Published February 20, 2024
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Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com 

Feb. 14, 2024

Mayor Bruno Marchand was forced to explain why the city abruptly imposed a ban on wood-burning stoves and decorative fireplaces last week.

Most residents learned of the prohibition through local media, the actual official notice of the unprecedented move having been made in an avis public buried in a section on the city’s website.

The “preventive” ban, due to “atmospheric and weather conditions … conducive to a deterioration in air quality in the territory of Quebec,” according to a city official, took effect at noon on Feb. 7. It applied to “the use of any solid fuel appliance, even if it is certified, in order to limit the emission of fine particles and other pollutants into the air.”

The day the city imposed the ban was cloudless, sunny and clear. Another avis public announcing the lifting of the ban as of 6 a.m. Friday appeared on the city’s website on the Thursday prior.

At a City Hall scrum, Marchand said air conditions had improved enough to allow the ban to be removed and said he was satisfied with what was a first test of the city’s new measures on wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, adopted last year.

The mayor did acknowledge, however, that the method of communicating the ban could be improved. “We will obviously re-evaluate everything to see how we communicate it and how we continue to do it. It was a first experience; we will always prefer imperfection to nothingness,” he told reporters.

As for what atmospheric conditions prompted the ban, city spokesperson Jean-Pascal Lavoie explained in an email to the QCT that “the city uses different sources to model air quality forecasts. The decision to temporarily ban the use of solid fuel appliances is taken based on the anticipated deterioration in air quality.”

Lavoie said the ban “aims to moderate this deterioration and its impact on health. Remember that the emission of fine particles is a significant source of pollution which affects many people, particularly those with more fragile health.”

He said, “Fine particles remain suspended in the air and are not carried away by the wind or rise in altitude. These conditions are therefore conducive to a deterioration in air quality. This is why we try to act upstream to limit degradation.”

The stoves and fireplaces covered by the ban are targeted for complete prohibition as of 2030. Residents with the devices must register them by April 1. The city introduced the policy last year, following similar measures in Montreal.

A Radio-Canada report on Feb. 9 cast some doubt on the data the city is using to justify the crackdown on wood-burning stoves and decorative fireplaces. Marchand had said in announcing the policy in November that “143 of these devices emit as many fine particles in one year as the [city’s main] incinerator, or around 11 tonnes.”

The report cites environmental consultant Sébastien Raymond who says the data the city used to make calculations of the comparative amount of particles emitted is misleading and ignores the frequency of when fireplaces are used.

Marchand said the city will review its policy in light of the experience of the first ban under the new measures.

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