Environmental and public health groups support the City’s initiative

Montreal, February 23, 2009 - In support of the City's soon-to-be-adopted bylaw forbidding the installation of new wood heating systems in Montreal, the Conseil régional de l'environnement de Montréal (CRE-Montréal) and the Quebec Lung Association (QLA), in concert with nearly ten environmental groups, *reiterate their support of the City of Montreal and ask that it does not scale back its plans when faced with the industry's pressure.

The organizations would like to emphasize that this initial bylaw is an essential first step in preventing the decline of the air quality in Montreal, which already has set a record this year for the number of winter smog day episodes, with 32 warnings as of mid-February. These occurrences have almost doubled since 2005, the year considered until now as the worst one ever in terms of poor air quality in winter.

Although it is clear that the sources of fine particles (those causing winter smog) are diverse and include transportation (14%) as well as industries (22%), wood heating is one of the main causes of smog in winter time, representing 61% of emissions.

In a statement sent today to elected representatives of the City of Montreal, the groups pointed out that the link between the emission of fine particles in the air by wood heating units and the occurrence of respiratory disorders is now well established. In fact, in Montreal, fine particles are responsible for 6,028 cases of infantile bronchitis every year and for 40,449 days of asthma symptoms.

"The population's health must come first in this matter," says Louis P. Brisson, Executive Director of the QLA. "The comfort and well-being of populations at risk, such as young children, the elderly and those suffering from lung diseases, depend directly on the quality of air in Montreal."

Even if they do recognize that this first bylaw is not sufficient to solve the current air quality problem, the groups consider that it is essential. "With this bylaw, we have a simple and efficient solution to avoid further deterioration of the quality of air," explains André Porlier, Executive Director of the CRE-Montréal. He adds: "The City of Montreal will however need to go further and adopt a bylaw requiring the current owners to replace their wood heating system by gas systems or by pellet-burning stoves over the next 7 years."

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The statement as well as a summary of the main issues related to wood heating can be found on the Web site www.cremtl.qc.ca.

Information

Leïla Copti
Policy and Communication Advisor
Conseil régional de l'environnement de Montréal
514.842.2890, ext. 226
Cell. 514.661.6134

Dominique Massie
Quebec Lung Association
514.287.7400, ext. 224
Cell. 514.975.5382

*Equiterre, AQLPA, Greenpeace, Urban Ecology Centre (Montreal), Comité de vigilance environnementale de l'est de Montréal, STOP, Allergy and Environmental Health Association of Quebec, Collectif en environnement Mercier-est