc.com until a decision is made. FortisBC's application to amend the permit can be accessed here. Weekly water quality testing results can be found here.

Woodfibre LNG plans to build a 19-kilometre, 138-kilovolt overhead power line through Brackendale, within the existing right of way from Cheekye Substation, and running directly through 40 residential properties.
LEARN MORE

The Brackendale Owners and Tenants Association (BOATA) is asking for your support to make BC Hydro and Woodfibre LNG host a transparent town hall meeting with a public Q&A next week. Here's how you can help:

1. Sign this petition to call for honest, transparent engagement on BC Hydro’s Power Line Plan.

2. Attend the open house

WHEN: 4pm to 7pm on Tuesday, March 31, 2026

WHERE: Executive Suites Hotel in Squamish

THE PLAN: Arrive at 5pm to help Brackendale residents demand a townhall-style Q&A at 6pm.

WHAT TO BRING: BYO campchair!

3. Join the Brackendale Owners and Tenants Association.
Email: boata2026@gmail.com

4. Spread the word. Please share the petition on your socials and invite friends and neighbours to the open house.

5. Write to council@squamish.ca and let them know your concerns.

*******

Key concerns raised by residents so far...

• Adverse change of course: In 2015, BC Hydro informed residents of their plan to use the existing 500 kV line adjacent to the Woodfibre Site. Why are they not sticking with this plan?
• Property impacts. Devaluation of properties. Restrictions on use of properties. Loss of use of properties while construction is done. Residential accessory infrastructures will have to be removed. Loss of trees, biodiversity and privacy.
• Construction disruption (duration, access, new road through properties, possible low flying level helicopter use)
• Health considerations including electromagnetic exposure
• Uncertainty around restoration after construction and installation
• Environmental and ecological impacts to sensitive wildlife habitat
• Potential for future expansion and increasing power demand
• BC Hydro is relying on an outdated Right-of-Way established in 1957 and purchased for $900—long before modern development—now running through 40 private properties valued at approximately $1.5 million each (~$60,000,000).
• Who pays? In 2014, Woodfibre LNG promised to pay for the costs of this transmission line, but past examples suggest costs may shift to ratepayers and taxpayers.

Your participation is crucial to ensure our community’s voice is heard.

Thanks for taking action.

Glenne Campbell

My Sea to Sky volunteer and member of the Brackendale Owners and Tenants Association (BOATA)

In case you missed it, FortisBC has been dumping effluent loaded with heavy metals into Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound.

Check out the video! INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE

Why is FortisBC getting a free pass to pollute?

Earlier this week, a waste disposal company in Richmond was fined for polluting the Fraser River. Lab tests found that levels of aluminum were 24 times higher than BC's water quality guidelines, along with several other toxic chemicals.

Meanwhile, FortisBC has repeatedly exceeded water quality guidelines for copper and aluminum for over a year during construction of its 9-km tunnel to Woodfibre.

Instead of fixing the problem, FortisBC is asking for permission to pollute even more. FortisBC has applied to amend their permit so they can discharge dissolved aluminum at levels 62 times higher than British Columbia's water quality guidelines and dissolved copper at levels 18 times higher.

High levels of aluminum and copper are toxic to aquatic wildlife.

Why hasn't FortisBC been fined for its pollution? Why has the BC Energy Regulator failed to act?

It’s not too late to send a letter!

In the last week, we’ve sent over 1,150 letters to Ministers and regulators calling on them to reject FortisBC's permit amendment and hold FortisBC accountable for this excessive water pollution.

The District of Squamish also passed a resolution to oppose the permit amendment.

Take action! Demand FortisBC stop work on the tunnel until they upgrade the water treatment system to meet water quality guidelines.

We've hired experts!

Thanks to the incredible support of people that love Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound, we've raised $9,398 in the last week.

We’ve hired three experts in tunneling, acid rock drainage, toxicology, and water treatment to review FortisBC's amendment application, and we're working with our legal team to file complaints.

We still need to raise $15,707 to meet our goal, so we can hit FortisBC with everything we’ve got.

Donate below to get a charitable tax receipt from Sunshine Coast Conservation Association.

For all of the wildlife that makes Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound so special.

Tracey Saxby

Executive Director
My Sea to Sky

P.S. Our handy letter writing tool will send a letter to key Ministers, BC Energy Regulator, FortisBC, your MP, and your MLA. But you can also submit a comment on your own to Waste.Management@bc-er.ca and egp@fortisbc.com. FortisBC's application to amend the permit can be accessed here. Weekly water quality testing results can be found here.